{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_28025/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_28025","id":"gutenberg_28025","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28025","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Missions -- Vanuatu","Paton, John Gibson, 1824-1907"],"text":"E-text prepared by Carl D. DuBois\n\n\n\nNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustration.\n      See 28025-h.htm or 28025-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/0/2/28025/28025-h/28025-h.htm)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/0/2/28025/28025-h.zip)\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF JOHN G. PATON\n\nOr Thirty Years Among South Sea Cannibals\n\nby\n\nREV. JAMES PATON, B.A.\n\nIllustrated\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA. L. Burt Company,Publishers, New York\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nEVER since the story of my brother's life first appeared (January 1889)\nit has been constantly pressed upon me that a YOUNG FOLKS' EDITION would\nbe highly prized. The Autobiography has therefore been re-cast and\nillustrated, in the hope and prayer that the Lord will use it to inspire\nthe Boys and Girls of Christendom with a wholehearted enthusiasm for the\nConversion of the Heathen World to Jesus Christ.\n\nA few fresh incidents have been introduced; the whole contents have been\nrearranged to suit a new class of readers; and the service of a gifted\nArtist has been employed, to make the book every way attractive to the\nyoung. For _full_ details as to the Missionary's work and life, the\nCOMPLETE EDITION must still of course be referred to.\n\nJAMES PATON.\nGLASGOW, _Sept,_ 1892.\n\nCONTENTS.\nCHAP.\n\n 1. Our Cottage Home\n 2. Our Forebears\n 3. Consecrated Parents\n 4. School Days\n 5. Leaving the Old Home\n 6. Early Struggles\n 7. A City Missionary\n 8. Glasgow Experiences\n 9. A Foreign Missionary\n10. To the New Hebrides\n11. First Impressions of Heathendom\n12. Breaking Ground on Tanna\n13. Pioneers in the New Hebrides\n14. The Great Bereavement\n15. At Home with Cannibals\n16. Superstitions and Cruelties\n17. Streaks of Dawn amidst Deeds of Darkness\n18. The Visit of H.M.S. \"Cordelia\"\n19. \"Noble Old Abraham\"\n20. A Typical South Sea Trader\n21. Under Axe and Musket\n22. A Native Saint and Martyr\n23. Building and Printing for God\n24. Heathen Dance and Sham Fight\n25. Cannibals at Work\n26. The Defying of Nahak\n27. A Perilous Pilgrimage\n28. The Plague of Measles\n29. Attacked with Clubs\n30. Kowia\n31. The Martyrdom of the Gordons\n32. Shadows Deepening on Tanna\n33. The Visit of the Commodore\n34. The War Chiefs in Council\n35. Under Knife and Tomahawk\n36. The Beginning of the End\n37. Five Hours in a Canoe\n38. A Race for Life\n39. Faint yet Pursuing\n40. Waiting at Kwamera\n41. The Last Awful Night\n42. \"Sail O! Sail O!\"\n43. Farewell to Tanna\n44. The Floating of the \"Dayspring\"\n45. A Shipping Company for Jesus\n46. Australian Incidents\n47. Amongst Squatters and Diggers\n48. John Gilpin in the Bush\n49. The Aborigines of Australia\n50. Nora\n51. Back to Scotland\n52. Tour through the Old Country\n53. Marriage and Farewell\n54. First Peep at the \"Dayspring\"\n55. The French in the Pacific\n56. The Gospel and Gunpowder\n57. A Plea for Tanna\n58. Our New Home on Aniwa\n59. House-Building for God\n60. A City of God\n61. The Religion of Revenge\n62. First Fruits on Aniwa\n63. Traditions and Customs\n64. Nelwang's Elopement\n65. The Christ-Spirit at Work\n66. The Sinking of the Well\n67. Rain from Below\n68. The Old Chief's Sermon\n69. The First Book and the New Eyes\n70. A Roof-Tree for Jesus\n71. \"Knock the Tevil out!\"\n72. The Conversion of Youwili\n73. First Communion on Aniwa\n74. The New Social Order\n75. The Orphans and their Biscuits\n76. The Finger-Posts of God\n77. The Gospel in Living Capitals\n78. The Death of Namakei\n79. Christianity and Cocoa-Nuts\n80. Nerwa's Beautiful Farewell\n81. Ruwawa\n82. Litsi\n83. The Conversion of Nasi\n84. The Appeal of Lamu\n85. Wanted! A Steam Auxiliary\n86. My Campaign in Ireland\n87. Scotland's Free-will Offerings\n88. England's Open Door\n89. Farewell Scenes\n90. Welcome to Victoria and Aniwa\n91. Good News from Tanna, 1891\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF JOHN G. PATON.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\nOUR COTTAGE HOME.\n\nMY early days were all spent in the beautiful county of Dumfries, which\nScotch folks call the Queen of the South. There, in a small cottage, on\nthe farm of Braehead, in the parish of Kirkmahoe, I was born on the 24th\nMay, 1824. My father, James Paton, was a stocking manufacturer in a\nsmall way; and he and his young wife, Janet Jardine Rogerson, lived on\nterms of warm personal friendship with the \"gentleman farmer,\" so they\ngave me his son's name, John _Gibson_; and the curly-haired child of the\ncottage was soon able to toddle across to the mansion, and became a\ngreat pet of the lady there. On my visit to Scotland in 1884 I drove out\nto Braehead; but we found no cottage, nor trace of a cottage, and amused\nourselves by supposing that we could discover by the rising of the\ngrassy mound, the outline where the foundations once had been!\n\nWhile yet a mere child, five years or so of age, my parents took me to a\nnew home in the ancient village of Torthorwald, about four and a quarter\nmiles from Dumfries, on the road to Lockerbie. At that time, say 1830,\nTorthorwald was a busy and thriving village, and comparatively populous,\nwith its cottars and crofters, large farmers and small farmers, weavers\nand shoemakers, doggers and coopers, blacksmiths and tailors. Fifty-five\nyears later, when I visited the scenes of my youth, the village proper\nwas extinct, except for five thatched cottages where the lingering\npatriarchs were permitted to die slowly away,--soon they too would be\nswept into the large farms, and their garden plots plowed over, like\nsixty or seventy others that had been blotted out!\n\nFrom the Bank Hill, close above our village, and accessible in a walk of\nfifteen minutes, a view opens to the eye which, despite several easily\nunderstood prejudices of mine that may discount any opinion that I\noffer, still appears to me well worth seeing amongst all the beauties of\nScotland. At your feet lay a thriving village, every cottage sitting in\nits own plot of garden, and sending up its blue cloud of \"peat reek,\"\nwhich never somehow seemed to pollute the blessed air; and after all has\nbeen said or sung, a beautifully situated village of healthy and happy\nhomes for God's children is surely the finest feature in every\nlandscape! Looking from the Bank Hill on a summer day, Dumfries with its\nspires shone so conspicuous that you could have believed it not more\nthan two miles away; the splendid sweeping vale through which Nith rolls\nto Solway, lay all before the naked eye, beautiful with village spires,\nmansion houses, and white shining farms; the Galloway hills, gloomy and\nfar-tumbling, bounded the forward view, while to the left rose Criffel,\ncloud-capped and majestic; then the white sands of Solway, with tides\nswifter than horsemen; and finally the eye rested joyfully upon the\nhills of Cumberland, and noticed with glee the blue curling smoke from\nits villages on the southern Solway shores.\n\nThere, amid this wholesome and breezy village life, our dear parents\nfound their home for the long period of forty years. There too were born\nto them eight additional children, making in all a family of five sons\nand six daughters. Theirs was the first of the thatched cottages on the\nleft, past the \"miller's house,\" going up the \"village gate,\" with a\nsmall garden in front of it, and a large garden across the road; and it\nis one of the few still lingering to show to a new generation what the\nhomes of their fathers were. The architect who planned that cottage had\nno ideas of art, but a fine eye for durability! It consists at present\nof three, but originally of four, pairs of \"oak couples\" (Scottice\n_kipples_) planted like solid trees in the ground at equal intervals,\nand gently sloped inwards till they meet or are \"coupled\" at the ridge,\nthis coupling being managed not by rusty iron, but by great solid pins\nof oak. A roof of oaken wattles was laid across these, till within\neleven or twelve feet of the ground, and from the ground upwards a stone\nwall was raised, as perpendicular as was found practicable, towards\nthese overhang-wattles, this wall being roughly \"pointed\" with sand and\nclay and lime. Now into and upon the roof was woven and intertwisted a\ncovering of thatch, that defied all winds and weathers, and that made\nthe cottage marvelously cozy,--being renewed year by year, and never\nallowed to remain in disrepair at any season. But the beauty of the\nconstruction was and is its durability, or rather the permanence of its\noaken ribs! There they stand, after probably not less than four\ncenturies, japanned with \"peat reek\" till they are literally shining, so\nhard that no ordinary nail can be driven into them, and perfectly\ncapable of service for four centuries more on the same conditions. The\nwalls are quite modern, having all been rebuilt in my father's time,\nexcept only the few great foundation boulders, piled around the oaken\ncouples; and parts of the roofing also may plead guilty to having found\nits way thither only in recent days; but the architect's one idea\nsurvives, baffling time and change--the ribs and rafters of oak.\n\nOur home consisted of a \"but\" and a \"ben\" and a \"mid room,\" or chamber,\ncalled the \"closet.\" The one end was my mother's domain, and served all\nthe purposes of dining-room and kitchen and parlor, besides containing\ntwo large wooden erections, called by our Scotch peasantry \"box beds\";\nnot holes in the wall, as in cities, but grand, big, airy beds, adorned\nwith many-colored counterpanes, and hung with natty curtains, showing\nthe skill of the mistress of the house. The other end was my father's\nworkshop, filled with five or six \"stocking-frames,\" whirring with the\nconstant action of five or six pairs of busy hands and feet, and\nproducing right genuine hosiery for the merchants at Hawick and\nDumfries. The \"closet\" was a very small apartment betwixt the other two,\nhaving room only for a bed, a little table and a chair, with a\ndiminutive window shedding diminutive light on the scene. This was the\nSanctuary of that cottage home. Thither daily, and oftentimes a day,\ngenerally after each meal, we saw our father retire, and \"shut to the\ndoor\"; and we children got to understand by a sort of spiritual instinct\n(for the thing was too sacred to be talked about) that prayers were\nbeing poured out there for us, as of old by the High Priest within the\nveil in the Most Holy Place. We occasionally heard the pathetic echoes\nof a trembling voice pleading as if for life, and we learned to slip out\nand in past that door on tiptoe, not to disturb the holy colloquy. The\noutside world might not know, but we knew, whence came that happy light\nas of a new-born smile that always was dawning on my father's face: it\nwas a reflection from the Divine Presence, in the consciousness of which\nhe lived. Never, in temple or cathedral, on mountain or in glen, can I\nhope to feel that the Lord God is more near, more visibly walking and\ntalking with men, than under that humble cottage roof of thatch and\noaken wattles. Though everything else in religion were by some\nunthinkable catastrophe to be swept out of memory, or blotted from my\nunderstanding, my soul would wander back to those early scenes, and shut\nitself up once again in that Sanctuary Closet, and, hearing still the\nechoes of those cries to God, would hurl back all doubt with the\nvictorious appeal, \"He walked with God, why may not I?\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\nOUR FOREBEARS.\n\nA FEW notes had better here be given as to our \"Forebears,\" the kind of\nstock from which my father and mother sprang. My father's mother, Janet\nMurray, claimed to be descended from a Galloway family that fought and\nsuffered for Christ's Crown and Covenant in Scotland's \"killing time,\"\nand was herself a woman of a pronouncedly religious development. Her\nhusband, our grandfather, William Paton, had passed through a roving and\nromantic career, before he settled down to be a douce deacon of the\nweavers of Dumfries, like his father before him.\n\nForced by a press-gang to serve on board a British man-of-war, he was\ntaken prisoner by the French, and thereafter placed under Paul Jones,\nthe pirate of the seas, and bore to his dying day the mark of a slash\nfrom the captain's sword across his shoulder for some slight disrespect\nor offense. Determining with two others to escape, the three were hotly\npursued by Paul Jones's men. One, who could swim but little, was shot,\nand had to be cut adrift by the other two, who in the darkness swam into\na cave and managed to evade for two nights and a day the rage of their\npursuers. My grandfather, being young and gentle and yellow-haired,\npersuaded some kind heart to rig him out in female attire, and in this\ncostume escaped the attentions of the press-gang more than once; till,\nafter many hardships, he bargained with the captain of a coal sloop to\nstow him away amongst his black diamonds; and thus, in due time, he\nfound his way home to Dumfries, where he tackled bravely and wisely the\nduties of husband, father, and citizen for the remainder of his days.\nThe smack of the sea about the stories of his youth gave zest to the\ntalks round their quiet fireside, and that, again, was seasoned by the\nwarm Evangelical spirit of his Covenanting wife, her lips \"dropping\ngrace.\"\n\nOn the other side, my mother, Janet Rogerson, had for parents a father\nand mother of the Annandale stock. William Rogerson, her father, was one\nof many brothers, all men of uncommon strength and great force of\ncharacter, quite worthy of the Border Rievers of an earlier day. Indeed,\nit was in some such way that he secured his wife, though the dear old\nlady in after days was chary about telling the story. She was a girl of\ngood position, the ward of two unscrupulous uncles who had charge of her\nsmall estate, near Langholm; and while attending some boarding school\nshe fell devotedly in love with the tall, fair-haired, gallant young\nblacksmith, William Rogerson. Her guardians, doubtless very properly,\nobjected to the \"connection\"; but our young Lochinvar, with his six or\nseven stalwart brothers and other trusty \"lads,\" all mounted, and with\nsome ready tools in case of need, went boldly and claimed his bride, and\nshe, willingly mounting at his side, was borne off in the light of open\nday, joyously married, and took possession of her \"but and ben,\" as the\nmistress of the blacksmith's castle.\n\nJanet Jardine bowed her neck to the self-chosen yoke, with the light of\na supreme affection in her heart, and showed in her gentler ways, her\nlove of books, her fine accomplishments with the needle, and her general\nair of ladyhood, that her lot had once been cast in easier, but not\nnecessarily happier, ways. Her blacksmith lover proved not unworthy of\nhis lady bride, and in old age found for her a quiet and modest home,\nthe fruit of years of toil and hopeful thrift, their own little\nproperty, in which they rested and waited a happy end. Amongst those who\nat last wept by her grave stood, amidst many sons and daughters, her son\nthe Rev. James J. Rogerson, clergyman of the Church of England, who, for\nmany years thereafter, and till quite recently, was spared to occupy a\ndistinguished position at ancient Shrewsbury and has left behind him\nthere an honored and beloved name.\n\nFrom such a home came our mother, Janet Jardine Rogerson, a\nbright-hearted, high-spirited, patient-toiling, and altogether heroic\nlittle woman; who, for about forty-three years, made and kept such a\nwholesome, independent, God-fearing, and self-reliant life for her\nfamily of five sons and six daughters, as constrains me, when I look\nback on it now, in the light of all I have since seen and known of\nothers far differently situated, almost to worship her memory. She had\ngone with her high spirits and breezy disposition to gladden as their\ncompanion, the quiet abode of some grand or great-grand-uncle and aunt,\nfamiliarly named in all that Dalswinton neighborhood, \"Old Adam and\nEve.\" Their house was on the outskirts of the moor, and life for the\nyoung girl there had not probably too much excitement. But one thing had\narrested her attention. She had noticed that a young stocking-maker from\nthe \"Brig End,\" James Paton, the son of William and Janet there, was in\nthe habit of stealing alone into the quiet wood, book in hand, day after\nday, at certain hours, as if for private study and meditation. It was a\nvery excusable curiosity that led the young bright heart of the girl to\nwatch him devoutly reading and hear him reverently reciting (though she\nknew not then, it was Ralph Erskine's _Gospel Sonnets_, which he could\nsay by heart sixty years afterwards, as he lay on his bed of death); and\nfinally that curiosity awed itself into a holy respect, when she saw him\nlay aside his broad Scotch bonnet, kneel down under the sheltering wings\nof some tree, and pour out all his soul in daily prayers to God. As yet\nthey had never spoken. What spirit moved her, let lovers tell--was it\nall devotion, or was it a touch of unconscious love kindling in her\ntowards the yellow-haired and thoughtful youth? Or was there a stroke of\nmischief, of that teasing, which so often opens up the door to the most\nserious step in all our lives? Anyhow, one day she slipped in quietly,\nstole away his bonnet, and hung it on a branch near by, while his trance\nof devotion made him oblivious of all around; then, from a safe retreat,\nshe watched and enjoyed his perplexity in seeking for and finding it! A\nsecond day this was repeated; but his manifest disturbance of mind, and\nhis long pondering with the bonnet in hand, as if almost alarmed, seemed\nto touch another chord in her heart--that chord of pity which is so\noften the prelude of love, that finer pity that grieves to wound\nanything nobler or tenderer than ourselves. Next day, when he came to\nhis accustomed place of prayer, a little card was pinned against the\ntree just where he knelt, and on it these words: \"She who stole away\nyour bonnet is ashamed of what she did; she has a great respect for you,\nand asks you to pray for her, that she may become as good a Christian as\nyou.\"\n\nStaring long at that writing, he forgot Ralph Erskine for one day!\nTaking down the card, and wondering who the writer could be, he was\nabusing himself for his stupidity in not suspecting that some one had\ndiscovered his retreat and removed his bonnet, instead of wondering\nwhether angels had been there during his prayer,--when, suddenly raising\nhis eyes, he saw in front of old Adam's cottage, though a lane amongst\nthe trees, the passing of another kind of angel, swinging a milk-pail in\nher hand and merrily singing some snatch of old Scottish song. He knew,\nin that moment, by a Divine instinct, as infallible as any voice that\never came to seer of old, that she was the angel visitor that had stolen\nin upon his retreat--that bright-faced, clever-witted niece of old Adam\nand Eve, to whom he had never yet spoken, but whose praises he had often\nheard said and sung--\"Wee Jen.\" I am afraid he did pray \"for her,\" in\nmore senses than one, that afternoon; at any rate, more than a Scotch\nbonnet was very effectually stolen; a good heart and true was there\nvirtually bestowed, and the trust was never regretted on either side,\nand never betrayed.\n\nOften and often, in the genial and beautiful hours of the autumntide of\ntheir long life, have I heard my dear father tease \"Jen\" about her\nmaidenly intentions in the stealing of that bonnet; and often have heard\nher quick mother-wit in the happy retort, that had his motives for\ncoming to that retreat been altogether and exclusively pious, he would\nprobably have found his way to the other side of the wood, but that men\nwho prowled about the Garden of Eden ran the risk of meeting some day\nwith a daughter of Eve!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\nCONSECRATED PARENTS.\n\nSOMEWHERE in or about his seventeenth year, my father passed through a\ncrisis of religious experience; and from that day he openly and very\ndecidedly followed the Lord Jesus. His parents had belonged to one of\nthe older branches of what is now called the United Presbyterian Church;\nbut my father, having made an independent study of the Scotch Worthies,\nthe Cloud of Witnesses, the Testimonies, and the Confession of Faith,\nresolved to cast in his lot with the oldest of all the Scotch Churches,\nthe Reformed Presbyterian, as most nearly representing the Covenanters\nand the attainments of both the first and second Reformations in\nScotland. This choice he deliberately made, and sincerely and\nintelligently adhered to; and was able at all times to give strong and\nclear reasons from Bible and from history for the principles he upheld.\n\nBesides this, there was one other mark and fruit of his early religious\ndecision, which looks even fairer through all these years. Family\nWorship had heretofore been held only on Sabbath Day in his father's\nhouse; but the young Christian, entering into conference with his\nsympathizing mother, managed to get the household persuaded that there\nought to be daily morning and evening prayer and reading of the Bible\nand holy singing. This the more readily, as he himself agreed to take\npart regularly in the same, and so relieve the old warrior of what might\nhave proved for him too arduous spiritual toils! And so began in his\nseventeenth year that blessed custom of Family Prayer, morning and\nevening, which my father practised probably without one single avoidable\nomission till he lay on his deathbed, seventy-seven years of age; when\never to the last day of his life, a portion of Scripture was read, and\nhis voice was heard softly joining in the Psalm, and his lips breathed\nthe morning and evening Prayer,--falling in sweet benediction on the\nheads of all his children, far away many of them over all the earth, but\nall meeting him there at the Throne of Grace.\n\nOur place of worship was the Reformed Presbyterian Church at Dumfries,\nunder the ministry, during most of these days, of Rev. John McDermid--a\ngenuine, solemn, lovable Covenanter, who cherished towards my father a\nwarm respect, that deepened into apostolic affection when the yellow\nhair turned snow-white and both of them grew patriarchal in their years.\nThe Minister, indeed, was translated to a Glasgow charge; but that\nrather exalted than suspended their mutual love. Dumfries was four miles\nfully from our Torthorwald home; but the tradition is that during all\nthese forty years my father was only thrice prevented from attending the\nworship of God--once by snow, so deep that he was baffled and had to\nreturn; once by ice on the road, so dangerous that he was forced to\ncrawl back up the Roucan Brae on his hands and knees, after having\ndescended it so far with many falls; and once by the terrible outbreak\nof cholera at Dumfries.\n\nEach of us, from very early days, considered it no penalty, but a great\njoy, to go with our father to the church; the four miles were a treat to\nour young spirits, the company by the way was a fresh incitement, and\noccasionally some of the wonders of city-life rewarded our eager eyes. A\nfew other pious men and women, of the best Evangelical type, went from\nthe same parish to one or other favorite Minister at Dumfries; and when\nthese God-fearing peasants \"forgathered\" in the way to or from the House\nof God, we youngsters had sometimes rare glimpses of what Christian talk\nmay be and ought to be.\n\nWe had, too, special Bible Readings on the Lord's Day evening,--mother\nand children and visitors reading in turns, with fresh and interesting\nquestion, answer, and exposition, all tending to impress us with the\ninfinite grace of a God of love and mercy in the great gift of His dear\nSon Jesus, our Saviour. The Shorter Catechism was gone through\nregularly, each answering the question asked, till the whole had been\nexplained, and its foundation in Scripture shown by the proof-texts\nadduced. It has been an amazing thing to me, occasionally to meet with\nmen who blamed this \"catechizing\" for giving them a distaste to\nreligion; every one in all our circle thinks and feels exactly the\nopposite. It laid the solid rock-foundations of our religious life.\nAfter-years have given to these questions and their answers a deeper or\na modified meaning, but none of us has ever once even dreamed of wishing\nthat we had been otherwise trained. Of course, if the parents are not\ndevout, sincere, and affectionate,--if the whole affair on both sides is\ntaskwork, or worse, hypocritical and false,--results must be very\ndifferent indeed!\n\nOh, I can remember those happy Sabbath evenings; no blinds down, and\nshutters up, to keep out the sun from us, as some scandalously affirm;\nbut a holy, happy, entirely human day, for a Christian father, mother\nand children to spend. Others must write and say what they will, and as\nthey feel; but so must I. There were eleven of us brought up in a home\nlike that; and never one of the eleven, boy or girl, man or woman, has\nbeen heard, or ever will be heard, saying that Sabbath was dull and\nwearisome for us, or suggesting that we have heard of or seen any way\nmore likely than that for making the Day of the Lord bright and blessed\nalike for parents and for children. But God help the homes where these\nthings are done by force and not by love!\n\nAs I must, however, leave the story of my father's life--much more\nworthy, in many ways, of being written than my own--I may here mention\nthat his long and upright life made him a great favorite in all\nreligious circles far and near within the neighborhood, that at\nsick-beds and at funerals he was constantly sent for and much\nappreciated, and that this appreciation greatly increased, instead of\ndiminishing, when years whitened his long, flowing locks, and gave him\nan apostolic beauty; till finally, for the last twelve years or so of\nhis life, he became by appointment a sort of Rural Missionary for the\nfour nearest parishes, and spent his autumn in literally sowing the good\nseed of the Kingdom as a Colporteur of the Tract and Book Society of\nScotland. His success in this work, for a rural locality, was beyond all\nbelief. Within a radius of five miles he was known in every home,\nwelcomed by the children, respected by the servants, longed for eagerly\nby the sick and aged. He gloried in showing off the beautiful Bibles and\nother precious books, which he sold in amazing numbers. He sang sweet\nPsalms beside the sick, and prayed like the voice of God at their dying\nbeds. He went cheerily from farm to farm, from cot to cot; and when he\nwearied on the moorland roads, he refreshed his soul by reciting aloud\none of Ralph Erskine's \"Sonnets,\" or crooning to the birds one of\nDavid's Psalms. His happy partner, our beloved mother, died in 1865, and\nhe himself in 1868, having reached his seventy-seventh year, an\naltogether beautiful and noble episode of human existence having been\nenacted, amid the humblest surroundings of a Scottish peasant's home,\nthrough the influence of their united love by the grace of God; and in\nthis world, or in any world, all their children will rise up at mention\nof their names and call them blessed!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\nSCHOOL DAYS.\n\nIN my boyhood, Torthorwald had one of the grand old typical Parish\nSchools of Scotland; where the rich and the poor met together in perfect\nequality; where Bible and Catechism were taught as zealously as grammar\nand geography; and where capable lads from the humblest of cottages were\nprepared in Latin and Mathematics and Greek to go straight from their\nVillage class to the University bench. Besides, at that time, an\naccomplished pedagogue of the name of Smith, a learned man of more than\nlocal fame, had added a Boarding House to the ordinary School, and had\nattracted some of the better class gentlemen and farmers' sons from the\nsurrounding country; so that Torthorwald, under his _regime_, reached\nthe zenith of its educational fame. In this School I was initiated into\nthe mystery of letters, and all my brothers and sisters after me, though\nsome of them under other masters than mine. My teacher punished\nseverely--rather, I should say, savagely--especially for lessons badly\nprepared. Yet, that he was in some respects kindly and tender-hearted, I\nhad the best of reasons to know.\n\nWhen still under twelve years of age, I started to learn my father's\ntrade, in which I made surprising progress. We wrought from six in the\nmorning till ten at night, with an hour at dinner-time and half an hour\nat breakfast and again at supper. These spare moments every day I\ndevoutly spent on my books, chiefly in the rudiments of Latin and Greek;\nfor I had given my soul to God, and was resolved to aim at being a\nMissionary of the Cross, or a Minister of the Gospel. Yet I gladly\ntestify that what I learned of the stocking frame was not thrown away;\nthe facility of using tools, and of watching and keeping the machinery\nin order, came to be of great value to me in the Foreign Mission field.\n\nOne incident of this time I must record here, because of the lasting\nimpression made upon my religious life. Our family, like all others of\npeasant rank in the land, were plunged into deep distress, and felt the\npinch severely, through the failure of the potato, the badness of other\ncrops, and the ransom-price of food. Our father had gone off with work\nto Hawick, and would return next evening with money and supplies; but\nmeantime the meal barrel ran low, and our dear mother, too proud and too\nsensitive to let any one know, or to ask aid from any quarter, coaxed us\nall to rest, assuring us that she had told God everything, and that He\nwould send us plenty in the morning. Next day, with the carrier from\nLockerbie came a present from her father, who, knowing nothing of her\ncircumstances or of this special trial, had been moved of God to send at\nthat particular nick of time a love-offering to his daughter, such as\nthey still send to each other in those kindly Scottish shires--a bag of\nnew potatoes, a stone of the first ground meal or flour, or the earliest\nhomemade cheese of the season--which largely supplied all our need. My\nmother, seeing our surprise at such an answer to her prayers, took us\naround her knees, thanked God for His goodness, and said to us:\n\n\"O my children, love your Heavenly Father, tell Him in faith and prayer\nall your needs, and He will supply your wants so far as it shall be for\nyour good and His glory.\"\n\nPerhaps, amidst all their struggles in rearing a family of eleven, this\nwas the hardest time they ever had, and the only time they ever felt the\nactual pinch of hunger; for the little that they had was marvelously\nblessed of God, and was not less marvelously utilized by that noble\nmother of ours, whose high spirit, side by side with her humble and\ngracious piety, made us, under God, what we are to-day.\n\nI saved as much at my trade as enabled me to go for six weeks to\nDumfries Academy; this awoke in me again the hunger for learning, and I\nresolved to give up that trade and turn to something that might be made\nhelpful to the prosecution of my education. An engagement was secured\nwith the Sappers and Miners, who were mapping and measuring the county\nof Dumfries in connection with the Ordnance Survey of Scotland. The\noffice hours were from 9 A. M. till 4 P. M.; and though my walk from\nhome was above four miles every morning, and the same by return in the\nevening, I found much spare time for private study, both on the way to\nand from my work and also after hours. Instead of spending the mid-day\nhour with the rest, at football and other games, I stole away to a quiet\nspot on the banks of the Nith, and there pored over my book, all alone.\nOur lieutenant, unknown to me, had observed this from his house on the\nother side of the stream, and after a time called me into his office and\ninquired what I was studying. I told him the whole truth as to my\nposition and my desires. After conferring with some of the other\nofficials there, he summoned me again, and in their presence promised me\npromotion in the service, and special training in Woolwich at the\nGovernment's expense, on condition that I would sign an engagement for\nseven years. Thanking him most gratefully for his kind offer, I agreed\nto bind myself for three years or four, but not for seven.\n\nExcitedly he said, \"Why? Will you refuse an offer that many gentlemen's\nsons would be proud of?\"\n\nI said, \"My life is given to another Master, so I cannot engage for\nseven years.\" He asked sharply, \"To whom?\" I replied, \"To the Lord\nJesus; and I want to prepare as soon as possible for His service in the\nproclaiming of the Gospel.\"\n\nIn great anger he sprang across the room, called the paymaster and\nexclaimed, \"Accept my offer, or you are dismissed on the spot!\"\n\nI answered, \"I am extremely sorry if you do so, but to bind myself for\nseven years would probably frustrate the purpose of my life; and though\nI am greatly obliged to you, I cannot make such an engagement.\"\n\nHis anger made him unwilling or unable to comprehend my difficulty; the\ndrawing instruments were delivered up, I received my pay, and departed,\nwithout further parley. Hearing how I had been treated, and why, Mr.\nMaxwell, the Rector of Dumfries Academy, offered to let me attend all\nclasses there, free of charge so long as I cared to remain; but that, in\nlack of means of support, was for the time impossible, as I would not\nand could not be a burden on my dear father, but was determined rather\nto help him in educating the rest. I went therefore to what was known as\nthe Lamb Fair at Lockerbie, and for the first time in my life took a\n\"fee\" for the harvest. On arriving at the field when shearing and mowing\nbegan, the farmer asked me to bind a sheaf; when I had done so, he\nseized it by the band, and it fell to pieces! Instead of disheartening\nme, however, he gave me a careful lesson how to bind; and the second\nthat I bound did not collapse when shaken, and the third he pitched\nacross the field, and on finding that it still remained firm, he cried\nto me cheerily:\n\n\"Right now, my lad; go ahead!\"\n\nIt was hard work for me at first, and my hands got very sore; but, being\nwilling and determined, I soon got into the way of it, and kept up with\nthe best of them. The male harvesters were told off to sleep in a large\nhayloft, the beds being arranged all along the side, like barracks. Many\nof the fellows were rough and boisterous; and I suppose my look showed\nthat I hesitated in mingling with them, for the quick eye and kind heart\nof the farmer's wife prompted her to suggest that I, being so much\nyounger than the rest, might sleep with her son George in the house--an\noffer, oh, how gratefully accepted! A beautiful new steading had\nrecently been built for them; and during certain days, or portions of\ndays, while waiting for the grain to ripen or to dry, I planned and laid\nout an ornamental garden in front of it, which gave great\nsatisfaction--a taste inherited from my mother, with her joy in flowers\nand garden plots. They gave me, on leaving, a handsome present, as well\nas my fee, for I had got on very pleasantly with them all. This\nexperience, too, came to be valuable to me, when, in long-after days,\nand far other lands, Mission buildings had to be erected, and garden and\nfield cropped and cultivated without the aid of a single European hand.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\nLEAVING THE OLD HOME.\n\nBEFORE going to my first harvesting, I had applied for a situation in\nGlasgow, apparently exactly suited for my case; but I had little or no\nhope of ever hearing of it further. An offer of L50 per annum was made\nby the West Campbell Street Reformed Presbyterian Congregation, then\nunder the good and noble Dr. Bates, for a young man to act as district\nvisitor and tract distributor, especially amongst the absentees from the\nSabbath School; with the privilege of receiving one year's training at\nthe Free Church Normal Seminary, that he might qualify himself for\nteaching, and thereby push forward to the Holy Ministry. The candidates,\nalong with their application and certificates, were to send an essay on\nsome subject, of their own composition, and in their own handwriting. I\nsent in two long poems on the Covenanters, which must have exceedingly\namused them, as I had not learned to write even decent prose. But, much\nto my surprise, immediately on the close of the harvesting experience, a\nletter arrived, intimating that I, along with another young man, had\nbeen put upon the short leet, and that both were requested to appear in\nGlasgow on a given day and compete for the appointment.\n\nTwo days thereafter I started out from my quiet country home on the road\nto Glasgow. Literally \"on the road,\" for from Torthorwald to\nKilmarnock--about forty miles--had to be done on foot, and thence to\nGlasgow by rail. Railways in those days were as yet few, and\ncoach-travelling was far beyond my purse. A small bundle contained my\nBible and all my personal belongings. Thus was I launched upon the ocean\nof life. I thought on One who says, \"I know thy poverty, but thou art\nrich.\"\n\nMy dear father walked with me the first six miles of the way. His\ncounsels and tears and heavenly conversation on that parting journey are\nfresh in my heart as if it had been but yesterday; and tears are on my\ncheeks as freely now as then, whenever memory steals me away to the\nscene. For the last half mile or so we walked on together in almost\nunbroken silence,--my father, as was often his custom, carrying hat in\nhand, while his long, flowing yellow hair (then yellow, but in later\nyears white as snow) streamed like a girl's down his shoulders. His lips\nkept moving in silent prayers for me; and his tears fell fast when our\neyes met each other in looks of which all speech was vain! We halted on\nreaching the appointed parting-place; he grasped my hand firmly for a\nminute in silence, and then solemnly and affectionately said:\n\n\"God bless you, my son! Your father's God prosper you, and keep you from\nall evil!\"\n\nUnable to say more, his lips kept moving in silent prayer; in tears we\nembraced, and parted. I ran off as fast as I could; and, when about to\nturn a corner in the road where he would lose sight of me, I looked back\nand saw him still standing with head uncovered where I had left\nhim--gazing after me. Waving my hat in adieu, I was round the corner and\nout of sight in an instant. But my heart was too full and sore to carry\nme farther, so I darted into the side of the road and wept for a time.\nThen, rising up cautiously, I climbed the dyke to see if he yet stood\nwhere I had left him; and just at that moment I caught a glimpse of him\nclimbing the dyke and looking out for me! He did not see me, and after\nhe had gazed eagerly in my direction for a while he got down, set his\nface towards home, and began to return--his head still uncovered, and\nhis heart, I felt sure, still rising in prayers for me. I watched\nthrough blinding tears, till his form faded from my gaze; and then,\nhastening on my way, vowed deeply and oft, by the help of God, to live\nand act so as never to grieve or dishonor such a father and mother as He\nhad given me. The appearance of my father, when we parted,--his advice,\nprayers, and tears--the road, the dyke, the climbing up on it and then\nwalking away, head uncovered--have often, often, all through life, risen\nvividly before my mind, and do so now while I am writing, as if it had\nbeen but an hour ago. In my earlier years particularly, when exposed to\nmany temptations, his parting form rose before me as that of a guardian\nangel.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\nEARLY STRUGGLES.\n\nI REACHED Glasgow on the third day, having slept one night at Thornhill,\nand another at New Cumnock; and having needed, owing to the kindness of\nacquaintances upon whom I called by the way, to spend only three\nhalfpence of my modest funds. Safely arrived, but weary, I secured a\nhumble room for my lodging, for which I had to pay one shilling and\nsixpence per week. Buoyant and full of hope and looking up to God for\nguidance, I appeared at the appointed hour before the examiners, as did\nalso the other candidate; and they having carefully gone through their\nwork, asked us to retire. When recalled, they informed us that they had\ngreat difficulty in choosing, and suggested that the one of us might\nwithdraw in favor of the other, or that both might submit to a more\ntesting examination. Neither seemed inclined to give it up, both were\nwilling for a second examination; but the patrons made another\nsuggestion. They had only L50 per annum to give; but if we would agree\nto divide it betwixt us, and go into one lodging, we might both be able\nto struggle through, they would pay our entrance fees at the Free Normal\nSeminary, and provide us with the books required; and perhaps they might\nbe able to add a little to the sum promised to each of us. By dividing\nthe mission work appointed, and each taking only the half, more time\nalso might be secured for our studies. Though the two candidates had\nnever seen each other before, we at once accepted this proposal, and got\non famously together, never having had a dispute on anything of common\ninterest throughout our whole career.\n\nAs our fellow-students at the Normal were all far advanced beyond us in\ntheir education, we found it killing work, and had to grind away\nincessantly, late and early. Both of us, before the year closed, broke\ndown in health; partly by hard study, but principally, perhaps, for lack\nof nourishing diet. A severe cough seized upon me; I began spitting\nblood, and a doctor ordered me at once home to the country and forbade\nall attempts at study. My heart sank; it was a dreadful disappointment,\nand to me a bitter trial. Soon after, my companion, though apparently\nmuch stronger than I, was similarly seized. He, however, never entirely\nrecovered, though for some years he taught in a humble school; and long\nago he fell asleep in Jesus, a devoted and honored Christian man.\n\nI, on the other hand, after a short rest, nourished by the hill air of\nTorthorwald and by the new milk of our family cow, was ere long at work\nagain. Renting a house, I began to teach a small school at Girvan, and\ngradually but completely recovered my health.\n\nHaving saved L10 by my teaching, I returned to Glasgow, and was enrolled\nas a student at the College; but before the session was finished my\nmoney was exhausted--I had lent some to a poor student, who failed to\nrepay me--and only nine shillings remained in my purse. There was no one\nfrom whom to borrow, had I been willing; I had been disappointed in\nattempting to secure private tuition; and no course seemed open for me,\nexcept to pay what little I owed, give up my College career, and seek\nfor teaching or other work in the country. I wrote a letter to my father\nand mother, informing them of my circumstances; that I was leaving\nGlasgow in quest of work, and that they would, not hear from me again\ntill I had found a suitable situation. I told them that if otherwise\nunsuccessful, I should fall back on my own trade, though I shrank from\nthat as not tending to advance my education; but that they might rest\nassured I would do nothing to dishonor them or my own Christian\nprofession. Having read that letter over again through many tears, I\nsaid,--I cannot send that, for it will grieve my darling parents; and\ntherefore, leaving it on the table, I locked my room door and ran out to\nfind a place where I might sell my precious books, and hold on a few\nweeks longer. But, as I stood on the opposite side and wondered whether\nthese folks in a shop with the three golden balls would care to have a\npoor student's books, and as I hesitated, knowing how much I needed them\nfor my studies, conscience smote me as if for doing a guilty thing; I\nimagined that the people were watching me like one about to commit a\ntheft; and I made off from the scene at full speed, with a feeling of\nintense shame at having dreamed of such a thing! Passing through one\nshort street into another, I marched on mechanically; but the Lord God\nof my father was guiding my steps, all unknown to me.\n\nA certain notice in a window, into which I had probably never in my life\nlooked before, here caught my eye, to this effect--\"Teacher wanted,\nMaryhill Free Church school; apply at the Manse.\" A coach or bus was\njust passing, when I turned round; I leapt into it, saw the Minister,\narranged to undertake the School, returned to Glasgow, paid my\nlandlady's lodging score, tore up that letter to my parents and wrote\nanother full of cheer and hope; and early next morning entered the\nSchool and began a tough and trying job. The Minister warned me that the\nSchool was a wreck, and had been broken up chiefly by coarse and bad\ncharacters from mills and coal-pits, who attended the evening classes.\nThey had abused several masters in succession; and, laying a thick and\nheavy cane on the desk, he said:\n\n\"Use that freely, or you will never keep order here!\"\n\nI put it aside into the drawer of my desk, saying, \"That will be my last\nresource.\"\n\nThere were very few scholars for the first week--about eighteen in the\nDay School and twenty in the Night School. The clerk of the mill, a good\nyoung fellow, came to the evening classes, avowedly to learn\nbook-keeping, but privately he said he had come to save me from personal\ninjury.\n\nThe following week, a young man and a young woman began to attend the\nNight School, who showed from the first moment that they were bent on\nmischief. On my repeated appeals for quiet and order, they became the\nmore boisterous, and gave great merriment to a few of the scholars\npresent. I finally urged the young man, a tall, powerful fellow, to be\nquiet or at once to leave, declaring that at all hazards I must and\nwould have perfect order; but he only mocked at me, and assumed a\nfighting attitude. Quietly locking the door and putting the key in my\npocket, I turned to my desk, armed myself with the cane, and dared any\none at his peril to interfere betwixt us. It was a rough struggle--he\nsmashing at me clumsily with his fists, I with quick movements evading\nand dealing him blow after blow with the heavy cane for several\nrounds--till at length he crouched down at his desk, exhausted and\nbeaten, and I ordered him to turn to his book, which he did in sulky\nsilence. Going to my desk, I addressed them and asked them to inform all\nwho wished to come to the School,--That if they came for education,\neverything would be heartily done that it was in my power to do; but\nthat any who wished for mischief had better stay away, as I was\ndetermined to conquer, not to be conquered, and to secure order and\nsilence, whatever it might cost. Further, I assured them that that cane\nwould not again be lifted by me, if kindness and forbearance on my part\ncould possibly gain the day, as I wished to rule by love and not by\nterror. But this young man knew he was in the wrong, and it was that\nwhich had made him weak against me, though every way stronger far than\nI. Yet I would be his friend and helper, if he was willing to be\nfriendly with me, the same as if this night had never been. At these\nwords a dead silence fell on the School: every one buried face\ndiligently in book; and the evening closed in uncommon quiet and order.\n\nThe attendance grew, till the School became crowded, both during the day\nand at night. During the mid-day hour even, I had a large class of young\nwomen who came to improve themselves in writing and arithmetic. By and\nby the cane became a forgotten implement; the sorrow and pain which I\nshowed as to badly-done lessons, or anything blameworthy, proved the far\nmore effectual penalty.\n\nThe School Committee had promised me at least ten shillings per week,\nand guaranteed to make up any deficit if the fees fell short of that\nsum; but if the income from fees exceeded that sum, all was to be mine.\nAffairs went on prosperously for a season; indeed, too much so for my\nselfish interest. The Committee took advantage of the large attendance\nand better repute of the School, to secure the services of a master of\nthe highest grade. The parents of many of the children offered to take\nand seat a hall, if I would remain, but I knew too well that I had\nneither education nor experience to compete with an accomplished\nteacher. Their children, however, got up a testimonial and subscription,\nwhich was presented to me on the day before I left and this I valued\nchiefly because the presentation was made by the young fellows who at\nfirst behaved so badly, but were now my devoted friends.\n\nOnce more I committed my future to the Lord God of my father, assured\nthat in my very heart I was willing and anxious to serve Him and to\nfollow the blessed Saviour, yet feeling keenly that intense darkness had\nagain enclosed my path.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\nA CITY MISSIONARY.\n\nBEFORE undertaking the Maryhill School, I had applied to be taken on as\nan agent in the Glasgow City Mission; and the night before I had to\nleave Maryhill, I received a letter from Rev. Thomas Caie, the\nsuperintendent of the said Mission, saying that the directors had kept\ntheir eyes on me ever since my application, and requesting, as they\nunderstood I was leaving the School, that I would appear before them the\nnext morning, and have my qualifications for becoming a Missionary\nexamined into. Praising God, I went off at once, passed the examination\nsuccessfully, and was appointed to spend two hours that afternoon and\nthe following Monday in visitation with two of the directors, calling at\nevery house in a low district of the town, and conversing with all the\ncharacters encountered there as to their eternal welfare. I had also to\npreach a \"trial\" discourse in a Mission meeting, where a deputation of\ndirectors would be present, the following evening being Sunday; and on\nWednesday evening they met again to hear their report and to accept or\nreject me.\n\nAll this had come upon me so unexpectedly, that I almost anticipated\nfailure; but looking up for help I went through with it, and on the\nfifth day after leaving the School they called me before a meeting of\ndirectors, and informed me that I had passed my trials most\nsuccessfully, and that the reports were so favorable that they had\nunanimously resolved to receive me at once as one of their City\nMissionaries. Deeply solemnized with the responsibilities of my new\noffice, I left that meeting praising God for all His undeserved mercies,\nand seeing most clearly His gracious hand in all the way by which He had\nled me, and the trials by which He had prepared me for this sphere of\nservice. Man proposes--God disposes.\n\nI found the district a very degraded one. Many families said they had\nnever been visited by any Minister; and many were lapsed professors of\nreligion who had attended no church for ten, sixteen, or twenty years,\nand said they had never been called upon by any Christian visitor. In it\nwere congregated many avowed infidels, Romanists, and drunkards,--living\ntogether, and associated for evil, but apparently without any effective\ncounteracting influence. In many of its closes and courts sin and vice\nwalked about openly--naked and not ashamed.\n\nAfter nearly a year's hard work, I had only six or seven\nnon-church-goers, who had been led to attend regularly there, besides\nabout the same number who met on a week evening in the ground-floor of a\nhouse kindly granted for the purpose by a poor and industrious but\nill-used Irishwoman. She supported her family by keeping a little shop,\nand selling coals. Her husband was a powerful man--a good worker, but a\nhard drinker; and, like too many others addicted to intemperance, he\nabused and beat her, and pawned and drank everything he could get hold\nof. She, amid many prayers and tears, bore everything patiently, and\nstrove to bring up her only daughter in the fear of God. We exerted, by\nGod's blessing, a good influence upon him through our meetings. He\nbecame a Total Abstainer, gave up his evil ways, and attended Church\nregularly with his wife. As his interest increased, he tried to bring\nothers also to the meetings, and urged them to become Abstainers. His\nwife became a center of help and of good influence in all the district,\nas she kindly invited all and welcomed them to the meeting in her house,\nand my work grew every day more hopeful.\n\nBy and by Meetings and Classes were both too large for any house that\nwas available for us in the whole of our district. We instituted a Bible\nClass, a Singing Class, a Communicants' Class, and a Total Abstinence\nSociety; and, in addition to the usual meetings, we opened two\nprayer-meetings specially for the Calton division of the Glasgow\nPolice--one at a suitable hour for the men on day duty, and another for\nthose on night duty. The men got up a Mutual Improvement Society and\nSinging Class also amongst themselves, weekly, on another evening. My\nwork now occupied every evening in the week; and I had two meetings\nevery Sabbath. By God's blessing they all prospered, and gave evidence\nof such fruits as showed that the Lord was working there for good by our\nhumble instrumentality.\n\nThe kind cowfeeder had to inform us--and he did it with much genuine\nsorrow--that at a given date he would require the hay-loft, which was\nour place of meeting; and as no other suitable house or hall could be\ngot, the poor people and I feared the extinction of our work. At that\nvery time however, a commodious block of buildings, that had been\nChurch, Schools, Manse, etc., came into the market. My great-hearted\nfriend, the late Thomas Binnie, persuaded Dr. Symingrton's congregation,\nGreat Hamilton Street, in connection with which my Mission was carried\non, to purchase the whole property. Its situation at the foot of Green\nStreet gave it a control of the district where my work lay; and so the\nChurch was given to me in which to conduct all my meetings, while the\nother Halls were adapted as Schools for poor girls and boys, where they\nwere educated by a proper master, and were largely supplied with books,\nclothing, and sometimes even food, by the ladies of the congregation.\n\nAvailing myself of the increased facilities, my work was all\nreorganized. On Sabbath morning, at seven o'clock, I had one of the most\ndeeply interesting and fruitful of all my Classes for the study of the\nBible. It was attended by from seventy to a hundred of the very poorest\nyoung women and grown-up lads of the whole district. They had nothing to\nput on except their ordinary work-day clothes,--all without bonnets,\nsome without shoes. Beautiful was it to mark how the poorest began to\nimprove in personal appearance immediately after they came to our Class;\nhow they gradually got shoes and one bit of clothing after another, to\nenable them to attend our other Meetings, and then to go to Church; and,\nabove all, how eagerly they sought to bring others with them, taking a\ndeep personal interest in all the work of the Mission. Long after they\nthemselves could appear in excellent dress, many of them still continued\nto attend in their working clothes, and to bring other and poorer girls\nwith them to that Morning Class, and thereby helped to improve and\nelevate their companions. My delight in that Bible Class was among the\npurest joys in all my life, and the results were amongst the most\ncertain and precious of all my Ministry.\n\nI had also a very large Bible Class--a sort of Bible-Reading--on Monday\nnight, attended by all, of both sexes and of any age, who cared to come\nor had any interest in the Mission. Wednesday evening, again, was\ndevoted to a prayer-meeting for all; and the attendance often more than\nhalf-filled the Church. There I usually took up some book of Holy\nScripture and read and lectured right through, practically expounding\nand applying it. On Thursday I held a Communicants' Class, intended for\nthe more careful instruction of all who wished to become full members of\nthe Church. Our constant text-book was _Paterson on the Shorter\nCatechism_ (Nelson and Sons), than which I have never seen a better\ncompendium of the doctrines of Holy Scripture. Each being thus trained\nfor a season, received from me, if found worthy, a letter to the\nMinister of any Protestant Church which he or she felt inclined to join.\nIn this way great numbers became active and useful communicants in the\nsurrounding congregations; and eight young lads of humble circumstances\neducated themselves for the Ministry of the Church--most of them getting\ntheir first lessons in Latin and Greek from my very poor stock of the\nsame! Friday evening was occupied with a Singing Class, teaching Church\nmusic, and practising for our Sabbath meetings. On Saturday evening we\nheld our Total Abstinence meeting, at which the members themselves took\na principal part, in readings, addresses, recitations, singing hymns,\netc.\n\nGreat good resulted from this Total Abstinence work. Many adults took\nand kept the pledge, thereby greatly increasing the comfort and\nhappiness of their homes. Many were led to attend the Church on the\nLord's Day, who had formerly spent it in rioting and drinking. But,\nabove all, it trained the young to fear the very name of intoxicating\ndrink, and to hate and keep far away from everything that led to\nintemperance.\n\nI would add my testimony also against the use of tobacco, which injures\nand leads many astray, especially lads and young men, and which never\ncan be required by any person in ordinary health. But I would not be\nunderstood to regard the evils that flow from it as deserving to be\nmentioned in comparison with the unutterable woes and miseries of\nintemperance.\n\nTo be protected, however, from suspicion and from evil, all the\nfollowers of our Lord Jesus should in self-denial (how small!) and in\nconsecration to His service, be pledged Abstainers from both of these\nselfish indulgences, which are certainly injurious to many, which are no\nornament to any character, and which can be no help in well-doing.\nPraise God for the many who are now so pledged!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\nGLASGOW EXPERIENCES.\n\nON one occasion, it becoming known that we had arranged for a special\nSaturday afternoon Temperance demonstration, a deputation of Publicans\ncomplained beforehand to the Captain of the Police--that our meetings\nwere interfering with their legitimate trade. The Captain, a pious\nWesleyan, who was in full sympathy with us and our work, informed me of\nthe complaints made, and intimated that his men would be present; but I\nwas just to conduct the meeting as usual, and he would guarantee that\nstrict justice would be done. The Publicans having announced amongst\ntheir sympathizers that the Police were to break up and prevent our\nmeeting and take the conductors in charge, a very large crowd assembled,\nboth friendly and unfriendly, for the Publicans and their hangers-on\nwere there \"to see the fun,\" and to help in \"baiting\" the Missionary.\nPunctually, I ascended the stone stair, accompanied by another\nMissionary who was also to deliver an address, and announced our opening\nhymn. As we sang, a company of Police appeared, and were quietly located\nhere and there among the crowd, the sergeant himself taking his post\nclose by the platform, whence the whole assembly could be scanned. Our\nenemies were jubilant, and signals were passed betwixt them and their\nfriends, as if the time had come to provoke a row. Before the hymn was\nfinished, Captain Baker himself, to the infinite surprise of friend and\nfoe alike, joined us on the platform, devoutly listened to all that was\nsaid, and waited till the close. The Publicans could not for very shame\nleave, while he was there at their suggestion and request, though they\nhad wit enough to perceive that his presence had frustrated all their\nsinister plans. They had to hear our addresses and prayers and hymns;\nthey had to listen to the intimation of our future meetings. When all\nhad quietly dispersed, the Captain warmly congratulated us on our large\nand well-conducted congregation, and hoped that great good would result\nfrom our efforts. This opposition also the Lord overruled to increase\nour influence, and to give point and publicity to our assaults upon the\nkingdom of Satan.\n\nThough Intemperance was the main cause of poverty, suffering, misery,\nand vice in that district of Glasgow, I had also considerable opposition\nfrom Romanists and Infidels, many of whom met in clubs, where they drank\ntogether, and gloried in their wickedness and in leading other young men\nastray.\n\nAn Infidel, whose wife was a Roman Catholic, became unwell, and\ngradually sank under great suffering and agony. His blasphemies against\nGod were known and shuddered at by all the neighbors. His wife pled with\nme to visit him. She refused, at my suggestion, to call her own priest,\nso I accompanied her at last. The man refused to hear one word about\nspiritual things, and foamed with rage. He even spat at me, I mentioned\nthe name of Jesus. \"The natural receiveth not the things of the Spirit\nof God; for they are foolishness unto him!\" There is a \"wisdom\" which is\nat best earthly, and _at worst_ \"sensual and devilish.\" I visited the\npoor man daily, but his enmity to God and his sufferings together seemed\nto drive him mad. Towards the end I pleaded with him even then to look\nto the Lord Jesus, and asked if I might pray with him? With all his\nremaining strength he shouted at me, \"Pray for me to the devil!\"\n\nReminding him how he had always denied that there was any devil, I\nsuggested that he must surely believe in one now, else he would scarcely\nmake such a request, even in mockery. In great rage he cried, \"Tes, I\nbelieve there is a devil, and a God, and a just God too; but I have\nhated Him in life, and I hate Him in death!\" With these awful words he\nwriggled into Eternity; but his shocking death produced a very serious\nimpression for good, especially amongst young men, in the district where\nhis character was known.\n\nHow different was the case of that Doctor who also had been an\nunbeliever as well as a drunkard! Highly educated, skilful, and gifted\nabove most in his profession, he was taken into consultation for\nspecially dangerous cases, whenever they could find him tolerably sober.\nAfter one of his excessive \"bouts\" he had a dreadful attack of _delirium\ntremens_. At one time wife and watchers had a fierce struggle to dash\nfrom his lips a draught of prussic acid; at another, they detected the\nsilver-hafted lancet concealed in the band of his shirt, as he lay down,\nto bleed himself to death. His aunt came and pleaded with me to visit\nhim. My heart bled for his poor young wife and two beautiful little\nchildren. Visiting him twice daily, and sometimes even more frequently,\nI found the way somehow into his heart, and he would do almost anything\nfor me and longed for my visits. When again the fit of self-destruction\nseized him, they sent for me; he held out his hand eagerly, and grasping\nmine said, \"Put all these people out of the room, remain you with me; I\nwill be quiet, I will do everything you ask!\"\n\nI got them all to leave, but whispered to one in passing to \"keep near\nthe door.\"\n\nAlone I sat beside him, my hand in his, and kept up a quiet conversation\nfor several hours. After we had talked of everything that I could think\nof, and it was now far into the morning, I said, \"If you had a Bible\nhere, we might read a chapter, verse about.\"\n\nHe said dreamily, \"There was once a Bible above yon press; if you can\nget up to it, you might find it there yet.\"\n\nGetting it, dusting it, and laying it on a small table which I drew near\nto the sofa on which we sat, we read there and then a chapter together.\nAfter this I said; \"Now, shall we pray?\"\n\nHe replied heartily, \"Yes.\"\n\nI having removed the little table, we kneeled down together at the sofa;\nand after a solemn pause I whispered, \"You pray first.\"\n\nHe replied, \"I curse, I cannot pray; would you have me curse God to His\nface?\"\n\nI answered, \"You promised to do all that I asked; you must pray, or try\nto pray, and let me hear that you cannot.\"\n\nHe said, \"I cannot curse God on my knees; let me stand, and I will curse\nHim; I cannot pray.\"\n\nI gently held him on his knees, saying, \"Just try to pray, and let me\nhear you cannot.\"\n\nInstantly he cried out, \"O Lord, Thou knowest I cannot pray,\" and was\ngoing to say something dreadful as he strove to rise up. But I took up\ngently the words he had uttered as if they had been my own and continued\nthe prayer, pleading for him and his dear ones as we knelt there\ntogether, till he showed that he was completely subdued and lying low at\nthe feet of God. On rising from our knees he was manifestly greatly\nimpressed, and I said, \"Now, as I must be at College by daybreak and\nmust return to my lodging for my books and an hour's rest, will do you\none thing more for me before I go?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" was his reply.\n\n\"Then,\" said I, \"it is long since you had a refreshing sleep: now, will\nyou lie down, and I will sit by you till you fall asleep?\"\n\nHe lay down, and was soon fast asleep. After commending him to the care\nand blessing of the Lord, I quietly slipped out, and his wife returned\nto watch by his side. When I came back later in the day, after my\nClasses were over, he, on hearing my foot and voice, came to meet me,\nand clasping me in his arms, cried, \"Thank God, I can pray now! I rose\nthis morning refreshed from sleep, and prayed with my wife and children\nfor the first time in my life; and now I shall do so every day, and\nserve God while I live, who hath dealt in so great mercy with me!\"\n\nAfter delightful conversation, he promised to go with me to Dr.\nSymington's church on Sabbath Day; there he took sittings beside me; at\nnext half-yearly Communion he and his wife were received into\nmembership, and their children were baptized; and from that day till his\ndeath he led a devoted and most useful Christian life. He now sleeps in\nJesus; and I do believe I shall meet him in Glory as a trophy of\nredeeming grace and love!\n\nIn my Mission district I was the witness of many joyful departures to be\nwith Jesus,--I do not like to name them \"deaths\" at all. They left us\nrejoicing in the bright assurance that nothing present or to come \"could\never separate them or us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus\nour Lord.\" Many examples might be given; but I can find room for only\none. John Sim, a dear little boy, was carried away by consumption. His\nchild-heart seemed to be filled with joy about seeing Jesus. His simple\nprattle, mingled with deep questionings, arrested not only his young\ncompanions, but pierced the hearts of some careless sinners who heard\nhim, and greatly refreshed the faith of God's dear people. It was the\nvery pathos of song incarnated to hear the weak quaver of his dying\nvoice sing out--\n\n\"I lay my sins on Jesus, The spotless Lamb of God.\"\n\nShortly before his decease he said to his parents, \"I am going soon to\nbe with Jesus; but I sometimes fear that I may not see you there.\"\n\n\"Why so, my child?\" said his weeping mother.\n\n\"Because,\" he answered, \"if you were set upon going to Heaven and seeing\nJesus there, you would pray about it, and sing about it; you would talk\nabout Jesus to others, and tell them of that happy meeting with Him in\nGlory. All this my dear Sabbath School teacher taught me, and she will\nmeet me there. Now why did not you, my father and mother, tell me all\nthese things about Jesus, if you are going to meet Him too?\" Their tears\nfell fast over their dying child; and he little knew, in his unthinking\neighth year, what a message from God had pierced their souls through his\ninnocent words.\n\nOne day an aunt from the country visited his mother, and their talk had\nrun in channels for which the child no longer felt any interest. On my\nsitting down beside him, he said, \"Sit you down and talk with me about\nJesus; I am tired hearing so much talk about everything else but Jesus;\nI am going soon to be with Him. Oh, do tell me everything you know or\nhave ever heard about Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God!\"\n\nAt last the child literally longed to be away, not for rest, or freedom\nfrom pain--for of that he had very little--but, as he himself always put\nit, \"to see Jesus.\" And, after all, that was the wisdom of the heart,\nhowever he learned it. Eternal life, here or hereafter, is just the\nvision of Jesus.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\nA FOREIGN MISSIONARY.\n\nHAPPY in my work as I felt through these ten years, and successful by\nthe blessing of God, yet I continually heard, and chiefly during my last\nyears in the Divinity Hall, the wail of the perishing Heathen in the\nSouth Seas; and I saw that few were caring for them, while I well knew\nthat many would be ready to take up my work in Calton, and carry it\nforward perhaps with more efficiency than myself. Without revealing the\nstate of my mind to any person, this was the supreme subject of my daily\nmeditation and prayer; and this also led me to enter upon those medical\nstudies, in which I purposed taking the full course; but at the close of\nmy third year, an incident occurred, which led me at once to offer\nmyself for the Foreign Mission field.\n\nThe Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, in which I had been\nbrought up, had been advertising for another Missionary to join the Rev.\nJohn Inglis in his grand work on the New Hebrides. Dr. Bates, the\nexcellent convener of the Heathen Missions Committee, was deeply\ngrieved, because for two years their appeal had failed. At length, the\nSynod, after much prayer and consultation, felt the claims of the\nHeathen so gently pressed upon them by the Lord's repeated calls, that\nthey resolved to cast lots, to discover whether God would thus select\nany Minister to be relieved from his home-charge, and designated as a\nMissionary to the South Seas. Each member of Synod, as I was informed,\nagreed to hand in, after solemn appeal to God, the names of the three\nbest qualified in his esteem for such a work, and he who had the clear\nmajority was to be loosed from his congregation, and to proceed to the\nMission field--or the first and second highest, if two could be secured.\nHearing this debate, and feeling an intense interest in these most\nunusual proceedings, I remember yet the hushed solemnity of the prayer\nbefore the names were handed in. I remember the strained silence that\nheld the Assembly while the scrutineers retired to examine the papers;\nand I remember how tears blinded my eyes when they returned to announce\nthat the result was so indecisive, that it was clear that the Lord had\nnot in that way provided a Missionary. The cause was once again solemnly\nlaid before God in prayer, and a cloud of sadness appeared to fall over\nall the Synod.\n\nThe Lord kept saying within me, \"Since none better qualified can be got,\nrise and offer yourself!\" Almost overpowering was the impulse to answer\naloud, \"Here am I, send me.\" But I was dreadfully afraid of mistaking my\nmere human emotions for the will of God. So I resolved to make it a\nsubject of close deliberation and prayer for a few days longer, and to\nlook at the proposal from every possible aspect. Besides, I was keenly\nsolicitous about the effect upon the hundreds of young people and\nothers, now attached to all my Classes and Meetings; and yet I felt a\ngrowing assurance that this was the call of God to His servant, and that\nHe who was willing to employ me in the work abroad, was both able and\nwilling to provide for the on-carrying of my work at home. My medical\nstudies, as well as my literary and divinity training, had specially\nqualified me in some ways for the Foreign field, and from every aspect\nat which I could look the whole facts in the face, the voice within me\nsounded like a voice from God.\n\nIt was under good Dr. Bates of West Campbell Street that I had begun my\ncareer in Glasgow--receiving L25 per annum for district visitation in\nconnection with his Congregation, along with instruction under Mr.\nHislop and his staff in the Free Church Normal Seminary--and oh, how Dr.\nBates did rejoice, and even weep for joy, when I called on him, and\noffered myself for the New Hebrides Mission! I returned to my lodging\nwith a lighter heart than I had for sometime enjoyed, feeling that\nnothing so clears the vision, and lifts up the life, as a decision to\nmove forward in what you know to be entirely the will of the Lord. I\nsaid to my fellow-student, Joseph Copeland, who had chummed with me all\nthrough our course at college, \"I have been away signing my banishment\"\n(a rather trifling way of talk for such an occasion). \"I have offered\nmyself as a Missionary for the New Hebrides.\"\n\nAfter a long and silent meditation, in which he seemed lost in\nfar-wandering thoughts, his answer was, \"If they will accept of me, I am\nalso resolved to go!\"\n\nI said, \"Will you write the Convener to that effect, or let me do so?\"\n\nHe replied, \"You may.\"\n\nA few minutes later his letter of offer was in the post-office. Next\nmorning Dr. Bates called upon us, early, and after a long conversation,\ncommended us and our future work to the Lord God in fervent prayer. At a\nmeeting of the Foreign Missions Committee, held immediately thereafter,\nboth were, after due deliberation, formally accepted, on condition that\nwe passed successfully the usual examinations required of candidates for\nthe Ministry. And for the next twelve months we were placed under a\nspecial committee for advice as to medical experience, acquaintance with\nthe rudiments of trades, and anything else which might be thought useful\nto us in the Foreign field.\n\nWhen it became known that I was preparing to go abroad as Missionary,\nnearly all were dead against the proposal, except Dr. Bates and my\nfellows-student. My dear father and mother, however, when I consulted\nthem, characteristically replied, \"that they had long since given me\naway to the Lord, and in this matter also would leave me to God's\ndisposal.\" From other quarters we were besieged with the strongest\nopposition on all sides. Even Dr. Symington, one of my professors in\ndivinity, and the beloved Minister in connection with whose congregation\nI had wrought so long as a City Missionary, and in whose Kirk Session I\nhad for years sat as an Elder, repeatedly urged me to remain at home.\n\nTo his arguments I replied, \"that my mind was finally resolved; that,\nthough I loved my work and my people, yet I felt that I could leave them\nto the care of Jesus, who would soon provide them a better pastor than\nI; and that, with regard to my life amongst the Cannibals, as I had only\nonce to die, I was content to leave the time and place and means in the\nhand of God who had already marvelously preserved me when visiting\ncholera patients and the fever-stricken poor; on that score I had\npositively no further concern, having left it all absolutely to the\nLord, whom I sought to serve and honor, whether in life or by death.\"\n\nThe house connected with my Green Street Church was now offered to me\nfor a Manse, and any reasonable salary that I cared to ask (as against\nthe promised L120 per annum for the far-off and dangerous New Hebrides),\non condition that I would remain at home. I cannot honestly say that\nsuch offers or opposing influences proved a heavy trial to me; they\nrather tended to confirm my determination that the path of duty was to\ngo abroad.\n\nAmongst many who sought to deter me, was one dear old Christian\ngentleman, whose crowning argument always was, \"The cannibals! you will\nbe eaten by cannibals!\" At last I replied, \"Mr. Dickson, you are\nadvanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the\ngrave, there to be eaten by worms, I confess to you, that if I can but\nlive and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no\ndifference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; and in the\nGreat Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the\nlikeness of our risen Redeemer.\"\n\nThe old gentleman, raising his hands in a deprecating attitude, left the\nroom exclaiming, \"After that I have nothing more to say!\"\n\nMy dear Green Street people grieved excessively at the thought of my\nleaving them, and daily pleaded with me to remain. Indeed, the\nopposition was so strong from nearly all, and many of them warm\nChristian friends, that I was sorely tempted to question whether I was\ncarrying out the Divine will, or only some headstrong wish of my own.\nBut conscience said louder and clearer every day, \"Leave all these\nresults with Jesus your Lord, who said, 'Go ye into all the world,\npreach the Gospel to every creature, and lo! I am with you alway.'\"\nThese words kept ringing in my ears; these were our _marching orders_.\n\nSome retorted upon me, \"There are Heathen at home; let us seek and save,\nfirst of all, the lost ones perishing at our doors.\" This I felt to be\nmost true, and an appalling fact; but I unfailingly observed that those\nwho made this retort neglected these Home Heathen themselves; and so the\nobjection, as from them, lost all its power.\n\nOn meeting, however, with so many obstructing influences, I again laid\nthe whole matter before my dear parents, and their reply was to this\neffect:--\"Heretofore we feared to bias you, but now we must tell you why\nwe praise God for the decision to which you have been led. Your father's\nheart was set upon being a Minister, but other claims forced him to give\nit up! When you were given to them, your father and mother laid you upon\nthe altar, their first-born, to be consecrated, if God saw fit, as a\nMissionary of the Cross; and it has been their constant prayer that you\nmight be prepared, qualified, and led to this very decision; and we pray\nwith all our heart that the Lord may accept your offering, long spare\nyou, and give you many souls from the Heathen World for your hire.\" From\nthat moment, every doubt as to my path of duty forever vanished. I saw\nthe hand of God very visibly, not only preparing me for, but now leading\nme to, the Foreign Mission field.\n\nWell did I know that the sympathy and prayers of my dear parents were\nwarmly with me in all my studies and in all my Mission work; but for my\neducation they could of course, give me no money help. All through, on\nthe contrary, it was my pride and joy to help them, being the eldest in\na family of eleven; though I here most gladly and gratefully record that\nall my brothers and sisters, as they grew up and began to earn a living,\ntook their full share in this same blessed privilege. For we stuck to\neach other and to the old folks like burs, and had all things \"in\ncommon,\" as a family in Christ--and I knew that never again, howsoever\nlong they might be spared through the peaceful autumn of life, would the\ndear old father and mother lack any joy or comfort that the willing\nhands and loving hearts of all their children could singly or unitedly\nprovide. For all this I did praise the Lord! It consoled me beyond\ndescription, in parting from them, probably forever, in this world at\nleast.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\nTO THE NEW HEBRIDES.\n\nON the first of December 1857--being then in my thirty-third year--the\nother Missionary-designate and I were \"licensed\" as preachers of the\nGospel. Thereafter we spent four months in visiting and addressing\nnearly every Congregation and Sabbath School in the Reformed\nPresbyterian Church of Scotland, that the people might see us and know\nus, and thereby take a personal interest in our work. On the 23d March\n1858, in Dr. Symington's church, Glasgow, in presence of a mighty crowd,\nand after a magnificent sermon on \"Come over and help us,\" we were\nsolemnly ordained as Ministers of the Gospel, and set apart as\nMissionaries to the New Hebrides. On the 16th April of the same year, we\nleft the Tail of the Bank at Greenock, and set sail in the _Clutha_ for\nthe Foreign Mission field.\n\nOur voyage to Melbourne was rather tedious, but ended prosperously,\nunder Captain Broadfoot, a kindly, brave-hearted Scot, who did\neverything that was possible for our comfort. He himself led the singing\non board at Worship, which was always charming to me, and was always\nregularly conducted--on deck when the weather was fair, below when it\nwas rough. I was also permitted to conduct Bible Classes amongst both\nthe crew and the passengers, at times and places approved of by the\nCaptain--in which there was great joy.\n\nArriving at Melbourne, we were welcomed by Rev. Mr. Moor, Mr. and Mrs.\nSamuel Wilson, and Mr. Wright, all Reformed Presbyterians from Geelong.\nMr. Wilson's two children, Jessie and Donald, had been under our care\nduring the voyage; and my young wife and I went with them for a few days\non a visit to Geelong, while Mr. Copeland remained on board the _Clutha_\nto look after our boxes and to watch for any opportunity of reaching our\ndestination on the Islands. He heard that an American ship, the _Frances\nP. Sage_, was sailing from Melbourne to Penang; and the Captain agreed\nto land us on Aneityum, New Hebrides, with our two boats and fifty\nboxes, for L100. We got on board on the 12th August, but such a gale\nblew that we did not sail till the 17th. On the _Clutha_ all was quiet,\nand good order prevailed; in the _F. P. Sage_ all was noise and\nprofanity. The Captain said he kept his second mate for the purpose of\nswearing at the men and knocking them about. The voyage was most\ndisagreeable to all of us, but fortunately it lasted only twelve days.\nOn the 29th we were close up to Aneityum; but the Captain refused to\nland us, even in his boats; some of us suspecting that his men were so\nbadly used that had they got on shore they would never have returned to\nhim! In any case he had beforehand secured his L100.\n\nHe lay off the island till a trader's boat pulled across to see what we\nwanted, and by it we sent a note to Dr. Geddie, one of the Missionaries\nthere. Early next horning, Monday, he arrived in his boat, accompanied\nby Mr. Mathieson, a newly arrived Missionary from Nova Scotia; bringing\nalso Captain Andersen in the small Mission schooner, the _John Knox_,\nand a large Mission boat called the _Columbia_, well manned with crews\nof able and willing Natives. Our fifty boxes were soon on board the\n_John Knox_, the _Columbia_, and our own boats--all being heavily loaded\nand built up, except those that had to be used in pulling the others\nashore. Dr. Geddie, Mr. Mathieson, Mrs. Paton, and I were perched among\nthe boxes on the _John Knox_, and had to hold on as best we could. On\nsheering off from the _F. P. Sage_, one of her davits caught and broke\nthe mainmast of the little _John Knox_ by the deck; and I saved my wife\nfrom being crushed to death by its fall, through managing to swing her\ninstantaneously aside in an apparently impossible manner. It did graze\nMr. Mathieson, but he was not hurt. The _John Knox_, already overloaded,\nwas thus quite disabled; we were about ten miles at sea, and in imminent\ndanger; but the captain of the _F. P. Sage_ heartlessly sailed away, and\nleft us to struggle with our fate.\n\nWe drifted steadily in the direction of Tanna, an island of cannibals,\nwhere our goods would have been plundered and all of us cooked and\neaten. Dr. Geddie's boat, and mine had the _John Knox_ in tow; and Mr.\nCopeland, with a crew of Natives, was struggling hard with his boat to\npull the _Columbia_ and her load towards Aneityum. As God mercifully\nordered it, though we had a stiff trade wind to pull against, we had a\ncomparatively calm sea; yet we drifted still to leeward, till Dr. Inglis\ngoing round to the harbor in his boat, as he had heard of our arrival,\nsaw us far at sea, and hastened to our rescue. All the boats now, with\ntheir willing Native crews, got fastened to our schooner, and to our\ngreat joy she began to move ahead. After pulling for hours and hours,\nunder the scorching rays of a tropical sun, we were all safely landed on\nshore at Aneityum, about six o'clock in the evening of 30th August, just\nfour months and fourteen days since we sailed from Greenock. We got a\nhearty welcome from the Missionaries' wives, Mrs. Geddie, Mrs. Inglis,\nand Mrs. Mathieson, and from all our new friends the Christian Natives\nof Aneityum; and the great danger in which both life and property had\nbeen placed at the close of our voyage, made us praise God all the more\nthat He had brought us to this quiet resting-place, around which lay the\nIslands of the New Hebrides, to which our eager hearts had looked\nforward, and into which we entered now in the name of the Lord.\n\nMr. Copeland, Mrs. Paton, and I went round the island to Dr. Inglis's\nStation, where we were most cordially received and entertained by his\ndear lady, and by the Christian Natives there. As he was making several\nadditions to his house at that time, we received for the next few weeks\nour first practical and valuable training in Mission house-building, as\nwell as in higher matters. Soon after, a meeting was called to consult\nabout our settlement, and, by the advice and with the concurrence of\nall, Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson from Nova Scotia were located on the south\nside of Tanna, at Umairarekar, and Mrs. Paton and I at Port Resolution,\non the same island. At first it was agreed that Mr. Copeland should be\nplaced along with us; but owing to the weakly state of Mrs. Mathieson's\nhealth, it was afterwards resolved that, for a time at least, Mr.\nCopeland should live at either Station as seem most suitable or most\nrequisite.\n\nDr. Inglis and a number of his most energetic Natives accompanied us to\nUmairarekar Tanna. There we purchased a site for Mission House and\nChurch, and laid a stone foundation, and advanced as far as practicable\nthe erection of a dwelling for Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson. Thence we\nproceeded to Port Resolution, Tanna, and similarly purchased a site, and\nadvanced, to a forward stage, the house which Mrs. Paton and I were to\noccupy on our settlement there. Lime for plastering had to be burned in\nkilns from the coral rocks; and thatch, for roofing with sugar-cane\nleaf, had to be prepared by the Natives at both Stations before our\nreturn; for which, as for all else, a price was duly agreed upon, and\nwas scrupulously paid. Unfortunately we learned, when too late, that\nboth houses were too near the shore, exposed to unwholesome miasma, and\nproductive of the dreaded fever and ague,--the most virulent and\ninsidious enemy to all Europeans in those Southern Seas.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\nFIRST IMPRESSIONS OF HEATHENDOM.\n\nMY first impressions drove me, I must confess, to the verge of utter\ndismay. On beholding these Natives in their paint and nakedness and\nmisery, my heart was as full of horror as of pity. Had I given up my\nmuch-beloved work and my dear people in Glasgow, with so many delightful\nassociations, to consecrate my life to these degraded creatures? Was it\npossible to teach them right and wrong, to Christianize, or even to\ncivilize them? But that was only a passing feeling; I soon got as deeply\ninterested in them, and in all that tended to advance them, and to lead\nthem to the knowledge and love of Jesus, as ever I had been in my work\nat Glasgow. We were surprised and delighted at the remarkable change\nproduced on the Natives of Aneityum through the instrumentality of Drs.\nGeddie and Inglis in so short a time; and we hoped, by prayerful\nperseverance in the use of similar means, to see the same work of God\nrepeated on Tanna. Besides, the wonderful and blessed work done by Mrs.\nInglis and Mrs. Geddie, at their Stations, filled our wives with the\nbuoyant hope of being instruments in the hand of God to produce an\nequally beneficent change amongst the savage women of Tanna. Mrs. Paton\nhad been left with Mrs. Inglis to learn all she could from her of\nMission work on the Islands, till I returned with Dr. Inglis from the\nhouse-building operations on Tanna; during which period Mr. and Mrs.\nMathieson were also being instructed by Dr. and Mrs. Geddie.\n\nTo the Tannese, Dr. Inglis and I were objects of curiosity and fear;\nthey came crowding to gaze on our wooden and lime-plastered house; they\nchattered incessantly with each other, and left the scene day after day\nwith undisguised and increasing wonderment. Possibly they thought us\nrather mad than wise!\n\nParty after party of armed men going and coming in a state of great\nexcitement, we were informed that war was on foot; but our Aneityumese\nTeachers were told to assure us that the Harbor people would only act on\nthe defensive, and that no one would molest us at our work. One day two\nhostile tribes met near our Station; high words arose, and old feuds\nwere revived. The Inland people withdrew; but the Harbor people, false\nto their promises, flew to arms and rushed past us in pursuit of their\nenemies. The discharge of muskets in the adjoining bush, and the horrid\nyells of the savages, soon informed us that they were engaged in deadly\nfights. Excitement and terror were on every countenance; armed men\nrushed about in every direction, with feathers in their twisted\nhair,--with faces painted red, black, and white, and some, one cheek\nblack, the other red, others, the brow white, the chin blue--in fact,\nany color and on any part,--the more grotesque and savage-looking, the\nhigher the art! Some of the women ran with their children to places of\nsafety; but even then we saw other girls and women, on the shore close\nby, chewing sugar-cane and chaffering and laughing, as if their fathers\nand brothers had been engaged in a country dance, instead of a bloody\nconflict.\n\nIn the afternoon, as the sounds of the muskets and the yelling of the\nwarriors came unpleasantly near to us, Dr. Inglis, leaning against a\npost for a little while in silent prayer, looked on us and said, \"The\nwalls of Jerusalem were built in troublous times, and why not the\nMission House on Tanna? But let us rest for this day, and pray for these\npoor Heathen.\"\n\nWe retired to a Native house that had been temporarily granted to us for\nrest, and there pled before God for them all. The noise and the\ndischarge of muskets gradually receded, as if the Inland people were\nretiring; and towards evening the people around us returned to their\nvillages. We were afterwards informed that five or six men had been shot\ndead; that their bodies had been carried by the conquerors from the\nfield of battle, and cooked and eaten that very night at a boiling\nspring near the head of the bay, less than a mile from the spot where my\nhouse was being built. We had also a more graphic illustration of the\nsurroundings into which we had come, through Dr. Inglis's Aneityum boy,\nwho accompanied us as cook. When our tea was wanted next morning, the\nboy could not be found. After a while of great anxiety on our part, he\nreturned, saying, \"Missi, this is a dark land. The people of this land\ndo dark works. At the boiling spring they have cooked and feasted upon\nthe slain. They have washed the blood into the water; they have bathed\nthere, polluting everything. I cannot get pure water to make your tea.\nWhat shall I do?\"\n\nDr. Inglis told him that he must try for water elsewhere, till the rains\ncame and cleansed away the pollution; and that meanwhile, instead of\ntea, we would drink from the cocoa-nut, as they had often done before.\nThe lad was quite relieved. It not a little astonished us, however, to\nsee that his mind regarded their killing and eating each other as a\nthing scarcely to be noticed, but that it was horrible that they should\nspoil the water! How much are even our deepest instincts the creatures\nof mere circumstances! I, if trained like him, would probably have felt\nlike him.\n\nNext evening, as we sat talking about the people, and the dark scenes\naround us, the quiet of the night was broken by a wild wailing cry from\nthe villages around, long-continued and unearthly. We were informed that\none of the wounded men, carried home from the battle, had just died; and\nthat they had strangled his widow to death, that her spirit might\naccompany him to the other world, and be his servant there, as she had\nbeen here. Now their dead bodies were laid side by side, ready to be\nburied in the sea. Our hearts sank to think of all this happening within\near-shot, and that we knew it not! Every new scene, every fresh\nincident, set more clearly before us the benighted condition and\nshocking cruelties of these Heathen people, and we longed to be able to\nspeak to them of Jesus and the love of God. We eagerly tried to pick up\nevery word of their language, that we might, in their own tongue, unfold\nto them the knowledge of the true God and of salvation from all these\nsins through Jesus Christ.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\nBREAKING GROUND ON TANNA.\n\nOUR small Missionary schooner, the _John Knox_, having no accommodation\nfor lady passengers, and little for anybody else except the discomfort\nof lying on deck, we took advantage of a trader to convey us from\nAneityum to Tanna. The Captain kindly offered to take us and about\nthirty casks and boxes to Port Resolution for L5, which we gladly\naccepted. After a few hours' sailing we were all safely landed on Tanna\non the 5th November, 1858. Dr. Geddie went for a fortnight to\nUmairarekar, now known as Kwamera, on the south side of Tanna, to assist\nin the settlement of Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson, and to help in making their\nhouse habitable and comfortable. Mr. Copeland, Mrs. Paton, and I were\nleft at Port Resolution, to finish the building of our house there, and\nwork our way into the good will of the Natives as best we could.\n\nOn landing, we found the people to be literally naked and painted\nSavages; they were at least as destitute of clothing as Adam and Eve\nafter the fall, when they sewed fig-leaves for a girdle, and even more\nso, for the women wore only a tiny apron of grass, in some cases shaped\nlike a skirt or girdle, the men an indescribable affair like a pouch or\nbag, and the children absolutely nothing whatever.\n\nAt first they came in crowds to look at us, and at everything we did or\nhad. We knew nothing of their language; we could not speak a single word\nto them, nor they to us. We looked at them, they at us; we smiled and\nnodded, and made signs to each other; this was our first meeting and\nparting. One day I observed two men, the one lifting up one of our\narticles to the other, and saying, \"Nungsi nari enu?\"\n\nI concluded that he was asking, \"What is this?\" Instantly, lifting a\npiece of wood, I said, \"Nungsi nari enu?\"\n\nThey smiled and spoke to each other. I understood them to be saying, \"He\nhas got hold of our language now.\" Then they told me their name for the\nthing which I had pointed to. I found that they understood my question,\nWhat is this? or, What is that? and that I could now get from them the\nname of every visible or tangible thing around us! We carefully noted\ndown every name they gave us, spelling all phonetically, and also every\nstrange sound we heard from them; thereafter, by painstaking comparison\nof different circumstances, we tried to ascertain their meanings,\ntesting our own guess by again cross-questioning the Natives. One day I\nsaw two men approaching, when one, who was a stranger, pointed to me\nwith his finger, and said, \"Se nangin?\"\n\nConcluding that he was asking my name, I pointed! to one of them with my\nfinger, and looking at the other, inquired, \"Se nangin?\"\n\nThey smiled, and gave me their names. We were now able to get the names\nof persons and things, and so our ears got familiarized with the\ndistinctive sounds of their language; and being always keenly on the\nalert, we made extraordinary progress in attempting bits of conversation\nand in reducing their speech for the first time to a written form--for\nthe New Hebrideans had no literature, and not even the rudiments of an\nalphabet. I used to hire some of the more intelligent lads and men to\nsit and talk with us, and answer our questions about names and sounds;\nbut they so often deceived us, and we, doubtless, misunderstood them so\noften, that this course was not satisfactory, till after we had gained\nsome knowledge of their language and its construction, and they\nthemselves had become interested in helping us. Amongst our most\ninteresting helpers, and most trustworthy, were two aged chiefs--Nowa\nand Nouka--in many respects two of Nature's noblest gentlemen, kind at\nheart to all, and distinguished by a certain native dignity of bearing.\nBut they were both under the leadership of the war-chief Miaki, a kind\nof devil-king over many villages and tribes.\n\nThe Tannese had hosts of stone idols, charms, and sacred objects, which\nthey abjectly feared, and in which they devoutly believed. They were\ngiven up to countless superstitions, and firmly glued to their dark\nheathen practices. Their worship was entirely a service of fear, its aim\nbeing to propitiate this or that Evil Spirit, to prevent calamity or to\nsecure revenge. They deified their chiefs, like the Romans of old, so\nthat almost every village or tribe had its own Sacred Man, and some of\nthem had many. They exercised an extraordinary influence for evil, these\nvillage or tribal priests, and were believed to have the disposal of\nlife and death through their sacred ceremonies, not only in their own\ntribe, but over all the Islands. Sacred men and women, wizards and\nwitches, received presents regularly to influence the gods, and to\nremove sickness, or to cause it by the _Nahak, i. e._ incantation over\nremains of food, or the skin of fruit, such as banana, which the person\nhas eaten on whom they wish to operate. They also worshiped the spirits\nof departed ancestors and heroes, through their material idols of wood\nand stone, but chiefly of stone. They feared these spirits and sought\ntheir aid; especially seeking to propitiate those who presided over war\nand peace, famine and plenty, health and sickness, destruction and\nprosperity, life and death. Their whole worship was one of slavish fear;\nand, so far as ever I could learn, they had no idea of a God of mercy or\ngrace.\n\nBut these very facts--that they did worship something, that they\nbelieved in spirits of ancestors and heroes, and that they cherished\nmany legends regarding those whom they had never seen, and handed these\ndown to their children--and the fact that they had ideas about the\ninvisible world and its inhabitants, made it not so hard as some might\nsuppose to convey to their minds, once their language and modes of\nthought were understood, some clear ideal of Jehovah God as the great\nuncreated Spirit Father, who Himself created and sustains all that is.\nIt could not, however, be done offhand, or by a few airy lessons. The\nwhole heart and soul and life had to be put into the enterprise. But it\ncould be done--that we believed because they were men, not beasts; it\nhad been done--that we saw in the converts on Aneityum; and our hearts\nrose to the task with quenchless hope!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\nPIONEERS IN THE NEW HEBRIDES.\n\nA GLANCE backwards over the story of the Gospel in the New Hebrides may\nhelp to bring my readers into touch with the events that are to follow.\nThe ever-famous names of Williams and Harris are associated with the\nearliest efforts to introduce Christianity amongst this group of islands\nin the South Pacific Seas. John Williams and his young Missionary\ncompanion Harris, under the auspices of the London Missionary Society,\nlanded on Erromanga on the 30th of November 1839. Alas, within a few\nminutes of their touching land, both were clubbed to death; and the\nsavages proceeded to cook and feast upon their bodies. Thus were the New\nHebrides baptized with the blood of Martyrs; and Christ thereby told the\nwhole Christian world that He claimed these Islands as His own. His\ncross must yet be lifted up, where the blood of His saints has been\npoured forth in His name! The poor Heathen knew not that they had slain\ntheir best friends; but tears and prayers ascended for them from all\nChristian souls, wherever the story of the martyrdom on Erromanga was\nread or heard.\n\nAgain, therefore, in 1842, the London Missionary Society sent out\nMessrs. Turner and Nisbet to pierce this kingdom of Satan. They placed\ntheir standard on our chosen island of Tanna, the nearest to Erromanga.\nIn less than seven months, however, their persecution by the savages\nbecame so dreadful, that we see them in a boat trying to escape by night\nwith bare life. Out on that dangerous sea they would certainly have been\nlost, but the Ever-Merciful drove them back to land, and sent next\nmorning a whaling vessel, which, contrary to custom, called there, and\njust in the nick of time. They, with all goods that could be rescued,\nwere got safely on board, and sailed for Samoa. Say not their plans and\nprayers were baffled; for God heard and abundantly blessed them there,\nbeyond all their dreams.\n\nAfter these things, the London Missionary Society again and again placed\nSamoan Native Teachers on one or other island of the New Hebrides; but\ntheir unhealthiness, compared with the more wholesome Samoa or\nRarotonga, so afflicted them with the dreaded ague and fever, besides\nwhat they endured from the inhospitable savages themselves, that no\neffective Mission work had been accomplished there till at last the\nPresbyterian Missionaries were led to enter upon the scene. Christianity\nhad no foothold anywhere on the New Hebrides, unless it were in the\nmemory and the blood of the Martyrs of Erromanga.\n\nThe Rev. John Geddie and his wife, from Nova Scotia, were landed on\nAneityum, the most southerly island of the New Hebrides, in 1848; and\nthe Rev. John Inglis and his wife, from Scotland, were landed on the\nother side of the same island, in 1852. An agent for the London\nMissionary Society, the Rev. T. Powell, accompanied Dr. Geddie for about\na year, to advise as to his settlement and to assist in opening up the\nwork. Marvelous as it may seem, the Natives on Aneityum, showed interest\nin the Missionaries from the very first, and listened to their\nteachings; so that in a few years Dr. Inglis and Dr. Geddie saw about\n3500 savages throwing away their idols, renouncing their Heathen\ncustoms, and avowing themselves to be worshipers of the true Jehovah\nGod. Slowly, yet progressively, they unlearned their Heathenism; surely\nand hopefully they learned Christianity and civilization. When these\nMissionaries \"came to this Island, there were no Christians there; when\nthey left it, there were no Heathens.\"\n\nFurther, these poor Aneityumese, having glimpses of the Word of God,\ndetermined to have a Holy Bible in their own mother tongue, wherein\nbefore no book or page ever had been written in the history of their\nrace. The consecrated brain and hand of their Missionaries kept toiling\nday and night in translating the book of God; and the willing hands and\nfeet of the Natives kept toiling through fifteen long but unwearying\nyears, planting and preparing arrowroot to pay the L1200 required to be\nlaid out in the printing and publishing of the book. Year after year the\narrowroot, too sacred to be used for their daily food, was set apart as\nthe Lord's portion; the Missionaries sent it to Australia and Scotland,\nwhere it was sold by private friends, and the whole proceeds consecrated\nto this purpose. On the completion of the great undertaking by the Bible\nSociety, it was found that the Natives had earned as much as to pay\nevery penny of the outlay; and their first Bibles went out to them,\npurchased with the consecrated toils of fifteen years!\n\nLet those who lightly esteem their Bibles think on those things. Eight\nshillings for every leaf, or the labor and proceeds of fifteen years for\nthe Bible entire, did not appear to these poor converted savages too\nmuch to pay for that Word of God, which had sent to them the\nMissionaries, which had revealed to them the grace of God in Christ, and\nwhich had opened their eyes to the wonders and glories of redeeming\nlove!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\nTHE GREAT BEREAVEMENT.\n\nMY first house on Tanna was on the old site occupied by Turner and\nNisbet, near the shore, for obvious reasons, and only a few feet above\ntide-mark. So was that of Mr. Mathieson, handy for materials as goods\nbeing landed, and, as we imagined, close to the healthy breezes of the\nsea. Alas! we had to learn by sad experience, like our brethren in all\nuntried Mission fields. The sites proved to be hot-beds for Fever and\nAgue, mine especially; and much of this might have been escaped by\nbuilding on the higher ground, and in the sweep of the refreshing\ntrade-winds. For all this, however, no one was to blame; everything was\ndone for the best, according to the knowledge then possessed. Our house\nwas sheltered behind by an abrupt hill about two hundred feet high,\nwhich gave the site a feeling of coziness. It was surrounded and much\nshaded, by beautiful breadfruit trees, and very large cocoa-nut trees;\ntoo largely beautiful, indeed, for they shut out many a healthy breeze\nthat we sorely needed! There was a long swamp at the head of the bay,\nand, the ground at the other end on which our house stood being scarcely\nraised perceptibly higher, the malaria almost constantly enveloped us.\nOnce, after a smart attack of the fever, an intelligent Chief said to\nme, \"Missi, if you stay here, you will soon die! No Tanna man sleeps so\nlow down as you do, in this damp weather, or he too would die. We sleep\non the high ground, and the trade-wind keeps us well. You must go and\nsleep on the hill, and then you will have better health.\"\n\nI at once resolved to remove my house to higher ground, at the earliest\npracticable moment; heavy though the undertaking would necessarily be,\nit seemed our only hope of being able to live on the island. Alas, for\none of us, it was already too late!\n\nMy dear young wife, Mary Ann Robson, landed with me on Tanna on the 5th\nNovember 1858, in excellent health and full of all tender and holy\nhopes. On the 12th February 1859 God sent to us our first-born son; for\ntwo days or so both mother and child seemed to prosper, and our\nisland-exile thrilled with joy! But the greatest of sorrows was treading\nhard upon the heels of that joy! My darling's strength showed no signs\nof rallying. She had an attack of ague and fever a few days before; on\nthe third day or so thereafter, it returned, and attacked her every\nsecond day with increasing severity for a fortnight. Diarrhea ensued,\nand symptoms of pneumonia, with slight delirium at intervals; and then\nin a moment, altogether unexpectedly, she died on the 3d March. To crown\nmy sorrows, and complete my loneliness, the dear baby-boy, whom we had\nnamed after her father, Peter Robert Robson, was taken from me after one\nweek's sickness, on the 20th March. Let those who have ever passed\nthrough any similar darkness as of midnight feel for me; as for all\nothers, it would be more than vain to try to paint my sorrows!\n\nI knew then, when too late, that our work had been entered on too near\nthe beginning of the rainy season. We were both, however, healthy and\nhearty; and I daily pushed on with the house, making things hourly more\ncomfortable, in the hope that long lives were before us both, to be\nspent for Jesus in seeking the salvation of the perishing Heathen. In\nour mutual inexperience, and with our hearts aglow for the work of our\nlives, we incurred this risk which should never have been incurred; and\nI only refer to the matter thus, in the hope that others may take\nwarning.\n\nStunned by that dreadful loss, in entering upon this field of labor to\nwhich the Lord had Himself so evidently led me, my reason seemed for a\ntime almost to give way. Ague and fever, too, laid a depressing and\nweakening hand upon me, continuously recurring, and reaching oftentimes\nthe very height of its worst burning stages. But I was never altogether\nforsaken. The ever-merciful Lord sustained me, to lay the precious dust\nof my beloved Ones in the same quiet grave, dug for them close by at the\nend of the house; in all of which last offices my own hands, despite\nbreaking heart, had to take the principal share! I built the grave round\nand round with coral blocks, and covered the top with beautiful white\ncoral, broken small as gravel; and that spot became my sacred and\nmuch-frequented shrine, during all the following months and years when I\nlabored on for the salvation of these savage Islanders amidst\ndifficulties, dangers, and deaths. Whensoever Tanna turns to the Lord,\nand is won for Christ, men in after-days will find the memory of that\nspot still green,--where with ceaseless prayers and tears I claimed that\nland for God in which I had \"buried my dead\" with faith and hope. But\nfor Jesus, and the fellowship He vouchsafed me there, I must have gone\nmad and died beside that lonely grave!\n\nDr. Inglis, my brother Missionary on Aneityum, wrote to the Reformed\nPresbyterian Magazine:--\"I trust all those who shed tears of sorrow on\naccount of her early death will be enabled in the exercise of faith and\nresignation to say, 'The Will of the Lord be done; the Lord gave and the\nLord hath taken away: blessed be the Name of the Lord!' I need not say\nhow deeply we sympathize with her bereaved parents, as well as with her\nsorrowing husband. By her death the Mission has sustained a heavy loss.\nWe were greatly pleased with Mrs. Paton during the period of our short\nintercourse with her. Her mind, naturally vigorous, had been cultivated\nby a superior education. She was full of Missionary spirit, and took a\ndeep interest in the Native women. This was seen further, when she went\nto Tanna, where, in less than three months, she had collected a class of\neight females, who came regularly to her to receive instruction. There\nwas about her a maturity of thought, a solidity of character, a\nloftiness of aim and purpose, rarely found in one so young. Trained up\nin the fear of the Lord from childhood, like another Mary she had\nevidently chosen that good part, which is never taken away from those\npossessed of it. When she left this island, she had to all human\nappearance a long career of usefulness and happiness on Earth before\nher, but the Lord has appointed otherwise. She has gone, as we trust, to\nher rest and her reward. The Lord has said to her as He said to David,\n'Thou didst well in that it was in thine heart to build a House for My\nName.' Let us watch and pray, for our Lord cometh as a thief in the\nnight.\"\n\nSoon after her death, the good Bishop Selwyn called at Port Resolution,\nTanna, in his Mission Ship. He came on shore to visit me, accompanied by\nthe Rev. J. O. Patteson. They had met Mrs. Paton on Aneityum in the\nprevious year soon after our arrival, and, as she was then the picture\nof perfect health, they also felt her loss very keenly. Standing with me\nbeside the grave of mother and child, I weeping aloud on his one hand,\nand Patteson--afterward the Martyr Bishop of Kakupu--sobbing silently on\nthe other, the godly Bishop Selwyn poured out his heart to God amidst\nsobs and tears, during which he laid his hands on my head, and invoked\nHeaven's richest consolations and blessings on me and my trying labors.\n\nSorrow and love constrain me to linger over her last words. She cried,\n\"Oh, that my dear mother were here! She is a good woman, my mother, a\njewel of a woman.\"\n\nThen, observing Mr. Copeland near by, she said, \"Oh, Mr. Copeland, I did\nnot know you were there! You must not think that I regret coming here,\nand leaving my mother. If I had the same thing to do over again, I would\ndo it with far more pleasure, yes, with all my heart. Oh no! I do not\nregret leaving home and friends, though at the time I felt it keenly.\"\n\nSoon after this, looking up and putting her hand in mine, she said--\n\n\"J. C. wrote to our Janet saying, that young Christians under their\nfirst impressions thought they could do anything or make any sacrifice\nfor Jesus, and he asked if she believed it, for he did not think they\ncould, when tested; but Janet wrote back that she believed they could,\nand (added she with great emphasis) _I believe it is true!_\"\n\nIn a moment, altogether unexpectedly, she fell asleep in Jesus, with\nthese words on her lips. \"Not lost, only gone before to be forever with\nthe Lord\"--my heart keeps saying or singing to itself from that hour\ntill now.\n\nIt was very difficult to be resigned, left alone, and in sorrowful\ncircumstance; but feeling immovably assured that my God and Father was\ntoo wise and loving to err in anything that He does or permits, I looked\nup to the Lord for help, and struggled on in His work. I do not pretend\nto see through the mystery of such visitations,--wherein God calls away\nthe young, the promising, and those sorely needed for His service here;\nbut this I do know and feel, that, in the light of such dispensations,\nit becomes us all to love and serve our blessed Lord Jesus so that we\nmay be ready at His call for death and Eternity.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\nAT HOME WITH CANNIBALS.\n\nIN the first letter, sent jointly by Mr. Copeland and myself from Tanna\nto the Church at home, the following statements occur:--\n\n\"We found the Tannese to be painted Savages, enveloped in all the\nsuperstition and wickedness of Heathenism. All the men and children go\nin a state of nudity. The older women wear grass skirts, and the young\nwomen and girls, grass or leaf aprons like Eve in Eden. They are\nexceedingly ignorant, vicious, and bigoted, and almost void of natural\naffection. Instead of the inhabitants of Port Resolution being improved\nby coming in contact with white men they are rendered much worse; for\nthey have learned all their vices but none of their virtues,--if such\nare possessed by the pioneer traders among such races! The Sandal-wood\nTraders are as a class the most godless of men, whose cruelty and\nwickedness make us ashamed to own them as our countrymen. By them the\npoor defenseless Natives are oppressed and robbed on every hand; and if\nthey offer the slightest resistance, they are ruthlessly silenced by the\nmusket or revolver. Few months here pass without some of them being so\nshot, and, instead of their murderers feeling ashamed, they boast of how\nthey despatch them. Such treatment keeps the Natives always burning\nunder a desire for revenge, so that it is a wonder any white man is\nallowed to come among them. Indeed, all Traders here are able to\nmaintain their position only by revolvers and rifles; but we hope a\nbetter state of affairs is at hand for Tanna.\"\n\nThe novelty of our being among them soon passed away, and they began to\nshow their avarice and deceitfulness in every possible way. The Chiefs\nunited and refused to give us the half of the small piece of land which\nhad been purchased, on which to build our Mission House, and when we\nattempted to fence in the part they had left to us, they \"tabooed\" it,\n_i. e._ threatened our Teachers and us with death if we proceeded\nfurther with the work. This they did by placing certain reeds stuck into\nthe ground here and there around our house, which our Aneityumese\nservants at once knew the meaning of, and warned us of our danger; so we\nleft off making the fence, that we might if possible evade all offense.\nThey then divided the few breadfruit and cocoa-nut trees on the ground\namongst themselves, or demanded such payment for these trees as we did\nnot possess, and threatened revenge on us if the trees were injured by\nany person. They now became so unreasonable and offensive, and our\ndangers so increased, as to make our residence amongst them extremely\ntrying. At this time a vessel called; I bought from the Captain the\nthings for payment which they demanded; on receiving it, they lifted the\nTaboo, and for a little season appeared to be friendly again. This was\nthe third payment they had got for that site, and to yield was teaching\nthem a cruel lesson; all this we felt and clearly saw, but they had by\nsome means to be conciliated, if possible, and our lives had to be\nsaved, if that could be done without dishonor to the Christian name.\n\nAfter these events, a few weeks of dry weather began to tell against the\ngrowth of their yams and bananas. The drought was instantly ascribed to\nus and our God. The Natives far and near were summoned to consider the\nmatter in public assembly. Next day, Nouka, the high chief, and Miaki,\nthe war-chief, his nephew, came to inform us that two powerful Chiefs\nhad openly declared in that assembly that if the Harbor people did not\nat once kill us or compel us to leave the island they would, unless the\nrain came plentifully in the meantime, summon all the Inland people and\nmurder both our Chiefs and us. The friendly Chiefs said, \"Pray to your\nJehovah God for rain, and do not go far beyond your door for a time; we\nare all in greatest danger, and if war breaks out we fear we cannot\nprotect you.\"\n\nBut this friendliness was all pretense; they themselves, being Sacred\nMen, professed to have the power of sending or withholding rain, and\ntried to fix the blame of their discomfiture on us. The rage of the poor\nignorant Heathen was thereby fed against us. The Ever-Merciful, however,\nagain interposed on our behalf. On the following Sabbath, just when we\nwere assembling for worship, rain began to fall, and in great abundance.\nThe whole inhabitants believed, apparently, that it was sent to save us\nin answer to our prayers; so they met again, and resolved to allow us to\nremain on Tanna. Alas! on the other hand, the continuous and heavy rains\nbrought much sickness and fever in their train, and again their Sacred\nMen pointed to us as the cause. Hurricane winds also blew and injured\ntheir fruits and fruit-trees,--another opportunity for our enemies to\nlay the blame of everything upon the Missionaries and their Jehovah God!\nThe trial and the danger daily grew, of living among a people so\ndreadfully benighted by superstition, and so easily swayed by prejudice\nand passion.\n\nThe Natives of Tanna were well-nigh constantly at war amongst\nthemselves, every man doing that which was right in his own eyes, and\nalmost every quarrel ending in an appeal to arms. Besides many battles\nfar inland, one was fought beside our houses and several around the\nHarbor. In these conflicts many men were bruised with clubs and wounded\nwith arrows, but few lives were lost, considering the savage uproar and\nfrenzy of the scene. In one case, of which we obtained certain\ninformation, seven men were killed in an engagement; and, according to\nTannese custom, the warriors and their friends feasted on them at the\nclose of the fray, the widows of the slain being also strangled to\ndeath, and similarly disposed of. Besides those who fell in war, the\nNatives living in our quarter had killed and feasted on eight persons,\nusually, in sacrificial rites.\n\nIt is said that the habitual Cannibal's desire for human flesh becomes\nso horrible that he has been known to disinter and feast upon those\nrecently buried. Two cases of this revolting barbarism were reported as\nhaving occurred amongst the villagers living near us. On another\noccasion the great chief Nouka took seriously unwell, and his people\nsacrificed three women for his recovery! All such cruel and horrifying\npractises, however, they tried to conceal from us; and many must have\nperished in this way of whom we, though living at their doors, were\nnever permitted to hear.\n\nAmongst the Heathen, in the New Hebrides, and especially on Tanna,\n_woman_ is the down-trodden slave of man. She is kept working hard, and\nbears all the heavier burdens, while he walks by her side with musket,\nclub, or spear. If she offends him, he beats or abuses her at pleasure.\nA savage gave his poor wife a severe beating in front of our house and\njust before our eyes, while in vain we strove to prevent it. Such scenes\nwere so common that no one thought of interfering. Even if the woman\ndied in his hands, or immediately thereafter, neighbors, took little\nnotice, if any at all. And their children were so little cared for, that\nmy constant wonder was how any of them survived at all! As soon as they\nare able to knock about, they are left practically to care for\nthemselves; hence the very small affection they show towards their\nparents, which results in the aged who are unable to work being\nneglected, starved to death, and sometimes even more directly and\nviolently destroyed.\n\nA Heathen boy's education consists in being taught to aim skilfully with\nthe bow, throw the spear faultlessly at a mark, to wield powerfully the\nclub and tomahawk, and to shoot well with musket and revolver when these\ncan be obtained. He accompanies his father and brothers in all the wars\nand preparations for war, and is diligently initiated into all their\ncruelties and lusts, as the very prerequisite of his being regarded and\nacknowledged to be a man and a warrior. The girls have, with their\nmother and sisters, to toil and slave in the village plantations, to\nprepare all the materials for fencing these around, to bear every\nburden, and to be knocked about at will by the men and boys.\n\nOh, how sad and degraded is the position of Woman where the teaching of\nChrist is unknown, or disregarded though known! It is the Christ of the\nBible, it is His Spirit entering into humanity, that has lifted Woman,\nand made her the helpmate and the friend of Man, not his toy or his\nslave.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\nSUPERSTITIONS AND CRUELTIES.\n\nABOUT the time of my dear wife's death, our brother Missionary, Mr.\nMathieson, also became exceedingly unwell. His delicate frame fast gave\nway, and brought with it weakness of the mind as well; and he was\nremoved to Aneityum apparently in a dying condition. These sad\nvisitations had a bad effect on the natives, owing to their wild\nsuperstitions about the cause of death and sickness. We had reason to\nfear that they would even interfere with the precious grave, over which\nwe kept careful watch for a season; but God mercifully restrained them.\nUnfortunately, however, one of my Aneityumese Teachers who had gone\nround to Mr. Mathieson's Station took ill and died there, and this\nrekindled all their prejudices. He, poor fellow, before death said, \"I\nshall not again return to Port Resolution, or see my dear Missi; but\ntell him that I die happy, for I love Jesus much, and I am going to\nJesus!\"\n\nHearing these things, the natives insolently demanded me to tell them\nthe cause of his death, and of Mr. Mathieson's trouble, and of the other\ndeaths. Other reasoning or explanation being to them useless, I turned\nthe tables, and demanded them to tell me why all this trouble and death\nhad overtaken us in their land, and whether they themselves were not the\ncause of it all? Strange to say, this simple question turned the whole\ncurrent of their speculations. They held meeting after meeting to\ndiscuss it for several days, and returned the message, \"We do not blame\nyou, and you must not blame us, for causing these troubles and deaths;\nbut we believe that a Bushman must have got hold of a portion of\nsomething we had eaten, and must have thrown it to the great Evil Spirit\nin the volcano, thereby bringing all these troubles and curses.\"\n\nAnother Chief vindicated himself and others thus:--\"Karapanamun, the\nAurumanu or great Evil Spirit of Tanna, whom we all fear and worship, is\ncausing these troubles; for he knows that if we become worshipers of\nyour Jehovah God, we cannot continue to fear him, or present him with\nthe best of everything, as our forefathers have always done; he is angry\nat you and at us all.\"\n\nThe fear of the deaths and troubles being ascribed to them silenced\ntheir talk against us for a season; but very little made them either\nfriends or foes, as the next event will too painfully show.\n\nNowhat, an old Chief of the highest rank from Aneityum, who spoke\nTannese and was much respected by the natives all round the south side\nof Tanna, came on a visit to our island. After returning home, he became\nvery ill and died in a few days. The deluded Tannese, hearing of his\ndeath, ascribed it to me and the Worship, and resolved to burn our house\nand property, and either murder the whole Mission party, or compel us to\nleave the island. Nowhat's brother was sent from Aneityum to talk to the\nTannese and conciliate them, but unfortunately he could not speak the\nlanguage well; and the Aneityumese Teachers felt their lives to be at\nthis time in such danger that they durst not accompany him as\ninterpreters, while I, on the other hand, did not understand his\nlanguage, nor he, mine. Within two days after landing, he had a severe\nattack of ague and fever; and, though the vessel he came in remained\neight days, he was prostrated all the time, so that his well-intentioned\nvisit did us much harm. The Tannese became furious. This was proof\npositive that we were the cause of all their sickness and death! Inland\nand all along the weather side of the island, when far enough away from\nus, they said that the natives were enjoying excellent health. Meeting\nafter meeting was held; exciting speeches were delivered; and feasts\nwere given, for which it was said that several women were sacrificed,\ncooked and eaten,--such being the bonds by which they entered into\ncovenant with each other for life or death.\n\nThe inhabitants for miles around united in seeking our destruction, but\nGod put it into even savage hearts to save us. Old Nowar, the Chief\nunder whom we lived, and the Chief next under him, Arkurat, set\nthemselves to rescue us. Along with Manuman and Sirawia they opposed\nevery plan in the public assembly for taking our lives. Some of their\npeople also remained friendly to us, and by the help of our Aneityumese\nTeachers, warned us of danger and protected our lives. Determined not to\nbe baffled, a meeting of all our enemies on the island was summoned, and\nit was publicly resolved that a band of men be selected and enjoined to\nkill the whole of those friendly to the Mission, old Nowar among the\nrest, and not only to murder the Mission party, but also a trader who\nhad lately landed to live there, that no one might be left to give\ninformation to the white men or bring punishment on the Islanders.\nFrenzy of excitement prevailed, and the blood-fiend seemed to override\nthe whole assembly; when, under an impulse that surely came from the\nLord of Pity, one great warrior Chief who had hitherto kept silent,\nrose, swung aloft a mighty club, and smashing it earthwards, cried\naloud, \"The man that kills Missi must first kill me,--the men that kill\nthe Mission Teachers must first kill me and my people,--for we shall\nstand by them and defend them till death.\"\n\nInstantaneously, another Chief thundered in with the same declaration;\nand the great assembly broke up in dismay. All the more remarkable was\nthis deliverance, as these two Chiefs lived nearly four miles inland,\nand, as reputed disease makers and Sacred Men, were regarded as amongst\nour bitterest enemies. It had happened that, a brother of the former\nChief having been wounded in battle, I had dressed his wounds and he\nrecovered, for which perhaps he now favored us. But I do not put very\nmuch value on that consideration; for too clearly did our dear Lord\nJesus interpose directly on our behalf that day. I and my defenseless\ncompany had spent it in anxious prayers and tears; and our hearts\noverflowed with gratitude to the Saviour who rescued us from the lions'\njaws.\n\nLeaving all consequences to the disposal of my Lord, I determined to\nmake an unflinching stand against wife-beating and widow-strangling,\nfeeling confident that even their natural conscience would be on my\nside, I accordingly pled with all who were in power to unite and put\ndown these shocking and disgraceful customs. At length ten Chiefs\nentered into an agreement not to allow any more beating of wives or\nstrangling of widows, and to forbid all common labor on the Lord's day;\nbut alas, except for purposes of war or other wickedness, the influence\nof the Chiefs on Tanna was comparatively small. One Chief boldly\ndeclared, \"If we did not beat our women, they would never work; they\nwould not fear and obey us; but when we have beaten, and killed, and\nfeasted on two or three, the rest are all very quiet and good for a long\ntime to come!\"\n\nI tried to show him how cruel it was, besides that it made them unable\nfor work, and that kindness would have a much better effect; but he\npromptly assured me that Tannese women \"could not understand kindness.\"\nFor the sake of teaching by example, my Aneityumese Teachers and I used\nto go a mile or two inland on the principal pathway, along with the\nTeachers' wives, and there cutting and carrying home a heavy load of\nfirewood for myself and each of the men, while we gave only a small\nburden to each of the women. Meeting many Tanna-men by the way, I used\nto explain to them that this was how Christians helped and treated their\nwives and sisters, and then they loved their husbands and were strong to\nwork at home; and that as men were made stronger, they were intended to\nbear the heavier burdens, and especially in all labors out of doors. Our\nhabits and practises had thus as much to do as, perhaps more than, all\nour appeals, in leading them to glimpses of the life to which the Lord\nJesus was calling them.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\nSTREAKS OF DAWN AMIDST DEEDS OF DARKNESS.\n\nANOTHER war-burst, that caused immense consternation, passed over with\nonly two or three deaths; and I succeeded in obtaining the consent of\ntwenty Chiefs to fight no more except on the defensive,--a covenant to\nwhich, for a considerable time, they strictly adhered, in the midst of\nfierce provocations. But to gain any such end, the masses of the people\nmust be educated to the point of desiring it. The few cannot, in such\ncircumstances, act up to it, without laying themselves open to be\ndowntrodden and swept away by the savages around.\n\nAbout this time, several men, afraid or ashamed by day, came to me\nregularly by night for conversation and instruction. Having seen the\ndoors of the Mission House made fast and the windows blinded so that\nthey could not be observed, they continued with me for many hours,\nasking all strange questions about the new Religion and its laws. I\nremember one Chief particularly, who came often, saying to me, \"I would\nbe an Awfuaki man (_i. e._ a Christian) were it not that all the rest\nwould laugh at me; that I could not stand!\"\n\n\"Almost persuaded\"--before you blame him, remember how many in Christian\nlands and amid greater privileges live and die without ever passing\nbeyond that stage.\n\nThe wife of one of those Chiefs died, and he resolved to imitate a\nChristian burial. Having purchased white calico from a Trader, he came\nto me for some tape which the Trader could not supply, and told me that\nhe was going to dress the body as he had seen my dear wife's dressed,\nand lay her also in a similar grave. He declined my offer to attend the\nfuneral and to pray with them, as in that case many of the villagers\nwould not attend. He wanted all the people to be present, to see and to\nhear, as it was the first funeral of the kind ever celebrated among the\nTannese; and my friend Nowar the Chief had promised to conduct a Service\nand offer prayer to Jehovah before all the Heathen. It moved me to many\nstrange emotions, this Christian burial, conducted by a Heathen and in\nthe presence of Heathens, with an appeal to the true and living God by a\nman as yet darkly groping among idols and superstitions. Many were the\nwondering questions from time to time addressed to me. The idea of a\nresurrection from the dead was that which most keenly interested these\nNatives, and called forth all their powers of inquiry and argument. Thus\nthe waves of hope and fear swept alternately across our lives; but we\nembraced every possible opportunity of telling them the story of the\nlife and death of Jesus, in the strong hope that God would spare us yet\nto bring the benighted Heathen to the knowledge of the true salvation,\nand to love and serve the only Saviour.\n\nConfessedly, however, it was uphill, weary, and trying work. For one\nthing, these Tannese were terribly dishonest; and when there was any\nspecial sickness, or excitement from any cause, their bad feeling\ntowards the Worship was displayed by the more insolent way in which they\ncarried off whatever they could seize. When I opposed them, the club or\ntomahawk, the musket or _kawas_ (_i. e._ killing-stone), being instantly\nraised, intimated that my life would be taken, if I resisted. Their\nskill in stealing on the sly was phenomenal! If an article fell, or was\nseen on the floor, a Tanna-man would neatly cover it with his foot,\nwhile looking you frankly in the face, and, having fixed it by his toes\nor by bending in his great toe like a thumb to hold it, would walk off\nwith it, assuming the most innocent look in the world. In this way, a\nknife, a pair of scissors or any smaller article, would at once\ndisappear. Another fellow would deftly stick something out of sight\namongst the whipcord plaits of his hair, another would conceal it\nunderneath his naked arm, while yet another would shamelessly lift what\nhe coveted and openly carry it away.\n\nWith most of them, however, the shame was not in the theft, but in doing\nit so clumsily that they were discovered! Once, after continuous rain\nand a hot damp atmosphere, when the sun shone out I put my bedclothes on\na rope to dry. I stood at hand watching, as also the wives of two\nTeachers, for things were mysteriously disappearing almost under our\nvery eyes. Suddenly, Miaki, who with his war-companions had been\nwatching us unobserved, came rushing to me breathless and alone, crying,\n\"Missi, come in, quick, quick! I want to tell you something and to get\nyour advice!\"\n\nHe ran into my house, and I followed; but before he had got into his\nstory, we heard the two women crying out, \"Missi, Missi, come quick!\nMiaki's men are Stealing your sheets and blankets!\"\n\nI ran at once, but all were gone into the bush, and them my sheets and\nblankets. Miaki for a moment looked abashed, as I charged him with\ndeceiving me just to give his men their opportunity. But he soon rose to\nthe occasion. He wrought himself into a towering rage at them,\nflourished his huge club and smashed the bushes all around, shouting to\nme, \"Thus will I smash these fellows, and compel them to return your\nclothes.\"\n\nOne dark night, I heard them amongst my fowls. These I had purchased\nfrom them for knives and calico; and they now stole them all away, dead\nor alive. Had I interfered, they would have gloried in the chance to\nclub or shoot me in the dark, when no one could exactly say who had done\nthe deed. Several of the few goats, which I had for milk, were also\nkilled or driven away; indeed, all the injury that was possible was done\nto me, short of taking away my life, and that was now frequently\nattempted. Having no fires or fireplaces in my Mission House, such being\nnot required there,--though sometimes a fire would have been invaluable\nfor drying our bedclothes in the rainy season,--we had a house near by\nin which all our food was cooked, and there, under lock and key, we\nsecured all our cooking utensils, pots, dishes, etc. One night that too\nwas broken into, and everything was stolen. In consternation, I appealed\nto the Chief, telling him what had been done. He also flew into a great\nrage, and vowed vengeance on the thieves, saying that he would compel\nthem to return everything. But, of course, nothing was returned; the\nthief could not be found! I, unable to live without something in which\nto boil water, at length offered a blanket to any one that would bring\nback my kettle. Miaki himself, after much professed difficulty, returned\nit _minus_ the lid,--that, he said, probably fishing for a higher bribe,\ncould not be got at any price, being at the other side of the island in\na tribe over which he had no control! In the circumstances, I was glad\nto get kettle _minus_ lid--realizing how life itself may depend on so\nsmall a luxury!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\nTHE VISIT OF H. M. S. \"CORDELIA.\"\n\nONE morning, the Tannese, rushing towards me in great excitement, cried,\n\"Missi, Missi, there is a God, or a ship on fire, or something of fear,\ncoming over the sea! We see no flames, but it smokes like a volcano. Is\nit a Spirit, a God, or a ship on fire? What is it? what is it?\"\n\nOne party after another followed in quick succession, shouting the same\nquestions in great alarm, to which I replied, \"I cannot go at once; I\nmust dress first in my best clothes; it will likely be one of Queen\nVictoria's Men-of-war, coming to ask of me if your conduct is good or\nbad, if you are stealing my property, or threatening my life, or how you\nare using me?\"\n\nThey pled with me to go and see it; but I made much fuss about dressing,\nand getting ready to meet the great Chief on the vessel, and would not\ngo with them. The two principal Chiefs now came running and asked,\n\"Missi, will it be a ship of war?\"\n\nI called to them, \"I think it will; but I have no time to speak to you\nnow, I must get on my best clothes!\"\n\nThey said, \"Missi, only tell us, will he ask you if we have been\nstealing your things?\"\n\nI answered, \"I expect he will.\"\n\nThey asked, \"And will you tell him?\"\n\nI said, \"I must tell him the truth; if he asks, I will tell him.\"\n\nThey then cried out, \"Oh, Missi, tell him not! Everything shall be\nbrought back to you at once, and no one will be allowed again to steal\nfrom you.\"\n\nThen said I, \"Be quick! Everything must be returned before he comes.\nAway, away! and let me get ready to meet the great Chief on the\nMan-of-war.\"\n\nHitherto, no thief could ever be found, and no Chief had power to cause\nanything to be restored to me; but now, in an incredibly brief space of\ntime, one came running to the Mission House with a pot, another with a\npan, another with a blanket, others with knives, forks, plates, and all\nsorts of stolen property. The Chiefs called me to receive these things,\nbut I replied, \"Lay them all down at the door, bring everything together\nquickly; I have no time to speak with you!\"\n\nI delayed my toilet, enjoying mischievously the magical effect of an\napproaching vessel that might bring penalty to thieves. At last the\nChiefs, running in breathless haste, called out to me, \"Missi, Missi, do\ntell us, is the stolen property all here?\"\n\nOf course I could not tell, but, running out, I looked on the\npromiscuous heap of my belongings, and said, \"I don't see the lid of the\nkettle there yet!\"\n\nOne Chief said, \"No, Missi, for it is on the other side of the island;\nbut tell him not, I have sent for it, and it will be here to-morrow.\"\n\nI answered, \"I am glad you have brought back so much; and now, if you\nthree Chiefs, Nauka, Miaki, and Nowar, do not run away when he comes, he\nwill not likely punish you; but, if you and your people run away, he\nwill ask me why you are afraid, and I will be forced to tell him! Keep\nnear me and you are all safe; only there must be no more stealing from\nme.\"\n\nThey said, \"We are in black fear, but we will keep near you, and our bad\nconduct to you is done.\"\n\nThe charm and joy of that morning are fresh to me still, when H. M. S.\n_Cordelia_, Captain Vernon, steamed into our lovely Harbor. The\nCommander, having heard rumor of my dangers on Tanna, kindly came on\nshore as soon as the ship cast anchor, with two boats, and a number of\nhis officers and men, so far armed. He was dressed in splendid uniform,\nbeing a tall and handsome man, and he and his attendants made a grand\nand imposing show. On seeing Captain Vernon's boat nearing the shore,\nand the men glittering in gold lace and arms, Miaki the Chief left my\nside on the beach and rushed towards his village. I concluded that he\nhad run for it through terror, but he had other and more civilized\nintentions in his Heathen head! Having obtained, from some trader or\nvisitor in previous days, a soldier's old red coat, he had resolved to\nrise to the occasion and appear in his best before the Captain and his\nmen. As I was shaking hands with them and welcoming them to Tanna, Miaki\nreturned with the short red coat on, buttoned tightly round his\notherwise naked body; and, surmounted by his ugly painted face and long\nwhipcords of twisted hair, it completely spoiled any appearance that he\nmight otherwise have had of savage freedom, and made him look a dirty\nand insignificant creature.\n\nThe Captain was talking to me, his men stood in order near by--to my\neyes, oh how charming a glimpse of Home life!--when Miaki marched up and\ntook his place most consequentially at my side. He felt himself the most\nimportant personage in the scene, and with an attempt at haughty dignity\nhe began to survey the visitors. All eyes were fixed on the impudent\nlittle man, and the Captain asked, \"What sort of a character is this?\"\n\nI replied, \"This is Miaki, our great war Chief?\"; and whispered to the\nCaptain to be on his guard, as this man knew a little English, and might\nunderstand or misunderstand just enough to make it afterwards dangerous\nto me.\n\nThe Captain only muttered, \"The contemptible creature!\" But such words\nwere far enough beyond Miaki's vocabulary, so he looked on and grinned\ncomplacently.\n\nAt last he said, \"Missi, this great Chief whom Queen Victoria has sent\nto visit you in her Man-of-war, cannot go over the whole of this island\nso as to be seen by all our people; and I wish you to ask him if he will\nstand by a tree, and allow me to put a spear on the ground at his heel,\nand we will make a nick in it at the top of his head, and the spear will\nbe sent round the island to let all the people see how tall this great\nman is!\" They were delighted at the good Captain agreeing to their\nsimple request; and that spear was exhibited to thousands, as the\nvessel, her Commander, officers, and men, were afterwards talked of\nround and round the island.\n\nCaptain Vernon was extremely kind, and offered to do anything in his\npower for me, thus left alone on the island amongst such savages; but,\nas my main difficulties were connected with my spiritual work amongst\nthem, rousing up their cruel prejudices, I did not see his kindness\ncould effectually interpose. At his suggestion, however, I sent a\ngeneral invitation to all the Chiefs within reach, to meet the Captain\nnext morning at my house. True to their instincts of suspicion and fear,\nthey despatched all their women and and children to the beach on the\nopposite side of the island, beyond reach of danger, and next morning my\nhouse was crowded with armed men, manifestly much afraid. Punctually at\nthe hour appointed, 10 A.M., the Captain came on shore; and soon\nthereafter twenty Chiefs were seated with him in my house. He very\nkindly spent about an hour, giving them wise counsels and warning them\nagainst outrages on strangers, all calculated to secure our safety and\nadvance the interests of our Mission work. He then invited all the\nChiefs to go on board and see his vessel. They were taken to see the\nArmory, and the sight of the big guns running so easily on rails vastly\nastonished them. He then placed them round us on deck and showed them\ntwo shells discharged towards the ocean, at which, as they burst and\nfell far off, splash--splashing into the water, the terror of the\nNatives visibly increased. But, when he sent a large ball crashing\nthrough a cocoanut grove, breaking the trees like straws and cutting its\nway clear and swift, they were quite dumfounded and pled to be again set\nsafely on shore. After receiving each some small gift, however, they\nwere reconciled to the situation, and returned immensely interested in\nall that they had seen. Doubtless many a wild romance was spun by these\nsavage heads, in trying to describe and hand down to others the wonders\nof the fire-god of the sea, and the Captain of the great white Queen.\nHow easily it all lends itself to the service of poetry and myth!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\"NOBLE OLD ABRAHAM.\"\n\nFEVER and ague had now attacked me fourteen times severely, with\nslighter recurring attacks almost continuously after my first three\nmonths on the island, and I now felt the necessity of taking the hint of\nthe Tannese Chief before referred to--\"Sleep on the higher ground.\"\nHaving also received medical counsel to the same effect, though indeed\nexperience was painfully sufficient testimony, I resolved to remove my\nhouse, and began to look about for a suitable site. There rose behind my\npresent site, a hill about two hundred feet high, surrounded on all\nsides by a valley, and swept by the breezes of the trade-winds, being\nonly separated from the ocean by a narrow neck of land. On this I had\nset my heart; there was room for a Mission House and a Church, for which\nindeed Nature seemed to have adapted it. I proceeded to buy up every\nclaim by the Natives to any portion of the hill, paying each publicly\nand in turn, so that there might be no trouble afterwards. I then\npurchased from a Trader the deck planks of a shipwrecked vessel, with\nwhich to construct a house of two apartments, a bedroom and a small\nstore-room adjoining it, to which I purposed to transfer and add the old\nhouse as soon as I was able.\n\nJust at this juncture, the fever smote me again more severely than ever;\nmy weakness after this attack was so great, that I felt as if I never\ncould rally again. With the help of my faithful Aneityumese Teacher,\nAbraham, and his wife, however, I made what appeared my last effort to\ncreep--I could not climb--up the hill to get a breath of wholesome air.\nWhen about two-thirds up the hill, I became so faint that I concluded I\nwas dying. Lying down on the ground, sloped against the root of a tree\nto keep me from rolling to the bottom, I took farewell of old Abraham,\nof my Mission work, and of everything around! In this weak state I lay,\nwatched over by my faithful companion, and fell into a quiet sleep. When\nconsciousness returned, I felt a little stronger, and a faint gleam of\nhope and life came back to my soul.\n\nAbraham and his devoted wife Nafatu lifted me and carried me to the top\nof the hill. There they laid me on cocoanut leaves on the ground, and\nerected over me a shade or screen of the same; and there the two\nfaithful souls, inspired surely by something diviner even than mere\nhuman pity, gave me the cocoanut juice to drink and fed me with native\nfood and kept me living--I know not for how long. Consciousness did,\nhowever, fully return. The trade-wind refreshed me day by day. The\nTannese seemed to have given me up for dead; and providentially none of\nthem looked near us for many days. Amazingly my strength returned, and I\nbegan planning about my new house on the hill. Afraid again to sleep at\nthe old site, I slept under the tree, and sheltered by the cocoanut leaf\nscreen, while preparing my new bedroom.\n\nHere again, but for these faithful souls, the Aneityumese Teacher and\nhis wife, I must have been baffled, and would have died in the effort.\nThe planks of the wreck, and all other articles required, they fetched\nand carried; and it taxed my utmost strength to get them in some way\nplanted together. But life depended on it. It was at length\naccomplished; and after that time I suffered comparatively little from\nanything like continuous attacks of fever and ague. That noble old soul,\nAbraham, stood by me as an angel of God in sickness and in danger; he\nwent at my side wherever I had to go; he helped me willingly to the last\ninch of strength in all that I had to do; and it was perfectly manifest\nthat he was doing all this not from mere human love, but for the sake of\nJesus. That man had been a Cannibal in his Heathen days, but by the\ngrace of God there he stood verily a new creature in Christ Jesus. Any\ntrust, however sacred or valuable, could be absolutely reposed in him;\nand in trial or danger I was often refreshed by that old Teacher's\nprayers, as I used to be by the prayers of my saintly father in my\nchildhood's home. No white man could have been more valuable helper to\nme in my perilous circumstances; and no person, white or black, could\nhave shown more fearless and chivalrous devotion.\n\nWhen I have read or heard the shallow objections of irreligious\nscribblers and talkers, hinting that there was no reality in\nconversions, and that Mission effort was but waste, oh, how my heart has\nyearned to plant them just one week on Tanna, with the \"natural\" man all\naround in the person of Cannibal and Heathen, and only the one\n\"spiritual\" man in the person of the converted Abraham, nursing them,\nfeeding them, saving them \"for the love of Jesus\"--that I might just\nlearn how many hours it took to convince them that Christ in man was a\nreality after all! All the skepticism of Europe would hide its head in\nfoolish shame; and all its doubts would dissolve under one glance of the\nnew light that Jesus, and Jesus alone, pours from the converted\nCannibal's eye.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\nA TYPICAL SOUTH SEA TRADER.\n\nTHE prejudices and persecutions of Heathens were a sore enough trial,\nbut sorer and more hopeless was the wicked and contaminating influence\nof, alas, my fellow-countrymen. One, for instance, a Captain Winchester,\nliving with a native woman at the head of the bay as a Trader, a\ndissipated wretch, though a well-educated man, was angry forsooth at\nthis state of peace! Apparently there was not the usual demand for\nbarter for the fowls, pigs, etc., in which he traded. He developed at\nonce a wonderful interest in their affairs, presented all the Chiefs\naround with powder, caps, and balls, and lent among them a number of\nflash-muskets. He urged them not to be afraid of war, as he would supply\nany amount of ammunition. I remonstrated, but he flatly told me that\npeace did not suit his purposes. Incited and encouraged thus, these poor\nHeathen people were goaded into a most unjust war on neighboring tribes.\nThe Trader immediately demanded a high price for the weapons he had\nlent; the price of powder, caps, and balls rose exorbitantly with every\nfresh demand; his yards were crowded with poultry and pigs, which he\nreadily disposed of to passing vessels; and he might have amassed great\nsums of money but for his vile dissipations. Captain Winchester, now\nglorying in the war, charged a large hog for a wine-glass full of\npowder, or three or four balls, or ten gun-caps; he was boastful of his\n\"good luck\" in getting rid of all his old muskets and filling his yards\nwith pigs and fowls. Such is the infernal depth to which we can sink,\nwhen the misery and the ruin of many are thought to be more than atoned\nfor by the wealth and prosperity of a few who trade in their doom!\n\nMiaki the war Chief had a young brother, Rarip by name, about eighteen\nyears of age. When this war began he came to live with me at the Mission\nHouse. After it had raged some time, Miaki forced him to join the\nfighting men; but he escaped through the bush, and returned to me,\nsaying, \"Missi, I hate this fighting; it is not good to kill men; I will\nlive with you!\"\n\nAgain the war Chief came, and forced my dear young Rarip to join the\nhosts. Of course, I could only plead; I could not prevent him. This\ntime, he placed him at his own side in the midst of his warriors. On\ncoming in sight of the enemy, and hearing their first yells as they\nrushed from the bush, a bullet pierced young Rarip's breast, and he fell\ndead into the arms of Miaki. The body was carried home to his brother's\nvillage, with much wailing, and a messenger ran to tell me that Rarip\nwas dead. On hasting thither, I found him quite dead, and the center of\na tragic ceremonial. Around him, some sitting, others lying on the\nground, were assembled all the women and girls, tearing their hair,\nwounding themselves with split bamboos and broken bottles, dashing\nthemselves headlong to the earth, painting all black their faces,\nbreasts, and arms, and wailing with loud lamentations! Men were also\nthere, knocking their heads against the trees, gashing their bodies with\nknives till they ran with streaks of blood, and indulging in every kind\nof savage symbol of grief and anguish. My heart broke to see them, and\nto think that they knew not to look to our dear Lord Jesus for\nconsolation.\n\nI returned to the Mission House, and brought a white sheet and some\ntape, in which the body of dear young Rarip was wrapped and prepared for\nthe grave. The Natives appeared to be gratified at this mark of respect;\nand all agreed that Rarip should have, under my direction, a Christian\nburial. The men prepared the grave in a spot selected near to his own\nhouse; I read the Word of God, and offered prayer to Jehovah, with a\npsalm of praise, amidst a scene of weeping and lamentation never to be\nforgotten; and the thought burned through my very soul--oh, when, when\nwill the Tannese realize what I am now thinking and praying about, the\nlife and immortality brought to light through Jesus?\n\nAs the war still raged on, and many more were killed, vengeance\nthreatened the miserable Trader. Miaki attacked him thus, \"You led us\ninto this war. You deceived us, and we began it. Rarip is dead, and many\nothers. Your life shall yet go for his.\"\n\nCaptain Winchester, heartless as a dog so long as pigs and fowls came to\nthe yard at whatever cost to others' lives, now trembled like a coward\nfor himself. He implored me to let him and his Mare wife sleep at my\nhouse for safety; but I refused to allow my Mission to be in any way\nidentified with his crimes. The Natives from other islands, whom he kept\nand wrought like slaves, he now armed with muskets for his defence; but,\nhaving no faith in their protecting or even warning him, he implored me\nto send one of my Teachers, to assist his wife in watching till he\nsnatched a few hours of sleep every day, and, if awake, he would sell\nhis life as dearly as he could by aid of musket and revolver. The\nTeachers were both afraid and disinclined to go; and I could not\nhonestly ask them to do so. His peril and terror became so real that by\nnight he slept in his boat anchored out in the center of the bay, with\nhis arms beside him, and a crew ready to start off at the approach of\ndanger and lose everything; while by day he kept watch on shore, armed,\nand also ready to fly. Thus his miserable existence dragged on, keeping\nwatch alternatively with his wife, till a trading vessel called and\ncarried him off with all that he had rescued--for which deliverance we\nwere unfeignedly thankful! The war, which he had wickedly instigated,\nlingered on for three months; and then, by a present given secretly to\ntwo leading Chiefs, I managed to bring it to a close. But feelings of\nrevenge for the slain burned fiercely in many breasts; and young men had\nold feuds handed on to them by the recital of their fathers' deeds of\nblood.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\nUNDER AX AND MUSKET.\n\nABOUT this time, our Sabbath audiences at the Mission numbered forty or\nso. Nowar and three or four more, and only they, seemed to love and\nserve Jesus. They were, however, changeable and doubtful, though they\nexerted a good influence on their villages, and were generally friendly\nto us and to the Worship.\n\nOne morning at daybreak I found my house surrounded by armed men, and a\nChief intimated that they had assembled to take my life. Seeing that I\nwas entirely in their hands, I knelt down and gave myself away body and\nsoul to the Lord Jesus, for what seemed the last time on earth. Rising,\nI went out to them, and began calmly talking about their unkind\ntreatment of me and contrasting it with all my conduct towards them. I\nalso plainly showed them what would be the sad consequences, if they\ncarried out their cruel purpose. At last some of the chiefs, who had\nattended the Worship, rose and said, \"Our conduct has been bad; but now\nwe will fight for you, and kill all those who hate you.\"\n\nGrasping hold of their leader, I held him fast till he promised never to\nkill any one on my account, for Jesus taught us to love our enemies and\nalways to return good for evil! During this scene, many of the armed\nslunk away into the bush, and those who remained entered into a bond to\nbe friendly and to protect us. But again their Public Assembly resolved\nthat we should be killed, because, as they said, they hated Jehovah and\nthe Worship; for it made them afraid to do as they had always done. If I\nwould give up visiting the villages, and praying and talking with them\nabout Jehovah, they intimated that they would like me to stay and trade\nwith them, as they liked the Traders but hated the Missionaries! I told\nthem that the hope of being able to teach them the Worship of Jehovah\nalone kept me living amongst them; that I was there, not for gain or\npleasure, but because I loved them, and pitied their estate, and sought\ntheir good continually by leading them to know and serve the only true\nGod.\n\nBut my enemies seldom slackened their hateful designs against my life,\nhowever calmed or baffled for the moment. Within a few days of the above\nevents, when Natives in large numbers were assembled at my house, a man\nfuriously rushed on me with his ax; but a Kaserumini Chief snatched a\nspade with which I had been working, and dexterously defended me from\ninstant death. Life in such circumstances led me to cling very near to\nthe Lord Jesus; I knew not, for one brief hour, when or how attack might\nbe made; and yet, with my trembling hand clasped in the Hand once nailed\non Calvary, and now swaying the scepter of the Universe, calmness and\npeace and resignation abode in my soul.\n\nNext day, a wild Chief followed me about for four hours with his loaded\nmusket, and, though often directed towards me, God restrained his hand.\nI spoke kindly to him, and attended to my work as if he had not been\nthere, fully persuaded that my God had placed me there, and would\nprotect me till my allotted task was finished. Looking up in unceasing\nprayer to our dear Lord Jesus, I left all in His hands, and felt\nimmortal till my work was done. Trials and hairbreadth escapes\nstrengthened my faith, and seemed only to nerve me for more to follow;\nand they did tread swiftly upon each other's heels. Without that abiding\nconsciousness of the presence and power of my dear Lord and Saviour,\nnothing else in all the world could have preserved me from losing my\nreason and perishing miserably. His words, \"Lo, I am with you alway,\neven unto the end of the world,\" became to me so real that it would not\nhave startled me to behold Him, as Stephen did, gazing down upon the\nscene. I felt His supporting power, as did St. Paul, when he cried, \"I\ncan do all things through Christ which strengthened me.\" It is the sober\ntruth, and it comes back to me sweetly after twenty years, that I had my\nnearest and dearest glimpses of the face and smile of my blessed Lord in\nthose dread moments when musket, club, or spear was being leveled at my\nlife. Oh the bliss of living and enduring, as seeing \"Him who is\ninvisible!\" One evening, I awoke three times to hear a Chief and his men\ntrying to force the door of my house. Though armed with muskets, they\nhad some sense of doing wrong, and were wholesomely afraid of a little\nretriever dog which had often stood betwixt me and death. God restrained\nthem again; and next morning the report went all round the Harbor that\nthose who tried to shoot me were \"smitten weak with fear,\" and that\nshooting would not do. A plan was therefore deliberately set on foot to\nfire the premises, and club us if we attempted to escape. But our\nAneityumese Teacher heard of it, and God helped us to frustrate their\ndesigns. When they knew their plots were revealed to us, they seemed to\nlose faith in themselves, and cast about to circumvent us in some more\nsecret way, Their evil was overruled for good.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\nA NATIVE SAINT AND MARTYR.\n\nNAMUEI, one of my Aneityumese Teachers, was placed at our nearest\nvillage. There he had built a house for himself and his wife, and there\nhe led amongst the Heathen a pure and humble Christian life. Almost\nevery morning he came and reported on the state of affairs to me.\nWithout books or a school, he yet instructed the Natives in Divine\nthings, conducted the worship, and taught them much by his good example.\nHis influence was increasing, when one morning a Sacred Man threw at him\nthe _kawas_ or killing-stone, a deadly weapon like a scythe stone in\nshape and thickness, usually round but sometimes angular, and from\neighteen to twenty inches long. They throw it from a great distance and\nwith fatal precision. The Teacher, with great agility, warded his head\nand received the deep cut from it in his left hand, reserving his right\nhand to guard against the club that was certain to follow swiftly. The\nPriest sprang upon him with his club and with savage yells. He evaded,\nyet also received, many blows; and, rushing out of their hands, actually\nreached the Mission House, bleeding, fainting, and pursued by howling\nmurderers. I had been anxiously expecting him, and hearing the noise I\nran out with all possible speed.\n\nOn seeing me, he sank down by a tree, and cried, \"Missi, Missi, quick!\nand escape for your life! They are coming to kill you; they say they\nmust kill us all to-day, and they have begun with me; for they hate\nJehovah and the Worship!\"\n\nI hastened to the good Teacher where he lay; I bound up, washed, and\ndressed his wounds; and God, by the mystery of His own working, kept the\ninfuriated Tannese watching at bay. Gradually they began to disappear\ninto the bush, and we conveyed the dear Teacher to the Mission House. In\nthree or four weeks, he so far recovered by careful nursing that he was\nable to walk about again. Some petitioned for him to return to the\nvillage; but I insisted, as a preliminary, that the Harbor Chiefs should\nunitedly punish him who had abused the Teacher; and this to test them,\nfor he had only carried out their own wishes,--Nowar excepted, and\nperhaps one or two others. They made a pretense of atoning by presenting\nthe Teacher with a pig and some yams as a peace-offering; but I said,\n\"No! Such bad conduct must be punished, or we would leave their island\nby the first opportunity.\"\n\nNow that Sacred Man, a Chief too, had gone on fighting with other\ntribes, till his followers had all died or been slain; and, after three\nweeks' palaver, the other Chiefs seized him, tied him with a rope, and\nsent me word to come and see him punished, as they did not want us after\nall to leave the island. I had to go, for fear of more bloody work, and\nafter talk with them, followed by many fair promises, he was loosed.\n\nAll appearing friendly for some time, and willing to listen and learn,\nthe Teacher earnestly desired to return to his post. I pled with him to\nremain at the Mission House till we felt more assured, but he replied,\n\"Missi, when I see them thirsting for my blood, I just see myself when\nthe Missionary first came to my island. I desired to murder him, as they\nnow desire to kill me. Had he stayed away for such danger, I would have\nremained Heathen; but he came, and continued coming to teach us, till,\nby the grace of God, I was changed to what I am. Now the same God that\nchanged me to this can change these poor Tannese to love and serve Him.\nI cannot stay away from them; but I will sleep at the Mission House, and\ndo all I can by day to bring them to Jesus.\"\n\nIt was not in me to keep such a man, under such motives, from what he\nfelt to be his post of duty. He returned to his village work, and for\nseveral weeks things appeared most encouraging. The inhabitants showed\ngrowing interest in us and our work, and less fear of the pretensions of\ntheir Heathen Priest, which, alas! fed his jealousy and anger. One\nmorning during worship, when the good Teacher knelt in prayer, the same\nsavage Priest sprang upon him with his great club and left him for dead,\nwounded and bleeding and unconscious. The people fled and left him in\nhis blood, afraid of being mixed up with the murder. The Teacher,\nrecovering a little, crawled to the Mission House, and reached it about\nmidday in a dying condition. On seeing him, I ran to meet him, but he\nfell near the Teacher's house, saying, \"Missi, I am dying! They will\nkill you also. Escape for your life.\"\n\nTrying to console him, I sat down beside him, dressing his wounds and\nnursing him. He was quite resigned; he was looking up to Jesus, and\nrejoicing that he would soon be with Him in Glory. His pain and\nsuffering were great but he bore all very quietly, as he said and kept\nsaying, \"For the sake of Jesus! For Jesu's sake!\" He was constantly\npraying for his persecutors, \"O Lord Jesus, forgive them, for they know\nnot what they are doing. Oh, take not away all Thy servants from Tanna!\nTake not away Thy Worship from this dark island! O God, bring all the\nTannese to love and follow Jesus!\"\n\nTo him, Jesus was all and in all; and there were no bands in his death.\nHe passed from us, in the assured hope of entering into the Glory of his\nLord. Humble though he may appear in the world's esteem, I knew that a\ngreat man had fallen there in the service of Christ, and that he would\ntake rank in the glorious Army of the Martyrs. I made for him a coffin,\nand dug his grave near the Mission House. With prayers, and many tears,\nwe consigned his remains to the dust in the certainty of a happy\nresurrection. Even one such convert was surely a triumphant reward for\nthe Missionaries, whom God had honored in bringing him to Jesus. May\nthey have many like Namuri for their crown of joy and rejoicing in the\ngreat day!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\nBUILDING AND PRINTING FOR GOD.\n\nFOR fully three months, all our available time, with all the native help\nwhich I could hire, was spent in erecting a building to serve for Church\nand School. It was fifty feet long, by twenty-one feet six inches broad.\nThe studs were three feet apart, and all fixed by tenon and mortise into\nupper and lower wall plates. The beautiful roof of iron-wood and\nsugar-cane leaf was supported by three massive pillars of wood, sunk\ndeeply into the ground. The roof extended about three feet over the wall\nplates, both to form a verandah and to carry the raindrops free beyond\nthe walls. It was made of sugar-cane leaf and cocoanut leaves all\naround. The floor was laid with white coral, broken small, and covered\nwith cocoanut leaf mats, such as those on which the Natives sat. Indeed,\nit was as comfortable a House of Prayer as any man need wish for in the\ntropics, though having only open spaces for doors and windows! I bought\nthe heavy wood for it on Aneityum--price, fifty pairs of trousers for\nNatives; and these again were the gift of my Bible Class in Glasgow, all\ncut and sewed by their own hands. I gave also one hundred and thirty\nyards of cloth, along with other things, for other needful wood.\n\nAs we were preparing a foundation for the Church, a huge and\nsingular-looking round stone was dug up, at sight of which the Tannese\nstood aghast. The eldest Chief said, \"Missi, that stone was either\nbrought there by Karapanamun (the Evil Spirit), or hid there by our\ngreat Chief who is dead. That is the Stone God to which our forefathers\noffered human sacrifices; these holes held the blood of the victim till\ndrunk up by the Spirit. The Spirit of that stone eats up men and women\nand drinks their blood, as our fathers taught us. We are in greatest\nfear!\"\n\nA Sacred Man claimed possession, and was exceedingly desirous to carry\nit off; but I managed to keep it, and did everything in my power to show\nthem the absurdity of these foolish notions. Idolatry had not indeed yet\nfallen throughout Tanna; but one cruel idol, at least, had to give way\nfor the erection of God's House on that benighted land.\n\nAn ever-memorable event was the printing of my first book in Tannese.\nThomas Binnie, Jun., Glasgow, gave me a printing-press and a font of\ntype. Printing was one of the things I had never tried, but having now\nprepared a booklet in Tannese, I got my printing press into order, and\nbegan fingering the type. But book-printing turned out to be for me a\nmuch more difficult affair than house-building had been. Yet by dogged\nperseverance I succeeded at last. My biggest difficulty was how to\narrange the pages properly! After many failures, I folded a piece of\npaper into the number of leaves wanted, cut the corners, folding them\nback, and numbering as they would be when correctly placed in the book;\nthen folding all back without cutting up the sheet, I found now by these\nnumbers how to arrange the pages in the frame or case for printing, as\nindicated on each side. And do you think me foolish, when I confess that\nI shouted in an ecstasy of joy when the first sheet came from the press\nall correct? It was about one o'clock in the morning. I was the only\nwhite man then on the island, and all the Natives had been fast asleep\nfor hours! Yet I literally pitched my hat into the air, and danced like\na schoolboy round and round that printing-press; till I began to think,\nAm I losing my reason? Would it not be like a Missionary to be upon my\nknees, adoring God for this first portion of His blessed Word ever\nprinted in this new language? Friend, bear with me, and believe me--that\nwas as true worship as ever was David's dancing before the Ark of his\nGod! Nor think that I did not, over that first sheet of God's Word ever\nprinted in the Tannese tongue, go upon my knees too, and then, and every\nday since, plead with the mighty Lord to carry the light and joy of His\nown Holy Bible into every dark heart and benighted home on Tanna!\n\nYet dangers darkened round me. One day, while toiling away at my house,\nthe war Chief and his brother, and a large party of armed men,\nsurrounded the plot where I was working. They all had muskets, besides\ntheir own native weapons. They watched me for some time in silence, and\nthen every man leveled a musket straight at my head. Escape was\nimpossible. Speech would only have increased my danger. My eyesight came\nand went for a few moments. I prayed to my Lord Jesus, either Himself to\nprotect me or to take me home to His Glory. I tried to keep working on\nat my task, as if no one was near me. In that moment, as never before,\nthe words came to me--\"Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, I will do\nit;\" and I knew that I was safe. Retiring a little from their first\nposition, no word having been spoken, they took up the same attitude\nsomewhat farther off, and seemed to be urging one another to fire the\nfirst shot. But my dear Lord restrained them once again, and they\nwithdrew, leaving me with a new reason for trusting Him with all that\nconcerned me for Time and Eternity.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\nHEATHEN DANCE AND SHAM FIGHT.\n\nTHE Chief, Nowar Noukamara, usually known as Nowar, was my best and\nmost-to-be-trusted friend. He influenced the Harbor Chiefs and their\npeople for eight or ten miles around to get up a great feast in favor of\nthe Worship of Jehovah. All were personally and specially invited, and\nit was the largest Assembly of any kind that I ever witnessed on the\nIslands.\n\nWhen all was ready, Nowar sent a party of Chiefs to escort me and my\nAneityumese Teachers to the feast. Fourteen Chiefs, in turn, made\nspeeches to the assembled multitude; the drift of all being, that war\nand fighting be given up on Tanna,--that no more people be killed by\nNahak, for witchcraft and sorcery were lies,--that Sacred Men no longer\nprofess to make wind and rain, famine and plenty, disease and\ndeath,--that the dark Heathen talk of Tanna should cease,--that all here\npresent should adopt the Worship of Jehovah as taught to them by the\nMissionary and the Aneityumese,--and that all the banished Tribes should\nbe invited to their own lands to live in peace! These strange speeches\ndid not draw forth a single opposing voice. The Tannese are born\ntalkers, and can and will speechify on all occasions; but most of it\nmeans nothing, bears no fruit.\n\nAfter these speeches, a scene followed which gradually assumed shape as\nan idolatrous ceremonial and greatly horrified me. It was in connection\nwith the immense quantity of food that had been prepared for the feast,\nespecially pigs and fowls. A great heap had been piled up for each Tribe\nrepresented, and a handsome portion also set apart for the Missionary\nand his Teachers. The ceremony was this, as nearly as I could follow it.\nOne hundred or so of the leading men marched into the large clear space\nin the center of the assembled multitudes, and stood there facing each\nother in equal lines, with a man at either end closing up the passage\nbetween. At the middle they stood eight or ten feet apart, gradually\nnearing till they almost met at either end. Amid tremendous silence for\na few moments, all stood hushed; then every man kneeled on his right\nknee, extended his right hand, and bent forward till his face nearly\ntouched the ground. Thereon the man at the one end began muttering\nsomething, his voice rising ever louder as he rose to his feet, when it\nended in a fearful yell as he stood erect. Next the two long lines of\nmen, all in a body, went through the same ceremonial, rising gradually\nto their feet, with mutterings deepening into a howl, and heightening\ninto a yell stood erect. Finally, the man at the other end went through\nthe same hideous forms. All this was thrice deliberately repeated, each\ntime with growing frenzy. And then, all standing on their feet, they\nunited as with one voice in what sounded like music running mad up and\ndown the scale--closing with a long, deep-toned, hollow howl as of souls\nin pain. With smiles of joy, the men then all shook hands with each\nother. Nowar and another Chief briefly spoke; and the food was then\ndivided and exchanged, a principal man of each Tribe standing by to\nreceive and watch his portion.\n\nAt this stage, Nowar and Nerwangi, as leaders, addressed the Teachers\nand the Missionary to this effect; \"This feast is held to move all the\nChiefs and People here to give up fighting, to become friends, and to\nworship your Jehovah God. We wish you to remain, and to teach us all\ngood conduct. As an evidence of our sincerity, and of our love, we have\nprepared this pile of food for you.\"\n\nIn reply, I addressed the whole multitude, saying how pleased I was with\ntheir speeches and with the resolutions and promises which they all had\nmade. I further urged them to stick fast by these, and that grand fruits\nwould arise to their island, to themselves, and to their children.\n\nHaving finished a brief address, I then walked forward to the very\nmiddle of the circle, and laid down before them a bundle of stripes of\nred calico and pieces of white calico, a number of fish-hooks, knives,\netc., etc., requesting the two Chiefs to divide my offering of goodwill\namong the Tribes assembled, and also the pile of food presented to us,\nas a token of my love and friendship to them all.\n\nNot without some doubt, and under considerable trial, did I take this\napparently unfriendly attitude of refusing to take their food. But I\nfeared to seem even to approve of any act of devil-worship, or to\nconfirm them in it, being there to discourage all such scenes, and to\nlead them to acknowledge only the true God. Yet all the time I felt this\nqualm,--that it might have been better to eat food with men who\nacknowledged some God and asked his blessing, than with those white\nHeathens at home, who asked the blessing of no God, nor thanked Him--in\nthis worse than the dog which licks the hand that feeds it! Nowar and\nNerwangi explained in great orations what I meant, and how I wished all\nto be divided amongst the assembled Tribes to show my love. With this,\nall seemed highly satisfied.\n\nHeathen dances were now entered upon, their paint and feathers and\nornaments adding to the wildness of the scene. The men seemed to dance\nin an inside ring, and the women in an outside ring, at a considerable\ndistance from each other. Music was supplied by singing and clapping of\nhands. The order was perfect, and the figures highly intricate. But I\nhave never been able to associate dancing with things lovely and of good\nreport! After the dancing, all retired to the bush; and a kind of sham\nfight then followed on the public cleared ground. A host of painted\nsavages rushed in and took possession with songs and shoutings. From the\nbush, on the opposite side, the chanting of women was heard in the\ndistance, louder and louder as they approached. Snatching from a burning\nfire flaming sticks, they rushed on the men with these, beating them and\nthrowing burning pieces of wood among them, till with deafening yells\namongst themselves and amidst shouts of laughter from the crowd, they\ndrove them from the space, and danced thereon and sang a song of\nvictory. The dancing and fighting, the naked painted figures, and the\nconstant yells and shoutings gave one a weird sensation, and suggested\nstrange ideas of Hell broken loose.\n\nThe final scene approached, when the men assisted their women to fill\nall the allotted food into baskets to be carried home and eaten there;\nfor the different Tribes do not sit down together and eat together as we\nwould do; their coming together is for the purpose of exchanging and\ndividing the food presented. And now they broke into friendly confusion,\nand freely walked about mingling with each other; and a kind of savage\nrehearsal of Jonathan and David took place. They stripped themselves of\ntheir fantastic dresses, their handsomely woven and twisted grass\nskirts, leaf skirts, grass and leaf aprons; they gave away or exchanged\nall these, and their ornaments and bows and arrows, besides their less\nromantic calico and print dresses more recently acquired. The effusion\nand ceremonial of the gifts and exchanges seem to betoken a loving\npeople; and so they were for the feast--but that laid not aside a single\ndeadly feud, and streams of blood and cries of hate would soon efface\nall traces of this day.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\nCANNIBALS AT WORK.\n\nEARLY one morning, the savage yells of warring Tribes woke me from\nsleep. They had broken into a quarrel about a woman, and were fiercely\nengaged with their clubs. According to my custom, I rushed in amongst\nthem, and, not without much difficulty, was blessed in separating them\nbefore deadly wounds had been given or received. On this occasion, the\nChiefs of both Tribes, being very friendly to me, drove their people\nback from each other at my earnest appeals. Sitting down at length\nwithin earshot, they had it out in a wild scolding match, a contest of\nlung and tongue. Meanwhile I rested on a canoe midway betwixt them, in\nthe hope of averting a renewal of hostilities. By and by an old Sacred\nMan, a Chief, called Sapa, with some touch of savage comedy in his\nbreast, volunteered an episode which restored good humor to the scene.\nLeaping up, he came dancing and singing towards me, and there, to the\namusement of all, reenacted the quarrel, and mimicked rather cleverly my\nattempt at separating the combatants. Smashing at the canoe with his\nclub, he yelled and knocked down imaginary enemies; then, rushing first\nat one party and then at the other, he represented me as appealing and\ngesticulating and pushing them afar from each other, till he became\nquite exhausted. Thereon he came and planted himself in great glee\nbeside me, and looked around as if to say, \"You must laugh, for I have\nplayed.\" At this very juncture, a loud cry of \"Sail O\" broke upon our\nears, and all parties leapt to their feet, and prepared for a new\nsensation; for in those climes, everything--war itself--is a smaller\ninterest than a vessel from the Great Unknown Beyond sailing into your\nHarbor.\n\nNot many days thereafter, a very horrible transaction occurred. Before\ndaybreak, I heard shot after shot quickly discharged in the Harbor. One\nof my Teachers came running, and cried, \"Missi, six or seven men have\nbeen shot dead this morning for a great feast. It is to reconcile Tribes\nthat have been at war, and to allow a banished Tribe to return in\npeace.\"\n\nI learned that the leading men had in council agreed upon this\nsacrifice, but the name of each victim was kept a secret till the last\nmoment. The torture of suspense and uncertainty seemed to be borne by\nall as part of their appointed lot; nor did they prepare as if\nsuspecting any dread assault. Before daylight, the Sacred Men allocated\na murderer to the door of each house where a victim slept. A signal shot\nwas fired; all rushed to their doors, and the doomed ones were shot and\nclubbed to death, as they attempted to escape. Their bodies were then\nborne to a sacred tree, and hung up there by the hands for a time as an\noffering to the gods. Being taken down, they were carried ceremoniously\nand laid out on the shore near my house, placed under a special guard.\n\nInformation had reached me that my Teachers and I were also destined\nvictims for this same feast; and sure enough we espied a band of armed\nmen, the killers, despatched towards our premises. Instantaneously I had\nthe Teachers and their wives and myself securely locked into the Mission\nHouse; and, cut off from all human hope, we set ourselves to pray to our\ndear Lord Jesus, either Himself to protect us or to take us to His\nglory. All through that morning and forenoon we heard them\ntramp-tramping round our house, whispering to each other, and hovering\nnear window and door. They knew that there were a double-barreled\nfowling-piece and a revolver on the premises, though they never had seen\nme use them, and that may, under God, have held them back in dread. But\nthe thought of using them did not enter our souls even in that awful\ntime. I had gone to save, and not to destroy. It would be easier for me\nat any time to die, than to kill one of them. Our safety lay in our\nappeal to that blessed Lord who had placed us there, and to whom all\npower had been given in Heaven and on Earth. He that was with us was\nmore than all that could be against us. This is strength;--this is\npeace:--to feel, in entering on every day, that all its duties and\ntrials have been committed to the Lord Jesus,--that, come what may, He\nwill use us for His glory and our own real good!\n\nAll through that dreadful morning, and far into the afternoon, we thus\nabode together, feeling conscious that we were united to this dear Lord\nJesus; and we had sweet communion with Him, meditating on the wonders of\nHis person and the hopes and glories of His kingdom. Oh, that all my\nreaders may learn something of this in their own experience of the Lord!\nI can wish them nothing more precious. Towards sundown, constrained by\nthe Invisible One, they withdrew from our Mission House, and left us\nonce more in peace. They bore away the slain to be cooked, and\ndistributed amongst the Tribes, and eaten in their feast of\nreconciliation; a covenant sealed in blood, and soon, alas, to be buried\nin blood again! For many days thereafter we had to take unusual care,\nand not unduly expose ourselves to danger; for dark characters were seen\nprowling about in the bush near at hand, and we knew that our life was\nthe prize. We took what care we could, and God the Lord did the rest; or\nrather He did all--for His wisdom guided us, and His power baffled them.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\nTHE DEFYING OF NAHAK.\n\nSHORTLY thereafter war was again declared, by the Inland people\nattacking our Harbor people. It was an old quarrel; and the war was\nrenewed and continued, long after the cause thereof had passed away.\nGoing amongst them every day, I did my utmost to stop hostilities,\nsetting the evils of war before them, and pleading with the leading men\nto renounce it. Thereon arose a characteristic incident of Island and\nHeathen life. One day I held a Service in the village where morning\nafter morning their Tribes assembled, and declared that if they would\nbelieve in and follow the Jehovah God, He would deliver them from all\ntheir enemies and lead them into a happy life. There were present three\nSacred Men, Chiefs, of whom the whole population lived in\nterror--brothers or cousins, heroes of traditional feats, professors of\nsorcery, and claiming the power of life and death, health and sickness,\nrain and drought, according to their will. On hearing me, these three\nstood up and declared they did not believe in Jehovah, nor did they need\nHis help; for they had the power to kill my life by Nahak (_i.e._\nsorcery or witchcraft), if only they could get possession of any piece\nof the fruit or food that I had eaten. This was an essential condition\nof their black art; hence the peel of a banana or an orange, and every\nbroken scrap of food, is gathered up by the Natives, lest it should fall\ninto the hands of the Sacred Men, and be used for Nahak. This\nsuperstition was the cause of most of the bloodshed and terror upon\nTanna; and being thus challenged, I asked God's help, and determined to\nstrike a blow against it.\n\nA woman was standing near with a bunch of native fruit in her hand, like\nour plums, called quonquore. I asked her to be pleased to give me some;\nand she, holding out a bunch, said, \"Take freely what you will!\"\n\nCalling the attention of all the Assembly to what I was doing, I took\nthree fruits from the bunch, and taking a bite out of each, I gave them\none after another to the three Sacred Men, and deliberately said in the\nhearing of all, \"You have seen me eat of this fruit, you have seen me\ngive the remainder to your Sacred Men; they have said they can kill me\nby Nahak, but I challenge them to do it if they can, without arrow or\nspear, club or musket; for I deny that they have any power against me,\nor against any one, by their Sorcery.\"\n\nThe challenge was accepted; the Natives looked terror-struck at the\nposition in which I was placed! The ceremony of Nahak was usually\nperformed in secret,--the Tannese fleeing in dread, as Europeans would\nfrom the touch of the plague; but I lingered and eagerly watched their\nritual. As the three Chiefs arose, and drew near to one of the Sacred\nTrees, to begin their ceremonial, the Natives fled in terror, crying,\n\"Missi, Iawe? Alas, Missi!\"\n\nBut I held on at my post of observation. Amidst wavings and\nincantations, they rolled up the pieces of the fruit from which I had\neaten, in certain leaves of this Sacred Tree, into a shape like a waxen\ncandle; then they kindled a sacred fire near the root, and continued\ntheir mutterings, gradually burning a little more and a little more of\nthe candle-shaped things, wheeling them round their heads, blowing upon\nthem with their breaths, waving them in the air, and glancing wildly at\nme as if expecting my sudden destruction. Wondering whether after all\nthey did not believe their own lie, for they seemed to be in dead\nearnest, I, more eager than ever to break the chains of such vile\nsuperstition, urged them again and again, crying, \"Be quick! Stir up\nyour gods to help you! I am not killed yet; I am perfectly well!\"\n\nAt last they stood up and said, \"We must delay till we have called all\nour Sacred Men. We will kill Missi before his next Sabbath comes round.\nLet all watch, for he will soon die and that without fail.\"\n\nI replied, \"Very good! I challenge all your Priests to unite and kill me\nby Sorcery or Nahak. If on Sabbath next I come again to your village in\nhealth, you will all admit that your gods have no power over me, and\nthat I am protected by the true and living Jehovah God!\"\n\nEvery day throughout the remainder of that week the Conchs were sounded;\nand over that side of the island all their Sacred Men were at work\ntrying to kill me by their arts. Now and again messengers arrived from\nevery quarter of the island, inquiring anxiously after my health, and\nwondering if I was not feeling sick, and great excitement prevailed\namongst the poor deluded idolaters.\n\nSabbath dawned upon me peacefully, and I went to that village in more\nthan my usual health and strength. Large numbers assembled, and when I\nappeared they looked at each other in terror, as if it could not really\nbe I myself still spared and well. Entering into the public ground, I\nsaluted them to this effect, \"My love to you all, my friends! I have\ncome again to talk to you about the Jehovah God and His Worship.\"\n\nThe three Sacred Men, on being asked, admitted that they had tried to\nkill me by Nahak, but had failed; and on being questioned, why they had\nfailed; they gave the acute and subtle reply, that I also was myself a\nSacred Man, and that my God being the stronger had protected me from\ntheir gods. Addressing the multitude, I answered thus, \"Yea, truly; my\nJehovah God is stronger than your gods. He protected me, and helped me;\nfor He is the only living and true God, the only God that can hear or\nanswer any prayer from the children of men. Your gods cannot hear\nprayer, but my God can and will hear and answer you, if you will give\nheart and life to Him, and love and serve Him only. This is my God, and\nHe is also your friend if you will hear and follow His voice.\"\n\nHaving said this, I sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree, and\naddressed them, \"Come and sit down all around me, and I will talk to you\nabout the love and mercy of my God, and teach you how to worship and\nplease Him.\"\n\nTwo of the Sacred Men then sat down, and all the people gathered round\nand seated themselves very quietly. I tried to present to them ideas of\nsin, and of salvation through Jesus Christ, as revealed to us in the\nHoly Scriptures.\n\nThe third Sacred Man, the highest in rank, a man of great stature and\nuncommon strength, had meantime gone off for his warrior's spear, and\nreturned brandishing it in the air and poising it at me. I said to the\npeople, \"Of course he can kill me with his spear, but he undertook to\nkill me by Nahak or Sorcery, and promised not to use against me any\nweapons of war; and if you let him kill me now, you will kill your\nfriend, one who lives among you and only tries to do you good, as you\nall know so well. I know that if you kill me thus, my God will be angry\nand will punish you.\"\n\nThereon I seated myself calmly in the midst of the crowd, while he\nleaped about in rage, scolding his brothers and all who were present for\nlistening to me. The other Sacred Men, however, took my side, and, as\nmany of the people also were friendly to me and stood closely packed\naround me, he did not throw his spear. To allay the tumult and obviate\nfurther bloodshed, I offered to leave with my Teachers at once, and, in\ndoing so, I ardently pled with them to live at peace. Though we got\nsafely home, that old Sacred Man seemed still to hunger after my blood.\nFor weeks thereafter, go where I would, he would suddenly appear on the\npath behind me, poising in his right hand that same Goliath spear. God\nonly kept it from being thrown, and I, using every lawful precaution,\nhad all the same to attend to my work, as if no enemy were there,\nleaving all other results in the hands of Jesus. This whole incident\ndid, doubtless, shake the prejudices of many as to Sorcery; but few even\nof converted Natives ever get entirely clear of the dread of Nahak.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\nA PERILOUS PILGRIMAGE.\n\nTHE other Mission Station, on the southwest side of Tanna, had to be\nvisited by me from time to time. Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson, there, were\nboth in a weak state of health, having a tendency to consumption. On\nthis account they visited Aneityum several times. They were earnestly\ndevoted to their work, and were successful as far as health and the time\nallowed to them permitted. At this juncture, a message reached me that\nthey were without European food, and a request to send them a little\nflour if possible. The war made the journey overland impossible. A\nstrong wind and a high sea round the coast rendered it impracticable for\nmy boat to go. The danger to life from the enemy was so great that I\ncould not hire a crew. I pled therefore with Nowar and Manuman, and a\nfew leading men, to take one of their best canoes, and themselves to\naccompany me. I had a large flat-bottomed pot with a close fitting lid,\nand that I pressed full of flour; and, tying the lid firmly down, I\nfastened it right in the center of the canoe, and as far above\nwater-mark as possible. All else that was required we tied around our\nown persons. Sea and land being as they were, it was a perilous\nundertaking, which only dire necessity could have justified. They were\nall swimmers, but as I could not swim, the strongest man was placed\nbehind me, to seize me and swim ashore, if a crash came.\n\nCreeping round near the shore all the way, we had to keep just outside\nthe great breakers on the coral reef, and were all drenched through and\nthrough with the foam of an angry surf. We arrived, however, in safety\nwithin two miles of our destination, where lived the friends of my\ncanoe's company, but where a very dangerous sea was breaking on the\nreef. Here they all gave in, and protested that no further could they\ngo; and truly their toil all the way with the paddles had been severe. I\nappealed to them, that the canoe would for certain be smashed if they\ntried to get on shore, that the provisions would be lost, and some of us\nprobably drowned. But they turned to the shore, and remained for some\ntime thus, watching the sea. At last their Captain cried, \"Missi, hold\non! There's a smaller wave coming; we'll ride in now.\"\n\nMy heart rose to the Lord in trembling prayer! The wave came rolling on;\nevery paddle with all their united strength struck into the sea; and\nnext moment our canoe was flying like a sea-gull on the crest of the\nwave towards the shore. Another instant, and the wave had broken on the\nreef with a mighty roar, and rushed passed us hissing in clouds of foam.\nMy company were next seen swimming wildly about in the sea, Manuman the\none-eyed Sacred Man alone holding on by the canoe, nearly full of water,\nwith me still clinging to the seat of it, and the very next wave likely\nto devour us. In desperation, I sprang for the reef, and ran for a man\nhalf-wading, half-swimming to reach us; and God so ordered it, that just\nas the next wave broke against the silvery rock of coral, the man caught\nme and partly swam with me through its surf, partly carried me till I\nwas set safely ashore. Praising God, I looked up and saw all the others\nas safe as myself, except Manuman, my friend, who was still holding on\nby the canoe in the face of wind and sea, and bringing it with him.\nOthers ran and swam to his help. The paddles were picked up amid the\nsurf. A powerful fellow came towards me with the pot of flour on his\nhead, uninjured by water! The Chief who held on by the canoe got\nseverely cut about the feet, and had been badly bruised and knocked\nabout; but all the rest escaped without further harm, and everything\nthat we had was saved. Amongst friends at last, they resolved to await a\nfavorable wind and tide to return to their own homes. Singing in my\nheart unto God, I hired a man to carry the pot of flour, and soon\narrived at the Mission Station.\n\nSupplying the wants of our dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson, whom we\nfound as well as could be expected, we had to prepare, after a few hours\nof rest, to return to our own Station by walking overland through the\nnight. I durst not remain longer away, lest my own house should be\nplundered and broken into. Though weak in health, my fellow-Missionaries\nwere both full of hope, and zealous in their work, and this somewhat\nstrange visit was a pleasant blink amidst our darkness. Before I had\ngone far on my return journey, the sun went down, and no Native could be\nhired to accompany me. They all told me that I would for certain be\nkilled by the way. But I knew that it would be quite dark before I\nreached the hostile districts, and that the Heathen are great cowards in\nthe dark and never leave their villages at night in the darkness, except\nin companies for fishing and suchlike tasks. I skirted along the\nsea-shore as fast as I could, walking and running alternately; and, when\nI got within hearing of voices, I slunk back into the bush till they had\nsafely passed, and then groped my way back near the shore, that being my\nonly guide to find a path.\n\nHaving made half the journey, I came to a dangerous path, almost\nperpendicular, up a great rock round the base of which the sea roared\ndeep. With my heart lifted up to Jesus, I succeeded in climbing it,\ncautiously grasping roots, and resting by bushes, till I safely reached\nthe top. There, to avoid a village, I had to keep crawling slowly along\nthe brush near the sea, on the top of that great ledge of rock--a feat I\ncould never have accomplished even in daylight without the excitement;\nbut I felt that I was supported and guided in all that life-or-death\njourney by my dear Lord Jesus. I had to leave the shore, and follow up\nthe bank of a very deep ravine to a place shallow enough for one to\ncross, and then through the bush away for the shore again. By holding\ntoo much to the right, I missed the point where I had intended to reach\nit. Small fires were now visible through the bush; I heard the voices of\nthe people talking in one of our most Heathen villages.\n\nQuietly drawing back, I now knew where I was, and easily found my way\ntowards the shore; but on reaching the Great Rock, I could not in the\ndarkness find the path down again. I groped about till I was tired. I\nfeared that I might stumble over and be killed; or, if I delayed till\ndaylight, that the savages would kill me. I knew that one part of the\nrock was steep-sloping, with little growth or none thereon, and I\nsearched about to find it, resolved to commend myself to Jesus and slide\ndown thereby, that I might again reach the shore and escape for my life.\nThinking I had found this spot, I hurled down several stones and\nlistened for their splash that I might judge whether it would be safe.\nBut the distance was too far for me to hear or judge. At high tide the\nsea there was deep; but at low tide I could wade out of it and be safe.\nThe darkness made it impossible for me to see anything. I let go my\numbrella, shoving it down with considerable force, but neither did it\nsend me back any news.\n\nFeeling sure, however, that this was the place I sought, and knowing\nthat to await the daylight would be certain death, I prayed to my Lord\nJesus for help and protection, and resolved to let myself go. First, I\nfastened all my clothes as tightly as I could, so as not to catch on\nanything; then I lay down at the top on my back, feet foremost, holding\nmy head downwards on my breast to keep it from striking on the rock;\nthen, after one cry to my Saviour, having let myself down as far as\npossible by a branch, I at last let go, throwing my arms forward and\ntrying to keep my feet well up. A giddy swirl, as if flying through the\nair, took possession of me; a few moments seemed an age; I rushed\nquickly down, and felt no obstruction till my feet struck into the sea\nbelow. Adoring and praising my dear Lord Jesus, who had ordered it so, I\nregained my feet; it was low tide, I had received no injury, I recovered\nmy umbrella, and, wading through, I found the shore path easier and\nlighter than the bush had been. The vary darkness was my safety,\npreventing the Natives from rambling about. I saw no person to speak to,\ntill I reached a village quite near to my own house, fifteen or twenty\nmiles from where I had started; I here left the sea path and promised\nsome young men a gift of fish-hooks to guide me the nearest way through\nthe bush to my Mission Station, which they gladly and heartily did. I\nran a narrow risk in approaching them; they thought me an enemy, and I\narrested their muskets only by a loud cry--\n\n\"I am Missi! Don't shoot; my love to you, my friends!\"\n\nPraising God for His preserving care, I reached home, and had a long\nrefreshing sleep. The natives, on hearing next day how I had come all\nthe way in the dark exclaimed--\n\n\"Surely any of us would have been killed! Your Jehovah God alone thus\nprotects you and brings you safely home.\"\n\nWith all my heart, I said, \"Yes! and He will be your protector and\nhelper too, if only you will obey and trust in Him.\"\n\nCertainly that night put my faith to the test. Had it not been the\nassurance that I was engaged in His service, and that in every path of\nduty He would carry me through or dispose of me therein for His glory I\ncould never have undertaken either journey. St. Paul's words are true\nto-day and forever--\"I can do all things through Christ which\nstrengthened me.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\nTHE PLAGUE OF MEASLES.\n\nABOUT this time I had a never-to-be-forgotten illustration of the\ninfernal spirit that possessed some of the Traders towards these poor\nNatives. One morning, three or four vessels entered our Harbor and cast\nanchor in Port Resolution. The captains called on me, and one of them,\nwith manifest delight, exclaimed, \"We know how to bring down your proud\nTannese now! We'll humble them before you!\"\n\nI answered, \"Surely you don't mean to attack and destroy these poor\npeople?\"\n\nHe replied, not abashed but rejoicing, \"We have sent the measles to\nhumble them! That kills them by the score! Four young men have been\nlanded at different ports, ill with measles, and these will soon thin\ntheir ranks.\"\n\nShocked above measure, I protested solemnly and denounced their conduct\nand spirit; but my remonstrances only called forth the shameless\ndeclaration, \"Our watchword is,--Sweep these creatures away and let\nwhite men occupy the soil!\"\n\nTheir malice was further illustrated thus: they induced Kapuku, a young\nChief, to go off to one of their vessels, promising him a present. He\nwas the friend and chief supporter of Mr. Mathieson and of his work.\nHaving got him on board, they confined him in the hold amongst natives\nlying ill with measles. They gave him no food for about four-and-twenty\nhours; and then, without the promised present, they put him ashore far\nfrom his own home. Though weak and excited, he scrambled back to his\ntribe in great exhaustion and terror. He informed the Missionary that\nthey had put him down amongst sick people, red and hot with fever, and\nthat he feared their sickness was upon him. I am ashamed to say that\nthese Sandal-wood and other Traders were our own degraded countrymen;\nand that they deliberately gloried in thus destroying the poor Heathen.\nA more fiendish spirit could scarcely be imagined; but most of them were\nhorrible drunkards, and their traffic of every kind amongst these\nislands was, generally speaking, steeped in human blood.\n\nThe measles, thus introduced, became amongst our islanders the most\ndeadly plague. It spread fearfully, and was accompanied by sore throat\nand diarrhea. In some villages, man, woman, and child were stricken, and\nnone could give food or water to the rest. The misery, suffering, and\nterror were unexampled, the living being afraid sometimes even to bury\nthe dead. Thirteen of my own Mission party died of this disease; and, so\nterror-stricken were the few who survived, that when the little Mission\nschooner _John Knox_ returned to Tanna, they all packed up and left for\ntheir own Aneityum, except my own dear old Abraham.\n\nAt first, thinking that all were on the wing, he also had packed his\nchattels, and was standing beside the others ready to leave with them. I\ndrew near to him, and said, \"Abraham, they are all going; are you also\ngoing to leave me here alone on Tanna, to fight the battles of the\nLord?\"\n\nHe asked, \"Missi, will you remain?\"\n\nI replied, \"Yes; but Abraham, the danger to life is now so great that I\ndare not plead with you to remain, for we may both be slain. Still, I\ncannot leave the Lord's work now.\"\n\nThe noble old Chief looked at the box and his bundles, and, musingly,\nsaid, \"Missi, our danger is very great now.\"\n\nI answered, \"Yes; I once thought you would not leave me alone to it;\nbut, as the vessel is going to your own land, I cannot ask you to remain\nand face it with me!\"\n\nHe again said, \"Missi, would you like me to remain alone with you,\nseeing my wife is dead and in her grave here?\"\n\nI replied, \"Yes, I would like you to remain; but, considering the\ncircumstances in which we will be left alone, I cannot plead with you to\ndo so.\"\n\nHe answered, \"Then, Missi, I remain with you of my own free choice, and\nwith all my heart. We will live and die together in the work of the\nLord. I will never leave you while you are spared on Tanna.\"\n\nSo saying, and with a light that gave the fore-gleam of a Martyr's glory\nto his dark face, he shouldered his box and bundles back to his own\nhouse; and thereafter, Abraham was my dear companion and constant\nfriend, and my fellow-sufferer in all that remains still to be related\nof our Mission life on Tanna.\n\nBefore this plague of measles was brought amongst us I had sailed round\nin the _John Knox_ to Black Beach on the opposite side of Tanna, and\nprepared the way for settling Teachers. And they were placed soon after\nby Mr. Copeland and myself with encouraging hopes of success, and with\nthe prospect of erecting there a Station for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, the\nnewly arrived Missionaries from Nova Scotia. But this dreadful imported\nepidemic blasted all our dreams. They devoted themselves from the very\nfirst, and assisted me in every way to alleviate the dread sufferings of\nthe Natives. We carried medicine, food, and even water, to the\nsurrounding villages every day, few of themselves being able to render\nus much assistance. Nearly all who took our medicine and followed\ninstructions as to food, etc., recovered; but vast numbers of them would\nlisten to no counsels, and rushed into experiments which made the attack\nfatal all around. When the trouble was at its height, for instance, they\nwould plunge into the sea, and seek relief; they found it an almost\ninstant death. Others would dig a hole into the earth, the length of the\nbody and about two feet deep; therein they laid themselves down, the\ncold earth feeling agreeable to their fevered skins; and when the earth\naround them grew heated, they got friends to dig a few inches deeper,\nagain and again, seeking a cooler and cooler couch. In this ghastly\neffort many of them died, literally in their own graves, and were buried\nwhere they lay! It need not be surprising, though we did everything in\nour power to relieve and save them, that the natives associated us with\nthe white men who had so dreadfully afflicted them, and that their blind\nthirst for revenge did not draw fine distinctions between the Traders\nand the Missionaries. Both were whites--that was enough.\n\nBefore leaving this terrible plague of measles, I may record my belief\nthat it swept away, with accompanying sore throat and diarrhea, a third\nof the entire population of Tanna; nay? in certain localities more than\na third perished. The living declared themselves unable to bury the\ndead, and great want and suffering ensued. The Teacher and his wife and\nchild, placed by us at Black Beach, were also taken away; and his\ncompanion, the other Teacher there, embraced the first opportunity to\nleave along with his wife for his own island, else his life would have\nbeen taken in revenge. Yet, from all accounts afterwards received, I do\nnot think the measles were more fatal on Tanna than on the other Islands\nof the group. They appear to have carried off even a larger proportion\non Aniwa--the future scene of many sorrows but of greater triumphs.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\nATTACKED WITH CLUBS.\n\nTHE 1st January 1861 was a New Year's Day ever to be remembered. Mr. and\nMrs. Johnston, Abraham, and I, had spent nearly the whole time in a kind\nof solemn yet happy festival. Anew in a holy covenant before God, we\nunitedly consecrated our lives and our all to the Lord Jesus, giving\nourselves away to His blessed service for the conversion of the Heathen\non the New Hebrides. After evening Family Worship, Mr. and Mrs. Johnston\nleft my room to go to their own house, only some ten feet distant; but\nhe returned to inform me that there were two men at the window, armed\nwith huge clubs, and having black painted faces. Going out to them and\nasking them, what they wanted, they replied, \"Medicine for a sick boy.\"\n\nWith difficulty I persuaded them to come in and get it. At once, it\nflashed upon me, from their agitation and their disguise of paint, that\nthey had come to murder us. Mr. Johnston had also accompanied us into\nthe house. Keeping my eye constantly fixed on them, I prepared the\nmedicine and offered it. They refused to receive it, and each man\ngrasped his killing-stone. I faced them firmly and said, \"You see that\nMr. Johnston is now leaving, and you too must leave this room for\nto-night. To-morrow, you can bring the boy or come for the medicine.\"\n\nSeizing their clubs, as if for action, they showed unwillingness to\nwithdraw, but I walked deliberately forward and made as if to push them\nout, when both turned and began to leave.\n\nMr. Johnston had gone in front of them and was safely out. But he bent\ndown to lift a little kitten that had escaped at the open door; and at\nthat moment one of the savages, jerking in behind, aimed a blow with his\nhuge club, in avoiding which Mr. Johnston fell with a scream to the\nground. Both men sprang towards him, but our two faithful dogs\nferociously leapt in their faces and saved his life. Rushing out, but\nnot fully aware of what had occurred, I saw Mr. Johnston trying to raise\nhimself, and heard him cry, \"Take care these men have tried to kill me,\nand they will kill you!\"\n\nFacing them sternly I demanded, \"What is it that you want? He does not\nunderstand your language. What do you want? Speak with me.\"\n\nBoth men, thereon, raised their great clubs and made to strike me; but\nquick as lightning these two dogs sprang at their faces and baffled\ntheir blows. One dog was badly bruised, and the ground received the\nother blow that would have launched me into Eternity. The best dog was a\nlittle cross-bred retriever with terrier blood in him, splendid for\nwarning us of approaching dangers, and which had already been the means\nof saving my life several times. Seeing how matters stood, I now hounded\nboth dogs furiously upon them, and the two savages fled. I shouted after\nthem, \"Remember, Jehovah God sees you and will punish you for trying to\nmurder His servants!\"\n\nIn their flight, a large body of men, who had come eight or ten miles to\nassist in the murder and plunder, came slipping here and there from the\nbush and joined them, fleeing too. Verily, \"the wicked flee, when no man\npursueth.\" David's experience and assurance came home to us, that\nevening, as very real:--\"God is our refuge and our strength...therefore\nwe will not fear.\"\n\nI, now accustomed to such scenes on Tanna, retired to rest and slept\nsoundly; but my dear fellow-laborer, as I afterwards learned, could not\nsleep for one moment. His pallor and excitement continued next day,\nindeed for several days; and after that, though he was naturally lively\nand cheerful, I never saw him smile again.\n\nFor that morning, 1st January 1861, the following entry was found in his\nJournal: \"To-day, with a heavy heart and a feeling of dread, I know not\nwhy, I set out on my accustomed wanderings amongst the sick. I hastened\nback to get the Teacher and carry Mr. Paton to the scene of distress. I\ncarried a bucket of water in one hand and medicine in the other; and so\nwe spent a portion of this day endeavoring to alleviate their\nsufferings, and our work had a happy effect also on the minds of\nothers.\" In another entry, on 22d December, he wrote: \"Measles are\nmaking fearful havoc amongst the poor Tannese. As we pass through the\nvillages, mournful scenes meet the eye; young and old prostrated on the\nground, showing all these painful symptoms which accompany loathsome and\nmalignant diseases. In some villages few are left able to prepare food,\nor to carry drink to the suffering and dying. How pitiful to see the\nsufferers destitute of every comfort, attention, and remedy that would\nameliorate their suffering or remove their disease! As I think of the\ntender manner in which we are nursed in sickness, the many remedies\nemployed to give relief, with the comforts and attention bestowed upon\nus, my heart sickens, and I say, Oh my ingratitude and the ingratitude\nof Christian people!\"\n\nHaving, as above recorded, consecrated our lives anew to God on the\nfirst day of January, I was, up till the 16th of the month, accompanied\nby Mr. Johnston and sometimes also by Mrs. Johnston on my rounds in the\nvillages amongst the sick, and they greatly helped me. But by an unhappy\naccident I was laid aside when most sorely needed. When adzing a tree\nfor housebuilding I observed that Mahanan, the war Chief's brother, had\nbeen keeping too near me, and that he carried a tomahawk in his hand;\nand, in trying both to do my work and to keep an eye on him, I struck my\nankle severely with the adze. He moved off quickly, saying, \"I did not\ndo that,\" but doubtless rejoicing at what had happened. The bone was\nbadly hurt, and several of the blood-vessels cut. Dressing it as well as\nI could, and keeping it constantly soaked in cold water, I had to\nexercise the greatest care. In this condition, amidst great sufferings,\nI was sometimes carried to the villages to administer medicine to the\nsick, and to plead and pray with the dying.\n\nOn such occasions, in this mode of transit even, the conversations that\nI had with dear Mr. Johnston were most solemn and greatly refreshing. He\nhad, however, scarcely ever slept since the 1st of January, and during\nthe night of the 16th he sent for my bottle of laudanum. Being severely\nattacked with ague and fever, I could not go to him, but sent the\nbottle, specifying the proper quantity for a dose, but that he quite\nunderstood already. He took a dose for himself, and gave one also to his\nwife, as she too suffered from sleeplessness. This he repeated three\nnights in succession, and both of them obtained a long, sound and\nrefreshing sleep. He came to my bedside, where I lay in the ague-fever,\nand said with great animation, amongst other things, \"I have had such a\nblessed sleep, and feel so refreshed! What kindness in God to provide\nsuch remedies for suffering man!\"\n\nAt midday his dear wife came to me crying, \"Mr. Johnston has fallen\nasleep, so deep that I cannot awake him.\"\n\nMy fever had reached the worst stage, but I struggled to my feet got to\nhis bedside, and found him in a state of coma, with his teeth fixed in\ntetanus. With great difficulty we succeeded in slightly rousing him;\nwith a knife, spoon, and pieces of wood, we forced his teeth open, so as\nto administer an emetic with good effects, and also other needful\nmedicines. For twelve hours, we had to keep him awake by repeated cold\ndashes in the face, by ammonia, and by vigorously moving him about. He\nthen began to speak freely; and next day he rose and walked about a\nlittle. For the two following days, he was sometimes better and\nsometimes worse; but we managed to keep him up till the morning of the\n21st, when he again fell into a state of coma, from which we failed to\nrouse him. At two o'clock in the afternoon he fell asleep--another\nMartyr for the testimony of Jesus in those dark and trying Isles,\nleaving his young wife in indescribable sorrow, which she strove to bear\nwith Christian resignation. Having made his coffin and dug his grave, we\ntwo alone at sunset laid him to rest beside my own dear wife and child,\nclose by the Mission House.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\nKOWIA.\n\nANOTHER tragedy followed, with, however, much of the light of Heaven\namid its blackness, in the story of Kowia, a Tannese Chief of the\nhighest rank. Going to Aneityum in youth, he had there become a true\nChristian. He married an Aneityumese Christian woman, with whom he lived\nvery happily and had two beautiful children. Some time before the\nmeasles reached our island he returned to live with me as a Teacher and\nto help forward our work on Tanna. He proved himself to be a decided\nChristian; he was a real Chief amongst them, dignified in his whole\nconduct, and every way a valuable helper to me. Everything was tried by\nhis own people to induce him to leave me and to renounce the Worship,\noffering him every honor and bribe in their power. Failing these, they\nthreatened to take away all his lands, and to deprive him of\nChieftainship, but he answered \"Take all! I shall still stand by Missi\nand the Worship of Jehovah.\"\n\nFrom threats they passed to galling insults, all which he bore patiently\nfor Jesu's sake. But one day a party of his people came and sold some\nfowls, and an impudent fellow lifted them after they had been bought and\noffered to sell them again to me. Kowia shouted, \"Don't purchase these,\nMissi; I have just bought them for you, and paid for them!\"\n\nThereon the fellow began to mock at him. Kowia, gazing round on all\npresent, and then on me, rose like a lion awaking out of sleep, and with\nflashing eyes exclaimed, \"Missi, they think that because I am now a\nChristian I have become a coward! a woman! to bear every abuse and\ninsult they can heap upon me. But I will show them for once that I am no\ncoward, that I am still their Chief, and that Christianity does not take\naway but gives us courage and nerve.\"\n\nSpringing at one man, he wrenched in a moment the mighty club from his\nhands, and swinging it in air above his head like a toy, he cried, \"Come\nany of you, come all against your Chief! My Jehovah God makes my heart\nand arms strong. He will help me in this battle as He helps me in other\nthings, for He inspires me to show you that Christians are no cowards,\nthough they are men of peace. Come on, and you will yet know that I am\nKowia your Chief.\"\n\nAll fled as he approached them; and he cried, \"Where are the cowards\nnow?\" and handed back to the warrior his club. After this they left him\nat peace.\n\nHe lived at the Mission House, with his wife and children, and was a\ngreat help and comfort to Abraham and myself. He was allowed to go more\nfreely and fearlessly amongst the people than any of the rest of our\nMission staff. The ague and fever on me at Mr. Johnston's death so\nincreased and reduced me to such weakness that I had become insensible,\nwhile Abraham and Kowia alone attended to me. On returning to\nconsciousness I heard as in a dream Kowia lamenting over me, and\npleading that I might recover, so as to hear and speak with him before\nhe died. Opening my eyes and looking at him, I heard him say, \"Missi,\nall our Aneityumese are sick. Missi Johnson is dead. You are very sick,\nand I am weak and dying. Alas, when I too am dead, who will climb the\ntrees and get you a cocoanut to drink? And who will bathe your lips and\nbrow?\"\n\nHere he broke down into deep and long weeping, and then resumed, \"Missi,\nthe Tanna-men hate us all on account of the Worship of Jehovah; and I\nnow fear He is going to take away all His servants from this land, and\nleave my people to the Evil One and his service!\"\n\nI was too weak to speak, so he went on, bursting into a soliloquy of\nprayer: \"O Lord Jesus, Missi Johnston is dead; Thou hast taken him away\nfrom this land. Missi Johnston the woman and Missi Paton are very ill; I\nam sick, and Thy servants the Aneityumese are all sick and dying. O\nLord, our Father in Heaven, art Thou going to take away all Thy\nservants, and Thy Worship from this dark land? What meanest Thou to do,\nO Lord? The Tannese hate Thee and Thy Worship and Thy servants; but\nsurely, O Lord, Thou canst not forsake Tanna and leave our people to die\nin the darkness! Oh, make the hearts of this people soft to Thy Word and\nsweet to Thy Worship; teach them to fear and love Jesus; and oh, restore\nand spare Missi, dear Missi Paton, that Tanna may be saved!\"\n\nTouched to the very fountains of my life by such prayers, from a man\nonce a Cannibal, I began under the breath of God's blessing to revive.\n\nA few days thereafter, Kowia came again to me, and rousing me out of\nsleep, cried, \"Missi, I am very weak; I am dying. I come to bid you\nfarewell, and go away to die. I am nearing death now, and I will soon\nsee Jesus.\"\n\nI spoke what words of consolation and cheer I could muster, but he\nanswered, \"Missi, since you became ill my dear wife and children are\ndead and buried. Most of our Aneityumese are dead, and I am dying. If I\nremain on the hill, and die here at the Mission House, there are none\nleft to help Abraham to carry me down to the grave where my wife and\nchildren are laid. I wish to lie beside them, that we may rise together\nin the Great Day when Jesus comes. I am happy, looking unto Jesus! One\nthing only deeply grieves me now; I fear God is taking us all away from\nTanna, and will leave my poor people dark and benighted as before, for\nthey hate Jesus and the Worship of Jehovah. O Missi, pray for them, and\npray for me once more before I go!\"\n\nHe knelt down at my side, and we prayed for each other and for Tanna. I\nthen urged him to remain at the Mission House, but he replied, \"O Missi,\nyou do not know how near to death I am! I am just going, and will soon\nbe with Jesus, and see my wife and children now. While a little strength\nis left, I will lean on Abraham's arm, and go down to the graves of my\ndear ones and fall asleep there, and Abraham will dig a quiet bed and\nlay me beside them. Farewell, Missi, I am very near death now; we will\nmeet again in Jesus and with Jesus!\"\n\nWith many tears he dragged himself away; and my heart-strings seemed all\ntied round that noble simple soul, and felt like breaking one by one as\nhe left me there on my bed of fever all alone. Abraham sustained him,\ntottering to the place of graves; there he lay down, and immediately\ngave up the ghost and slept in Jesus; and there the faithful Abraham\nburied him beside his wife and children. Thus died a man who had been a\ncannibal Chief, but by the grace of God and the love of Jesus, changed,\ntransfigured into a character of light and beauty. I lost, in losing\nhim, one of my best friends and most courageous helpers; but I knew that\nday, and I know now, that there is one soul at least from Tanna to sing\nthe glories of Jesus in Heaven--and, oh, the rapture when I meet him\nthere!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\nMARTYRDOM OF THE GORDONS.\n\nMAY 1861 brought with it a sorrowful and tragic event, which fell as the\nvery shadow of doom across our path; I mean the martyrdom of the Gordons\non Erromanga. Rev. G. N. Gordon was a native of Prince Edward Island,\nNova Scotia, and was born in 1822. He was educated at the Free Church\nCollege, Halifax, and placed as Missionary on Erromanga in June 1857.\nMuch troubled and opposed by the Sandal-wooders, he had yet acquired the\nlanguage and was making progress by inroads on Heathenism. A\nconsiderable number of young men and women embraced the Christian Faith,\nlived at the Mission House, and devotedly helped him and his excellent\nwife in all their work. But the hurricanes and the measles, already\nreferred to, caused great mortality in Erromanga also; and the degraded\nTraders, who had introduced the plague, in order to save themselves from\nrevenge, stimulated the superstitions of the Heathen, and charged the\nMissionaries there too with causing sickness and all other calamities.\nThe Sandal-wooders hated him for fearlessly denouncing and exposing\ntheir hideous atrocities.\n\nWhen Mr. Copeland and I placed the Native Teachers at Black Beach,\nTanna, we ran across to Erromanga in the _John Knox,_ taking a harmonium\nto Mrs. Gordon, just come by their order from Sydney. When it was opened\nout at the Mission House, and Mrs. Gordon began playing on it and\nsinging sweet hymns, the native women were in ecstasies. They at once\nproposed to go off to the bush and cut each a burden of long grass, to\nthatch the printing-office which Mr. Gordon was building in order to\nprint the Scriptures in their own tongue, if only Mrs. Gordon would play\nto them at night and teach them to sing God's praises. They joyfully did\nso, and then spent a happy evening singing those hymns. Next day being\nSabbath, we had a delightful season there, about thirty attending Church\nand listening eagerly. The young men and women living at the Mission\nHouse were being trained to become Teachers; they were reading a small\nbook in their own language, telling them the story of Joseph; and the\nwork every way seemed most hopeful. The Mission House had been removed a\nmile or so up a hill, partly for Mrs. Gordon's health, and partly to\nescape the annoying and contaminating influence of the Sandal-wooders on\nthe Christian Natives.\n\nOn the 20th May 1861 he was still working at the roofing of the\nprinting-office, and had sent his lads to bring each a load of the long\ngrass to finish the thatching. Meantime a party of Erromangans from a\ndistrict called Bunk-Hill, under a Chief named Lovu, had been watching\nhim. They had been to the Mission House inquiring and they had seen him\nsend away his Christian lads. They then hid in the bush and sent two of\ntheir men to the Missionary to ask for calico. On a piece of wood he\nwrote a note to Mrs. Gordon to give them two yards each. They asked him\nto go with them to the Mission House, as they needed medicine for a sick\nboy, and Lovu their Chief wanted to see him. He tied up in a napkin a\nmeal of food, which had been brought to him but not eaten, and started\nto go with them. He requested the native Narubulet to go on before with\nhis companion, but they insisted upon his going in front. In crossing a\nstreamlet, which I visited shortly afterwards, his foot slipped. A blow\nwas aimed at him with a tomahawk, which he caught; the other man struck,\nbut his weapon was also caught. One of the tomahawks was then wrenched\nout of his grasp. Next moment a blow on the spine laid the dear\nMissionary low, and a second on the neck almost severed the head from\nthe body. The other Natives then rushed from their ambush, and began\ndancing round him with frantic shoutings. Mrs. Gordon hearing the noise,\ncame out and stood in front of the Mission House, looking in the\ndirection of her husband's working place, and wondering what had\nhappened. Ouben, one of the party, who had run towards the Station the\nmoment that Mr. Gordon fell, now approached her. A merciful clump of\ntrees had hid from her eyes all that had occurred, and she said to\nOuben, \"What's the cause of that noise?\"\n\nHe replied, \"Oh, nothing! only the boys amusing themselves!\"\n\nSaying, \"Where are the boys?\" she turned round. Ouben slipped stealthily\nbehind her, sank his tomahawk into her back, and with another blow\nalmost severed her head!\n\nSuch was the fate of those two devoted servants of the Lord; loving in\ntheir lives, and in their deaths not divided--their spirits, wearing the\ncrown of martyrdom, entered Glory together to be welcomed by Williams\nand Harris, whose blood was shed near the same now hallowed spot for the\nname and cause of Jesus. They had labored four years on Erromanga,\namidst trials and dangers manifold, and had not been without tokens of\nblessing in the Lord's work. Never more earnest or devoted Missionaries\nlived and died in the Heathen field.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\nSHADOWS DEEPENING ON TANNA.\n\nIMMEDIATELY thereafter, a Sandal-wood Trader brought in his boat a party\nof Erromangans by night to Tanna. They assembled our Harbor Chiefs and\npeople, and urged them to kill us and Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson and the\nTeachers, or allow them to do so, as they had killed Mr. and Mrs.\nGordon. Then they proposed to go to Aneityum and kill the Missionaries\nthere, as the Aneityumese Natives had burned their Church, and thus they\nwould sweep away the Worship and the servants of Jehovah from all the\nNew Hebrides. Our Chiefs, however, refused, restrained by the Merciful\nOne, and the Erromangans returned to their own island in a sulky mood.\n\nNotwithstanding this refusal, as if they wished to reserve the murder\nand plunder for themselves, our Mission House was next day thronged with\narmed men, some from Inland, others from Mr. Mathieson's Station. They\nloudly praised the Erromangans! The leader said again and again in my\nhearing, \"The men of Erromanga killed Missi Williams long ago. We killed\nthe Rarotongan and Samoan Teachers. We fought Missi Turner and Missi\nNisbet, and drove them from our island. We killed the Aneityumese\nTeachers on Aniwa, and one of Missi Paton's Teachers too. We killed\nseveral white men, and no Man-of-war punished us. Let us talk over this,\nabout killing Missi Paton and the Aneityumese, till we see if any\nMan-of-war comes to punish the Erromangans. If not, let us unite, let us\nkill these Missionaries, let us drive the Worship of Jehovah from our\nland!\"\n\nAn Inland Chief said or rather shouted in my hearing, \"My love to the\nErromangans! They are strong and brave men, the Erromangans. They have\nkilled their Missi and his wife, while we only talk about it. They have\ndestroyed the Worship and driven away Jehovah!\"\n\nI stood amongst them and protested, \"God will yet punish the Erromangans\nfor such wicked deeds. God has heard all your bad talk, and will punish\nit in His own time and way.\"\n\nBut they shouted me down, amidst great excitement, with the cry, \"Our\nlove to the Erromangans! Our love to the Erromangans!\"\n\nAfter I left them, Abraham heard them say, \"Miaki is lazy. Let us meet\nin every village, and talk with each other. Let us all agree to kill\nMissi and the Aneityumese for the first of our Chiefs that dies.\"\n\nThe night after the visit of the Erromangan boat, and the sad news of\nMr. and Mrs. Gordon's death, the Tannese met on their village\ndancing-grounds and held high festival in praise of the Erromangans. Our\nbest friend, old Nowar the Chief, who had worn shirt and kilt for some\ntime and had come regularly to the Worship, relapsed once more; he\npainted his face, threw off his clothing, resumed his bow and arrows and\nhis tomahawk, of which he boasted that it had killed very many men and\nat least one woman! On my shaming him for professing to worship Jehovah\nand yet uniting with the Heathen in rejoicing over the murder of His\nservants on Erromanga, he replied to this effect, \"Truly, Missi, they\nhave done well. If the people of Erromanga are severely punished for\nthis by the Man-of-war, we will all hear of it; and our people will then\nfear to kill you and the other Missionaries, so as to destroy the\nWorship of Jehovah. Now, they say, the Erromangans killed Missi Williams\nand the Samoan, Rarotongan, and Aneityumese Teachers, besides other\nwhite men, and no Man-of-war has punished either them or us. If they are\nnot punished for what has been done on Erromanga, nothing else can keep\nthem here from killing you and me and all who worship at the Mission\nHouse!\"\n\nI answered, \"Nowar, let us all be strong to love and serve Jehovah\nJesus. If it be for our good and His glory, He will protect us; if not,\nHe will take us to be with Himself. We will not be killed by their bad\ntalk. Besides, what avails it to us, when dead and gone, if even a\nMan-of-war should come and punish our murderers?\"\n\nHe shrugged his shoulders, answering, \"Missi, by and by you will see.\nMind, I tell you the truth. I know our Tannese people. How is it that\nJehovah did not protect the Gordons and the Erromangan worshipers? If\nthe Erromangans are not punished, neither will our Tannese be punished,\nthough they murder all Jehovah's people!\"\n\nI felt for Nowar's struggling faith, just trembling on the verge of\nCannibalism yet, and knowing so little of the true Jehovah.\n\nGroups of Natives assembled suspiciously near us and sat whispering\ntogether. They urged old Abraham to return to Aneityum by the very first\nopportunity, as our lives were certain to be taken, but he replied, \"I\nwill not leave Missi.\"\n\nAbraham and I were thrown much into each other's company, and he stood\nby me in every danger. We conducted Family Prayers alternately; and that\nevening he said during the prayer in Tannese, in which language alone we\nunderstood each other:--\n\n\"O Lord, our Heavenly Father, they have murdered Thy servants on\nErromanga. They have banished the Aneityumese from dark Tanna. And now\nthey want to kill Missi Paton and me! Our great King, protect us, and\nmake their hearts soft and sweet to Thy Worship. Or, if they are\npermitted to kill us, do not Thou hate us, but wash us in the blood of\nThy dear Son Jesus Christ. He came down to Earth and shed His blood for\nsinners; through Him forgive us our sins and take us to Heaven--that\ngood place where Missi Gordon the man and Missi Gordon the woman and all\nthy dear servants now are singing Thy praise and seeing Thy face. Our\nLord, our hearts are pained just now, and we weep over the death of Thy\ndear servants; but make our hearts good and strong for Thy cause, and\ntake thou away all our fears. Make us two and all Thy servants strong\nfor Thee and for Thy Worship; and if they kill us two, let us die\ntogether in Thy good work, like Thy servants Missi Gordon the man and\nMissi Gordon the woman.\"\n\nIn this manner his great simple soul poured itself out to God; and my\nheart melted within me as it had never done under any prayer poured from\nthe lips of cultured Christian men!\n\nUnder the strain of these events, Miaki came to our house, and attacked\nme in hearing of his men to this effect, \"You and the Worship are the\ncause of all the sickness and death now taking place on Tanna! The\nErromanga men killed Missi Gordon the man and also the woman, and they\nare all well long ago. The Worship is killing us all; and the Inland\npeople will kill us for keeping you and the Worship here; for we love\nthe conduct of Tanna, but we hate the Worship. We must kill you and it,\nand we shall all be well again.\"\n\nI tried to reason firmly and kindly with them, showing them that their\nown conduct was destroying them, and that our presence and the Worship\ncould only be a blessing to them in every way, if only they would accept\nof it and give up their evil ways. I referred to a poor girl, whom Miaka\nand his men had stolen and abused--that they knew such conduct to be\nbad, and that God would certainly punish them for it.\n\nHe replied, \"Such is the conduct of Tanna. Our fathers loved and\nfollowed it, we love and follow it, and if the Worship condemns it, we\nwill kill you and destroy the Worship.\"\n\nI said, \"The Word of the Holy God condemns all bad conduct, and I must\nobey my God in trying to lead you to give it up, and to love and serve\nHis Son Jesus our Saviour. If I refuse to obey my God, He will punish\nme.\"\n\nHe declared that his heart was good, that his conduct was good, but that\nhe hated the teaching of the Worship. He had a party of men staying with\nhim from the other side of the island, and he sent back a present of\nfour large fat hogs to their Chiefs, with a message as to the killing of\nthe Mathiesons. If that were done, his hands would be strengthened in\ndealing with us.\n\nTo know what was best to be done, in such trying circumstances, was an\nabiding perplexity. To have left altogether, when so surrounded by\nperils and enemies, at first seemed the wisest course, and was the\nrepeated advice of many friends. But again, I had acquired the language,\nand had gained a considerable Influence amongst the Natives, and there\nwere a number warmly attached both to himself and to the Worship. To\nhave left would have been to lose all, which to me was heartrending;\ntherefore, risking all with Jesus, I held on while the hope of being\nspared longer had not absolutely and entirely vanished.\n\nThe following quotation from a letter of the late A. Clark, Esq., J. P.,\nAuckland, New Zealand, will show what Bishop Selwyn thought of my\nstanding fast on Tanna at the post of duty, and he knew what he was\nwriting about. These are the words:--\"'Talk of bravery! talk of heroism!\nThe man who leads a forlorn hope is a coward in comparison with him,\nwho, on Tanna, thus alone, without a sustaining look or cheering word\nfrom one of his own race, regards it as his duty to hold on in the face\nof such dangers. We read of the soldier, found after the lapse of ages\namong the ruins of Herculaneum, who stood firm at his post amid the\nfiery rain destroying all around him, thus manifesting the rigidity of\nthe discipline among those armies of Ancient Rome which conquered the\nWorld. Mr. Paton was subjected to no such iron law. He might with honor,\nwhen offered to him, have sought a temporary asylum in Auckland, where\nhe would have been heartily received. But he was moved by higher\nconsiderations. He chose to remain, and God knows whether at this moment\nhe is in the land of the living!' When the Bishop told us that he\ndeclined leaving Tanna by H. M. S. _Pelorus,_ he added, 'And I like him\nall the better for so doing!'\"\n\nFor my part I feel quite confident that, in like circumstances, that\nnoble Bishop of God would have done the same. I, born in the bosom of\nthe Scottish Covenant descended from those who suffered persecution for\nChrist's honor, would have been unworthy of them and of my Lord had I\ndeserted my post for danger only. Yet not to me, but to the Lord who\nsustained me, be all the praise and the glory.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\nTHE VISIT OF THE COMMODORE.\n\nAT that time, though my life was daily attempted, a dear lad, named\nKatasian, was coming six miles regularly to the Worship and to receive\nfrequent instruction. One day, when engaged in teaching him, I caught a\nman stealing the blind from my window. On trying to prevent him, he\naimed his great club at me, but I seized the heavy end of it with both\nmy hands as it swung past my head, and held on with all my might. What a\nprayer went up from me to God at that dread moment! The man, astonished\nand abashed at my kind words and appeal, slunk away and left me in\npeace. God never took away from me the consciousness that it was still\nright for me to be kind and forgiving, and to hope that I might lead\nthem to love and imitate Jesus.\n\nFor some time, Nouka and his wife and daughter--a handsome girl, his\nonly child--and Miaki's principal wife and her two sons, and nine Chiefs\nattended Worship regularly at the Mission House, on Sabbaths and on the\nafternoon of every Wednesday. In ail, about sixty persons somewhat\nregularly waited on our ministrations at this time; and amidst all\nperils I was encouraged, and my heart was full of hope. Yet one evening\nwhen feeling more consoled and hopeful than ever before, a musket was\ndischarged at my very door, and I was constrained to realize that we\nwere in the midst of death. Father, our times are in Thy hand!\n\nIn my Mission School, I offered as a prize a red shirt for the first\nChief who knew the whole Alphabet without a mistake. It was won by an\nInikahi Chief, who was once a terror to the whole community. Afterwards,\nwhen trying to teach the A B C to others, he proceeded in something like\nthis graphic style: \"A is a man's legs with the body cut off; B is like\ntwo eyes; C is a three-quarters moon; D is like one eye; E is a man with\none club under his feet and another over his head; F is a man with a\nlarge club and a smaller one,\" etc., etc.; L was like a man's foot; Q\nwas the talk of the dove, etc. Then he would say, \"Remember these\nthings; you will soon get hold of the letters and be able to read. I\nhave taught my little child, who can scarcely walk, the names of them\nall. They are not hard to hold, but soft and easy. You will soon learn\nto read the book, if you try it with all your heart!\"\n\nBut Miaki was still our evil genius, and every incident seemed to be\nused by him for one settled purpose of hate. A Kaserumini Chief, for\ninstance, and seven men took away a young girl in a canoe to Aniwa, to\nbe sold to friends there for tobacco leaf, which the Aniwans cultivated\nextensively. They also prepared to take revenge there for a child's\ndeath, killed in their belief by the sorcery of an Aniwan. When within\nsight of the shore, the canoes were upset and all were said to have been\ndevoured by sharks, excepting only one canoe out of six. This one\nreturned to Tanna and reported that there were two white Traders living\non Aniwa, that they had plenty of ammunition and tobacco, but that they\nwould not come to Tanna as long as a Missionary lived there. Under this\nfresh incitement, a party of Miaki's men came to my house, praising the\nErromangans for the murder of their Missionaries and threatening me.\n\nEven the friendly Nowar said, \"Miaki will make a great wind and sink any\nMan-of-war that comes here. We will take the Man-of-war and kill all\nthat are on board. If you and Abraham do not leave us we will kill you\nboth, for we must have the Traders and the powder.\"\n\nJust as they were assuming a threatening attitude, other Natives came\nrunning with the cry, \"Missi, the _John Knox_ is coming into the Harbor,\nand two great ships of fire, Men-of war, behind her, coming very fast!\"\n\nI retorted upon Nowar and the hostile company, \"Now is your time! Make\nall possible haste! Let Miaki raise his great wind now; get all your men\nready; I will tell them that you mean to fight, and you will find them\nalways ready!\"\n\nMiaki's men fled away in unconcealed terror; but Nowar came to me and\nsaid \"Missi, I know that my talk is all lies, but if I speak the truth,\nthey will kill me!\"\n\nI answered, \"Trust in Jehovah, the same God who sent these vessels now,\nto protect us from being murdered.\" But Nowar always wavered.\n\nAnd now from all parts of the island those who were most friendly\nflocked to us. They were clamorous to have Miaki and some others of our\nenemies punished by the Man-of-war in presence of the Natives; and then\nthey would be strong to speak in our defense and to lead the Tannese to\nworship Jehovah.\n\nCommodore Seymour, Captain Hume, and Dr. Geddie came on shore. After\ninquiring into everything, the Commodore urged me to leave at once, and\nvery kindly offered to remove me to Aneityum, or Auckland, or any place\nof safety that I preferred. Again, however, I hesitated to leave my dear\nbenighted Tannese, knowing that both Stations would be instantly broken\nup, that all the influence gained would be thrown away, that the Church\nwould lose all that had been expended, and above all, that those\nfriendly to us would be left to persecution and destruction. For a long\ntime I had seldom taken off my clothes at night, needing to be\nconstantly on the alert to start at a moment's notice; yet, while hope\nburned within my soul I could not withdraw, so I resolved to risk all\nwith my dear Lord Jesus, and remained at my post. At my request,\nhowever, they met and talked with all the leaders who could be assembled\nat the Mission House. The Natives declared frankly that they liked me,\nbut did not like the Worship. The Commodore reminded them that they had\ninvited me to land among them, and had pledged their word more than once\nto protect me; he argued with them that as they had no fault to find\nwith me, but only with the Worship, which could do them only good, they\nmust bind themselves to protect my life. Miaki and others promised, and\ngave him their hand to do so. Lathella, an Aneityumese Chief, who was\nwith Dr. Geddie, interpreted for him and them, Dr. Geddie explaining\nfully to Lathella in Aneityumese what the Commodore said in English, and\nLathella explaining all to the Tannese in their own tongue.\n\nAt last old Mouka spoke out for all and said, \"Captain Paddan and all\nthe Traders tell us that the Worship causes all our sickness and death.\nThey will not trade with us, nor sell us tobacco, pipes, powder, balls,\ncaps, and muskets, till we kill our Missi like the Erromangans, but\nafter that they will send a Trader to live among us and give us plenty\nof all these things. We love Missi. But when the Traders tell us that\nthe Worship makes us sick, and when they bribe us with tobacco and\npowder to kill him or drive him away, some believe them and our hearts\ndo bad conduct to Missi. Let Missi remain here, and we will try to do\ngood conduct to Missi; but you must tell Queen 'Toria of her people's\nbad treatment of us, and that she must prevent her Traders from killing\nus with their measles, and from telling us lies to make us do bad\nconduct to Missi! If they come to us and talk as before, our hearts are\nvery dark and may again lead us to bad conduct to Missi.\"\n\nAfter this little parley, the Commodore invited us all on board, along\nwith the Chiefs. They saw about three hundred brave marines ranked up on\ndeck, and heard a great cannon discharged. For all such efforts to\nimpress them and open their eyes, I felt profoundly grateful; but too\nclearly I knew and saw that only the grace of God could lastingly change\nthem! They were soon back to their old arguments, and were heard saying\nto one another, \"If no punishment is inflicted on the Erromangans for\nmurdering the Missi there, we fear the bad conduct of the Tannese will\ncontinue.\"\n\nNo punishment was inflicted at Erromanga, and the Tannese were soon as\nbold and wicked as ever. For instance, while the Man-of-war lay in the\nHarbor, Nowar kept himself closely concealed; but no sooner had she\nsailed than the cowardly fellow came out, laughing at the others, and\nprotesting that he was under no promise and was free to act as he\npleased! Yet in the hour of danger he generally proved to be our friend;\nsuch was his vacillating character. Nor was Miaki very seriously\nimpressed. Mr. Mathieson shortly thereafter sent his boat round to me,\nbeing again short of European food. On his crew leaving her to deliver\ntheir message to me, some of Miaki's men at once jumped into the boat\nand started off round the island in search of kava. I went to Miaki, to\nask that the boat might be brought back soon, but on seeing me he ran\nfor his club and aimed to strike me. I managed to seize it, and to hold\non, pleading with God and talking with Miaki, till by interference of\nsome friendly Natives his wrath was assuaged a little. Returning home, I\nsent food overland to keep the Mathiesons going till the boat returned,\nwhich she did in about eight days. Thus light and shadow pursued each\nother, the light brightening for a moment, but upon the whole the\nshadows deepening.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIV.\nTHE WAR CHIEFS IN COUNCIL.\n\nA TIME of great excitement amongst the Natives now prevailed. War, war,\nnothing but war was spoken of! Preparations for war were being made in\nall the villages far and near. Fear sat on every face, and armed bands\nkept watching each other, as if uncertain where the war was to begin or\nby whom. All work was suspended, and that war spirit was let loose which\nrouses the worst passions of human nature. Again we found ourselves the\ncenter of conflict, one party set for killing us or driving us away; the\nother wishing to retain us, while all old bitter grievances were also\ndragged into their speeches.\n\nMiaki and Nouka said, \"If you will keep Missi and his Worship, take him\nwith you to your own land, for we will not have him to live at the\nHarbor.\"\n\nIan, the great Inland Chief, rose in wrath and said, \"On whose lands\ndoes the Missi live, yours or ours? Who fight against the Worship and\nall good, who are the thieves and murderers, who tell the lies, you or\nwe? We wish peace, but you will have war. We like Missi and the Worship,\nbut you hate them and say, 'Take him to your own land!' It is our land\non which he now lives; it is his own land which he bought from you, but\nwhich our fathers sold Missi Turner long ago. The land was not yours to\nsell; it was really ours. Your fathers stole it from us long ago by war;\nbut we would not have asked it back, had you not asked us to take Missi\naway. Now we will defend him on it, and he will teach us and our people\nin our own land!\" So meeting after meeting broke into fiery speech, and\nseparated with many threats.\n\nTo the next great meeting I was invited, but did not go, contenting\nmyself with a message pleading that they should live at peace and on no\naccount go to war with each other. But Ian himself came for me. I said,\n\"Ian, I have told you my whole heart. Go not to that meeting. I will\nrather leave the island or die, than see you going to war about me!\"\n\nHe answered, \"Missi, come with me, come now!\"\n\nI replied, \"Ian, you are surely not taking me away to kill me? If you\nare, my God will punish it.\"\n\nHis only reply was, \"Follow me, follow me quickly.\"\n\nI felt constrained to go. He strode on before me till we reached the\ngreat village of his ancestors. His followers, armed largely with\nmuskets as well as native weapons, filled one half the Village Square or\ndancing-ground. Miaki, Nouka, and their whole party sat in manifest\nterror upon the other half. Marching into the center, he stood with me\nby his side, and proudly looking round, exclaimed, \"Missi, these are my\nmen and your friends! We are met to defend you and the Worship.\" Then\npointing across to the other side, he cried aloud, \"These are your\nenemies and ours! The enemies of the Worship, the disturbers of the\npeace on Tanna! Missi, say the word, and the muskets of my men will\nsweep all opposition away, and the Worship will spread and we will all\nbe strong for it on Tanna. We will not shoot without your leave; but if\nyou refuse they will kill you and persecute us and our children, and\nbanish Jehovah's Worship from our land.\"\n\nI said, \"I love all of you alike. I am here to teach you how to turn\naway from all wickedness, to worship and serve Jehovah, and to live in\npeace. How can I approve of any person being killed for me or for the\nWorship? My God would be angry at me and punish me, if I did!\"\n\nHe replied, \"Then, Missi, you will be murdered and the Worship\ndestroyed.\"\n\nI then stood forth in the middle before them all and cried, \"You may\nshoot or murder me, but I am your best friend. I am not afraid to die.\nYou will only send me the sooner to my Jehovah God, whom I love and\nserve, and to my dear Saviour Jesus Christ, who died for me and for you,\nand who sent me here to tell you all His love. If you will only love and\nserve Him and give up your bad conduct, you will be happy. But if you\nkill me, His messenger, rest assured that He will in His own time and\nway punish you. This is my word to you all; my love to you all!\"\n\nSo saying, I turned to leave; and Ian strode suddenly away and stood at\nthe head of his men, crying, \"Missi, they will kill you! they will kill\nus, and you will be to blame!\"\n\nMiaki and Nouka, full of deceit, now cried out, \"Missi's word is good!\nLet us all obey it. Let us all worship.\"\n\nAn old man, Sirawia, one of Ian's under-chiefs, then said, \"Miaki and\nNouka say that the land on which Missi lives was theirs; though they\nsold it to him and he has paid them for it, they all know that it was\nours, and is yet ours by right; but if they let Missi live on it in\npeace, we will all live at peace, and worship Jehovah. And if not, we\nwill surely claim it again.\"\n\nMiaki and his party hereon went off to their plantations, and brought a\nlarge present of food to Ian and his men as a peace-offering. This they\naccepted; and the next day Ian and his men brought Miaki a return\npresent and said, \"You know that Missi lives on our land? Take our\npresent, be friends, and let him live quietly and teach us all.\nYesterday you said his word was good; obey it now, else we will punish\nyou and defend the Missi.\"\n\nMiaki accepted the token, and gave good promises for the future. Ian\nthen came to the hill-top near our house, by which passed the public\npath, and cried aloud in the hearing of all, \"Abraham, tell Missi that\nyou and he now live on our land. This path is the march betwixt Miaki\nand us. We have this day bought back the land of our fathers by a great\nprice to prevent war. Take of our breadfruits and also of our cocoanuts\nwhat you require, for you are our friends and living on our land, and we\nwill protect you and the Worship!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXV.\nUNDER KNIFE AND TOMAHAWK.\n\nCHAFED at the upsetting of all their plans and full of revenge, Nouka\nand Miaki and their allies declared publicly that they were now going to\nkill Ian by sorcery, _i. e._ by Nahak, more feared by the poor Tannese\nthan the field of battle. Strange to say. Ian became sick shortly after\nthe Sacred Men had made the declaration about their Nahak-sorcery. I\nattended him, and for a time he recovered, and appeared very grateful.\nBut he soon fell sick again. I sent him and the Chief next under him a\nblanket each; I also gave shirts and calico to a number of his leading\nmen. They wore them and seemed grateful and pleased. Ian, however,\ngradually sank and got worse. He had every symptom of being poisoned, a\nthing easily accomplished, as they know and use many deadly poisons. His\nsufferings were very great, which prevented me from ascribing his\ncollapse to mere superstitious terror. I did all that could be done; but\nall thought him dying, and of course by sorcery. His people were angry\nat me for not consenting before to their shooting of Miaki; and Miaki's\npeople were now rejoicing that Ian was being killed by Nahak.\n\nOne night, his brother and a party came for me to go and see Ian, but I\ndeclined to go till the morning for fear of the fever and ague. On\nreaching his village, I saw many people about, and feared that I had\nbeen led into a snare; but I at once entered into his house to talk and\npray with him, as he appeared to be dying. After prayer, I discovered\nthat I was left alone with him, and that all the people had retired from\nthe village; and I knew that, according to their custom, this meant\nmischief. Ian said, \"Come near me, and sit by my bedside to talk with\nme, Missi.\"\n\nI did so, and while speaking to him he lay as if lost in a swoon of\nsilent meditation. Suddenly he drew from the sugar-cane leaf thatch\nclose to his bed a large butcher-like knife, and instantly feeling the\nedge of it with his other hand, he pointed it to within a few inches of\nmy heart and held it quivering there, all atremble with excitement. I\ndurst neither move nor speak, except that my heart kept praying to the\nLord to spare me, or if my time was come to take me home to Glory with\nHimself. There passed a few moments of awful suspense. My sight went and\ncame. Not a word had been spoken, except to Jesus; and then Ian wheeled\nthe knife around, thrust it into the sugar-cane leaf, and cried to me,\n\"Go, go quickly!\"\n\nNext moment I was on the road. Not a living soul was to be seen about\nthe village. I understood then that it had been agreed that Ian was to\nkill me, and that they had all withdrawn so as not to witness it, that\nwhen the Man-of-war came to inquire about me, Ian would be dead, and no\npunishment could overtake the murderer. I walked quietly till quite free\nof the village, lest some hid in their houses might observe me.\nThereafter, fearing that they, finding I had escaped, might overtake and\nmurder me, I ran for my life a weary four miles till I reached the\nMission House, faint yet praising God for such a deliverance. Poor Ian\ndied soon after, and his people strangled one of his wives and hanged\nanother, and took out the three bodies together in a canoe and sank them\nin the sea.\n\nMiaki was jubilant over having killed his enemy by Nahak; but the Inland\npeople now assembled in thousands to help Sirawia and his brother to\navenge that death on Miaki, Nouka, and Karewick. These, on the other\nhand, boasted that they would kill all their enemies by Nahak-sorcery,\nand would call up a hurricane to destroy their houses, fruit-trees, and\nplantations. Immediately after Miaki's threat about bringing a storm,\none of their great hurricanes actually smote that side of the island and\nlaid everything waste. His enemies were greatly enraged, and many of the\ninjured people united with them in demanding revenge on Miaki. Hitherto\nI had done everything in my power to prevent war, but now it seemed\ninevitable, and both parties sent word that if Abraham and I kept to the\nMission House no one would harm us. We had little faith in any of their\npromises, but there was no alternative for us.\n\nOn the following Saturday, 18th January 1862, the war began. Musket\nafter musket was discharged quite near us, and the bush all around rang\nwith the yell of their war-cry, which if once heard will never be\nforgotten. It came nearer and nearer, for Miaki fled, and his people\ntook shelter behind and around our house. We were placed in the heart of\ndanger, and the balls flew thick all around us. In the afternoon Ian's\nbrother and his party retired, and Miaki quickly sent messengers and\npresents to the Inikahimini and Kaserumini districts, to assemble all\ntheir people and help him \"to fight Missi and the Tannese who were\nfriends of the Worship.\" He said, \"Let us cook his body and Abraham's,\nand distribute them to every village on this side of the island!\"\n\nYet all the while Miaki assured me that he had sent a friendly message.\nThe war went on, and poor Nowar the Chief protected us, till he had a\nspear broken into his right knee. The enemy would have carried him off\nto feast on his body; but his young men, shouting wildly his name and\nbattle-cry, rushed in with great impetuosity and carried their wounded\nChief home in triumph. The Inland people now discharged muskets at my\nhouse and beat against the walls with their clubs. They smashed in the\ndoor and window of our storeroom, broke open boxes and casks, tore my\nbooks to pieces and scattered them about, and carried off everything for\nwhich they cared, including my boat, mast, oars, and sails. They broke\ninto Abraham's house and plundered it; after which they made a rush at\nthe bedroom, into which we were locked, firing muskets, yelling, and\ntrying to break it in. A Chief, professing to be sorry for us, called me\nto the window, but on seeing me he sent a tomahawk through it crying,\n\"Come on, let us kill him now!\"\n\nI replied, \"My Jehovah God will punish you; a Man-of-war will come and\npunish you, if you kill Abraham, his wife, or me.\"\n\nHe retorted, \"It's all lies about a Man-of-war! They did not punish the\nErromangans. They are afraid of us. Come on, let us kill them!\"\n\nHe raised his tomahawk and aimed to strike my forehead, many muskets\nwere uplifted as if to shoot, so I raised a revolver in my right hand\nand pointed it at them. The Rev. Joseph Copeland had left it with me on\na former visit. I did not wish it, but he insisted upon leaving it,\nsaying that the very knowledge that I had such a weapon might save my\nlife. Truly, on this occasion it did so. Though it was harmless they\nfell back quickly. My immediate assailant dropped to the ground, crying,\n\"Missi has got a short musket! He will shoot you all!\"\n\nAfter lying flat on the ground for a little, they all got up and ran to\nthe nearest bush, where they continued yelling about and showing their\nmuskets. Towards nightfall they left, loaded with the plunder of the\nstore and of Abraham's house. So God once more graciously protected us\nfrom falling into their cruel hands.\n\nIn the evening, after they left, I went to Miaki and Nouka. Miaki, with\na sneer, said, \"Missi, where was Jehovah to-day? There was no Jehovah\nto-day to protect you. It's all lies about Jehovah. They will come and\nkill you, and Abraham, and his wife, and cut your bodies into pieces to\nbe cooked and eaten in every village upon Tanna.\"\n\nI said, \"Surely, when you had planned all this, and brought them to kill\nus and steal all our property, Jehovah did protect us, or we would not\nhave been here!\"\n\nHe replied, \"There was no Jehovah to-day! We have no fear of any\nMan-of-war. They dare not punish us. They durst not punish the\nErromangans for murdering the Gordons. They will talk to us and say we\nmust not do so again, and give us a present. That is all. We fear\nnothing. The talk of all Tanna is that we will kill you and seize all\nyour property tomorrow.\"\n\nI warned him that the punishment of a Man-of-war can only reach the body\nand the land, but that Jehovah's punishment reached both body and soul\nin Time and in Eternity.\n\nHe replied, \"Who fears Jehovah? He was not here to protect you to-day!\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I said, \"my Jehovah God is here now. He hears all we say, sees\nall we do, and will punish the wicked and protect His own people.\"\n\nAfter this, a number of the people sat down around me, and I prayed with\nthem. But I left with a very heavy heart, feeling that Miaki was\nevidently bent on our destruction.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVI.\nTHE BEGINNING OF THE END.\n\nI SENT Abraham to consult Nowar, who had defended us till disabled by a\nspear in the right knee. He sent a canoe by Abraham, advising me to take\nsome of my goods in it to his house by night, and he would try to\nprotect them and us. The risk was so great we could only take a very\nlittle. Enemies were on every hand to cut off our flight, and Miaki, the\nworst of all, whose village had to be passed in going to Nowar's. In the\ndarkness of the Mission House, we durst not light a candle for fear of\nsome one seeing and shooting us. Not one of Nowar's men durst come to\nhelp us. But in the end it made no difference, for Nowar and his men\nkept what was taken there, as their portion of the plunder. Abraham, his\nwife, and I waited anxiously for the morning light. Miaki, the false and\ncruel, came to assure us that the Heathen would not return that day.\nYet, as daylight came in, Miaki himself stood and blew a great conch not\nfar from our house. I ran out to see why this trumpet-shell had been\nblown, and found it was the signal for a great company of howling armed\nsavages to rush down the hill on the other side of the bay and make\nstraight for the Mission House. We had not a moment to lose. To have\nremained would have been certain death to us all, and also to Matthew, a\nTeacher just arrived from Mr. Mathieson's Station. Though I am by\nconviction a strong Calvinist, I am no Fatalist. I held on while one\ngleam of hope remained. Escape for life was now the only path of duty. I\ncalled the Teachers, locked the door, and made quickly for Nowar's\nvillage. There was not a moment left to carry anything with us. In the\nissue, Abraham and his wife and I lost all our earthly goods, and all\nour clothing except what we had on. My Bible, the few translations which\nI had made into Tannese, and a light pair of blankets I carried with me.\n\nWe durst not choose the usual path along the beach, for there our\nenemies would have quickly overtaken us. We entered the bush in the hope\nof getting away unobserved. But a cousin of Miaki, evidently secreted to\nwatch us, sprang from behind a breadfruit tree, and swinging his\ntomahawk, aimed it at my brow with a fiendish look. Avoiding it I turned\nupon him and said in a firm bold voice, \"If you dare to strike me, my\nJehovah God will punish you. He is here to defend me now!\"\n\nThe man, trembling, looked all round as if to see the God who was my\ndefender, and the tomahawk gradually lowered at his side. With my eye\nfixed upon him, I gradually moved backwards in the track of the\nTeachers, and God mercifully restrained him from following me.\n\nOn reaching Nowar's village unobserved, we found the people\nterror-stricken, crying, rushing about in despair at such a host of\narmed savages approaching. I urged them to ply their axes, cut down\ntrees, and blockade the path. For a little they wrought vigorously at\nthis; but when, so far as eye could reach, they saw the shore covered\nwith armed men rushing on towards their village, they were overwhelmed\nwith fear, they threw away their axes and weapons of war, they cast\nthemselves headlong on the ground, and they knocked themselves against\nthe trees as if to court death before it came. They cried, \"Missi, it's\nof no use! We will all be killed and eaten to-day! See what a host are\ncoming against us.\"\n\nMothers snatched up little children and ran to hide in the bush. Others\nwaded as far as they could into the sea with them, holding their heads\nabove the water. The whole village collapsed in a condition of\nindescribable terror. Nowar, lame with his wounded knee, got a canoe\nturned upside-down and sat upon it where he could see the whole\napproaching multitude. He said, \"Missi, sit down beside me, and pray to\nour Jehovah God, for if He does not send deliverance now, we are all\ndead men. They will kill us all on your account, and that quickly. Pray,\nand I will watch!\"\n\nThey had gone to the Mission House and broken in the door, and finding\nthat we had escaped, they rushed on to Nowar's village. For, as they\nbegan to plunder the bedroom, Nouka said, \"Leave everything. Missi will\ncome back for his valuable things at night, and then we will get them\nand him also!\"\n\nSo he nailed up the door, and they all marched for Nowar's. We prayed as\none can only pray when in the jaws of death and on the brink of\nEternity. We felt that God was near, and omnipotent to do what seemed\nbest in His sight. When the savages were about three hundred yards off,\nat the foot of a hill leading up to the village, Nowar touched my knee,\nsaying. \"Missi, Jehovah is hearing! They are all standing still.\"\n\nHad they come on they would have met with no opposition, for the people\nwere scattered in terror. On gazing shorewards, and round the Harbor, as\nfar as we could see, was a dense host of warriors, but all were standing\nstill, and apparently absolute silence prevailed. We saw a messenger or\nherald running along the approaching multitude, delivering some tidings\nas he passed, and then disappearing in the bush. To our amazement, the\nhost began to turn, and slowly marched back in great silence, and\nentered the remote bush at the head of the Harbor. Nowar and his people\nwere in ecstasies, crying out, \"Jehovah has heard Missi's prayer!\nJehovah has protected us and turned them away back.\"\n\nAbout midday, Nouka and Miaki sent their cousin Jonas, who had always\nbeen friendly to me, to say that I might return to my house in safety,\nas they were now carrying the war inland. Jonas had spent some years on\nSamoa, and been much with Traders in Sydney, and spoke English well; but\nwe felt they were deceiving us. Next night, Abraham ventured to creep\nnear the Mission House, to test whether we might return, and save some\nvaluable things, and get a change of clothing. The house appeared to\nstand as when they nailed up the door. But a large party of Miaki's\nallies at once enclosed Abraham, and, after asking many questions about\nme, they let him go since I was not there. Had I gone there they would\ncertainly that night have killed me. Again, at midnight Abraham and his\nwife and Matthew went to the Mission House, and found Nouka, Miaki, and\nKarewick near by, concealed in the bush among the reeds. Once more they\nenclosed them, thinking I was there too, but Nouka, finding that I was\nnot, cried out, \"Don't kill them just now! Wait till Missi comes.\"\n\nHearing this, Matthew slipped into the bush and escaped. Abraham's wife\nwaded into the sea, and they allowed her to get away. Abraham was\nallowed to go to the Mission House, but he too crept into the bush, and\nafter an anxious waiting they all came back to me in safety. We now gave\nup all hope of recovering anything from the house.\n\nTowards morning, when Miaki and his men saw that I was not coming back\nto deliver myself into their hands, they broke up my house and stole all\nthey could carry away. They tore my books, and scattered them about.\nThey took away the type of my printing-press, to be made into bullets\nfor their muskets. For similar uses they melted down the zinc lining of\nmy boxes, and everything else that could be melted. What they could not\ntake away, they destroyed.\n\nAs the night advanced, Nowar declared that I must leave his village\nbefore morning, else he and his people would be killed for protecting\nme. He advised me, as the sea was good, to try for Mr. Mathieson's\nStation; but he objected to my taking away any of my property--he would\nsoon follow with it himself! But how to sail? Miaki had stolen my boat,\nmast, sails, and oars, as also an excellent canoe made for me and paid\nfor by me on Aneityum; and he had threatened to shoot any person that\nassisted me to launch either the one or the other. The danger still\nincreasing, Nowar said, \"You cannot remain longer in my house! My son\nwill guide you to the large chestnut tree in my plantation in the bush.\nClimb up into it, and remain there till the moon rises.\"\n\nBeing entirely at the mercy of such doubtful and vacillating friends, I,\nthough perplexed, felt it best to obey. I climbed into the tree, and was\nleft there alone in the bush. The hours I spent there live all before me\nas if it were but of yesterday. I heard the frequent discharging of\nmuskets, and the yells of the savages. Yet I sat there among the\nbranches, as safe in the arms of Jesus. Never, in all my sorrows, did my\nLord draw nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, than when\nthe moonlight flickered among these chestnut leaves, and the night air\nplayed on my throbbing brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet\nnot alone! If it be to glorify my God, I will not grudge to spend many\nnights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Saviour's spiritual\npresence, to enjoy His consoling fellowship. If thus thrown back upon\nyour own soul, alone, all, all alone, in the midnight, in the bush, in\nthe very embrace of death itself, have you a Friend that will not fail\nyou then?\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVII.\nFIVE HOURS IN A CANOE.\n\nGLADLY would I have lingered there for one night of comparative peace!\nBut Nowar sent his son to call me down from the tree, and to guide me to\nthe shore where he himself was, as it was now time to take to sea in the\ncanoe. Pleading for my Lord's continuing presence, I had to obey. My\nlife and the lives of my Aneityumese now hung upon a very slender\nthread; the risk was almost equally great from our friends so-called, or\nfrom our enemies. Had I been a stranger to Jesus and to prayer, my\nreason would verily have given way, but my comfort and joy sprang out of\nthese words, \"I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee; lo, I am with\nyou alway!\" Pleading these promises, I followed my guide. We reached the\nbeach, just inside the Harbor, at a beautiful white sandy bay on Nowar's\nground, from which our canoe was to start. A good number of the Natives\nhad assembled there to see us off. Arkurat, having got a large roll of\ncalico for the loan of his canoe, hid it away, and then refused the\ncanoe, saying that if he had to escape with his family he would require\nit. He demanded an ax, a sail for his canoe, and a pair of blankets. As\nKoris had the ax and another had the quilt, I gave the quilt to him for\na sail, and the ax and blankets for the canoe, in fact, these few relics\nof our earthly all at Nowar's were coveted by the savages and endangered\nour lives, and it was as well to get rid of them altogether. He cruelly\nproposed a small canoe for two; but I had hired the canoe for five, and\ninsisted upon getting it, as he had been well paid for it. As he only\nlaughed and mocked us, I prepared to start and travel overland to Mr.\nMathieson's Station. He then said, \"My wrath is over! You may take it\nand go.\"\n\nWe launched it, but now he refused to let us go till daylight. He had\nalways been one of my best friends, but now appeared bent on a quarrel,\nso I had to exercise much patience with him and them. Having launched\nit, he said I had hired the canoe but not the paddles. I protested,\n\"Surely you know we hired the paddles too. What could we do without\npaddles?\"\n\nBut Arkurat lay down and pretended to have fallen asleep, snoring on the\nsand, and could not be awaked. I appealed to Nowar, who only said, \"That\nis his conduct, Missi, our conduct!\"\n\nI replied, \"As he has got the blankets which I saved to keep me from\nague and fever, and I have nothing left now but the clothes I have on,\nsurely you will give me paddles.\"\n\nNowar gave me one. Returning to the village, friends gave me one each\ntill I got other three. Now Arkurat started up, and refused to let us\ngo. A Chief and one of his men, who lived on the other side of the\nisland near to where we were going, and who was hired by me to go with\nus and help in paddling the canoe, drew back also and refused to go.\nAgain I offered to leave the canoe, and walk overland if possible, when\nFaimungo, the Chief who had refused to go with us, came forward and\nsaid, \"Missi, they are all deceiving you! The sea is so rough, you\ncannot go by it; and if you should get round the weather point, Miaki\nhas men appointed to shoot you as you pass the Black Rocks, while by\nland all the paths are guarded by armed men. I tell you the truth,\nhaving heard all their talk. Miaki and Karewick say they hate the\nWorship, and will kill you. They killed your goats, and stole all your\nproperty yesterday. Farewell!\"\n\nThe Teachers, the boy, and I now resolved to enter the canoe and attempt\nit, as the only gleam of hope left to us. My party of five embarked in\nour frail canoe; Abraham first, I next, Matthew after me, the boy at the\nsteering paddle, and Abraham's wife sitting in the bottom, where she\nmight hold on while it continued to float. For a mile or more we got\naway nicely under the lee of the island, but when we turned to go south\nfor Mr. Mathieson's Station, we met the full force of wind and sea,\nevery wave breaking over and almost swamping our canoe. The Native lad\nat the helm paddle stood up crying, \"Missi, this is the conduct of the\nsea! It swallows up all who seek its help.\"\n\nI answered, \"We do not seek help from it, but from Jehovah Jesus.\"\n\nOur danger became very great, as the sea broke over and lashed around\nus. My faithful Aneityumese, overcome with terror, threw down their\npaddles, and Abraham said, \"Missi, we are all drowned now! We are food\nfor the sharks. We might as well be eaten by the Tannese as by fishes;\nbut God will give us life with Jesus in heaven!\"\n\nI seized the paddle nearest me; I ordered Abraham to seize another\nwithin his reach; I enjoined Matthew to bail the canoe for life, and the\nlad to keep firm in his seat, and I cried, \"Stand to your post, and let\nus return! Abraham, where is now your faith in Jesus? Remember, He is\nRuler on sea as on land. Abraham, pray and ply your paddle! Keep up\nstroke for stroke with me, as our lives depend on it. Our God can\nprotect us. Matthew, bail with all your might. Don't look round on the\nsea and fear. Let us pray to God and ply our paddles, and He will save\nus yet!\"\n\nDear old Abraham said, \"Thank you for that, Missi. I will be strong. I\npray to God and ply my paddle. God will save us!\"\n\nWith much labor, and amid deadly perils, we got the canoe turned; and\nafter four hours of a terrible struggle, we succeeded, towards daylight\nas the tide turned, in again reaching smooth water. With God's blessing\nwe at last reached the shore, exactly where we had left it five hours\nago!\n\nNow drenched and weary, with the skin of our hands sticking to the\npaddles, we left the canoe on the reef and waded ashore. Many Natives\nwere there, and looked sullen and disappointed at our return. Katasian,\nthe lad who had been with us, instantly fled for his own land; and the\nNatives reported that he was murdered soon after. Utterly exhausted, I\nlay down on the sand and immediately fell into a deep sleep. By and by I\nfelt someone pulling from under my head the native bag in which I\ncarried my Bible and the Tannese translations--the all that had been\nsaved by me from the wreck! Grasping the bag, I sprang to my feet, and\nthe man ran away. My Teachers had also a hedging knife, a useless\nrevolver, and a fowling-piece, the sight of which, though they had been\nunder the salt water for hours, God used to restrain the savages.\nCalling my Aneityumese near, we now, in united prayer and kneeling on\nthe sands, committed each other unto the Lord God, being prepared for\nthe last and worst.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVIII.\nA RACE FOR LIFE.\n\nAs I sat meditating on the issues, Faimungo, the friendly Inland Chief,\nagain appeared to warn us of our danger, now very greatly increased by\nour being driven back from the sea. All Nowar's men had fled, and were\nhid in the bush and in rocks along the shore; while Miaki was holding a\nmeeting not half a mile away, and preparing to fall upon us. Faimungo\nsaid, \"Farewell, Missi, I am going home. I don't wish to see the work\nand the murders of this morning.\"\n\nHe was Nowar's son-in-law. He had always been truthful and kindly with\nme. His home was about half-way across the island, on the road that we\nwanted to go, and under sudden impulse I said, \"Faimungo, will you let\nus follow you? Will you show us the path? When the Mission Ship arrives,\nI will give you three good axes, blankets, knives, fish-hooks, and many\nthings you prize.\"\n\nThe late hurricanes had so destroyed and altered the paths, that only\nNatives who knew them well could follow them. He trembled much and said,\n\"Missi, you will be killed. Miaki and Karewick will shoot you. I dare\nnot let you follow. I have only about twenty men, and your following\nmight endanger us all.\"\n\nI urged him to leave at once, and we would follow of our own accord. I\nwould not ask him to protect us; but if he betrayed us and helped the\nenemy to kill us, I assured him that our God would punish him. If he\nspared us, he would be rewarded well; and if we were killed against his\nwishes, God would not be angry at him. He said, \"Seven men are with me\nnow, and thirteen are to follow. I will not now send for them. They are\nwith Miaki and Nouka. I will go; but if you follow, you will be killed\non the way. You may follow me as far as you can.\"\n\nOff he started to Nowar's, and got a large load of my stolen property,\nblankets, sheets, etc., which had fallen to his lot. He called his seven\nmen, who had also shared in the plunder, and, to avoid Miaki's men, they\nran away under a large cocoanut grove skirting the shore, calling, \"Be\nquick! Follow and keep as near to us as you can.\"\n\nThough Nowar had got a box of my rice and appropriated many things from\nthe plunder of the Mission House besides the goods entrusted to his\ncare, and got two of my goats killed and cooked for himself and his\npeople, yet now he would not give a particle of food to my starving\nAneityumese or myself, but hurried us off, saying, \"I will eat all your\nrice and keep all that has been left with me, in payment for my lame\nknee and for my people fighting for you!\"\n\nMy three Aneityumese and I started after Faimungo and his men. We could\nplace no confidence in any of them; but, feeling that we were in the\nLord's hands, it appeared to be our only hope of escaping instant death.\nWe got away unobserved by the enemies. We met several small parties of\nfriends in the Harbor, apparently glad to see us trying to get away. But\nabout four miles on our way, we met a large party of Miaki's men, all\narmed, and watching as outposts. Some were for shooting us, but others\nhesitated. Every musket was, however, raised and leveled at me. Faimungo\npoised his great spear and said, \"No, you shall not kill Missi to-day.\nHe is with me.\" Having made this flourish, he strode off after his own\nmen, and my Aneityumese followed, leaving me face to face with a ring of\nleveled muskets.\n\nSirawia, who was in command of this party, and who once, like Nowar, had\nbeen my friend, said to me, Judas like, \"My love to you, Missi.\" But he\nalso shouted after Faimungo, \"Your conduct is bad in taking the Missi\naway; leave him to us to be killed!\" I then turned upon him, saying,\n\"Sirawia, I love you all. You must know that I sought only your good. I\ngave you medicine and food when you and your people were sick and dying\nunder measles; I gave you the very clothing you wear. Am I not your\nfriend? Have we not often drunk tea and eaten together in my house? Can\nyou stand there and see your friend shot? If you do, my God will punish\nyou severely.\"\n\nHe then whispered something to his company which I did not hear; and,\nthough their muskets were still raised, I saw in their eyes that he had\nrestrained them. I therefore began gradually to move backwards, still\nkeeping my eyes fixed on them, till the bush hid them from my view,\nwhereon I turned and ran after my party, and God kept the enemy from\nfollowing. We trusted in Jehovah Jesus, and pressed on in flight.\n\nA second hostile party encountered us, and with great difficulty we also\ngot away from them. Soon thereafter a friendly company crossed our path.\nWe learned from them that the enemies had slaughtered other two of\nManuman's men, and burned several villages with fire. Another party of\nthe enemy encountered us, and were eager for our lives. But this time\nFaimungo withstood them firmly, his men encircled us, and he said, \"I am\nnot afraid now, Missi; I am feeling stronger near my own land!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIX.\nFAINT YET PURSUING.\n\nHURRYING still onwards, we came to that village on their high ground\ncalled Aneai, _i. e._ Heaven. The sun was oppressively hot, the path\nalmost unshaded, and our whole party very exhausted, especially\nFaimungo, carrying his load of stolen goods. So here he sat down on the\nvillage dancing-ground for a smoke, saying, \"Missi, I am near my own\nland now. We can rest with safety.\"\n\nIn a few minutes, however, he started up, he and his men, in wild\nexcitement. Over a mountain, behind the village and above it, there came\nthe shoutings, and anon the tramp, tramp of a multitude making rapidly\ntowards us. Faimungo got up and planted his back against a tree. I stood\nbeside him, and the Aneityumese woman and the two men stood near me,\nwhile his men seemed prepared to flee. At full speed a large body of the\ntallest and most powerful men that I had seen on Tanna came rushing on\nand filled the dancing-ground. They were all armed, and flushed with\ntheir success in war. A messenger had informed them of our escape,\nprobably from Miaki, and they had crossed the country to intercept us.\n\nFaimungo was much afraid, and said, \"Missi, go on in that path, you and\nyour Aneityumese; and I will follow when I have had a smoke and a talk\nwith these men.\"\n\nI replied, \"No, I will stand by your side till you go; and if I am\nkilled, it will be by your side, I will not leave you.\"\n\nHe implored us to go on, but that I knew would be certain death. They\nbegan urging one another to kill us, but I looked round them as calmly\nas possible, saying, \"My Jehovah God will punish you here and hereafter,\nif you kill me or any of His servants.\"\n\nA killing-stone, thrown by one of the savages, grazed poor old Abraham's\ncheek, and the dear soul gave such a look at me, and then upwards, as if\nto say, \"Missi, I was nearly away to Jesus.\" A club was also raised to\nfollow the blow of the killing-stone, but God baffled the aim. They\nencircled us in a deadly ring, and one kept urging another to strike the\nfirst blow, or fire the first shot. My heart rose up to the Lord Jesus;\nI saw Him watching all the scene. In that awful hour I beheld His own\nwords, as if carved in letters of fire upon the clouds of Heaven: \"Seek,\nand ye shall find. Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do,\nthat the Father may be glorified in the Son.\" I could understand how\nStephen and John saw the glorified Saviour as they gazed up through\nsuffering and persecution to the Heavenly Throne!\n\nYet I never could say that on such occasions I was entirely without\nfear. Nay, I have felt my reason reeling, my sight coming and going, and\nmy knees smiting together when thus brought close to a violent death,\nbut mostly under the solemn thought of being ushered into Eternity and\nappearing before God. Still, I was never left without hearing that\npromise in all its consoling and supporting power coming up through the\ndarkness and the anguish, \"Lo, I am with you alway;\" And with Paul I\ncould say, even in this dread moment and crisis of being, \"I am\npersuaded that neither death nor life,.. nor any other creature, shall\nbe able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our\nLord.\"\n\nFaimungo and others now urged us to go on in the path. I said,\n\"Faimungo, why are we to leave you? My God heard your promise not to\nbetray me. He knows now what is in your heart and in mine. I will not\nleave you; and if I am to die, I will die by your side.\"\n\nHe replied, \"Now, I go on before; Missi, keep close to me.\"\n\nHis men had gone, and I persuaded my Aneityumese to follow them. At\nlast, with a bound, Faimungo started after them. I followed, keeping as\nnear him as I could, pleading with Jesus to protect me or to take me\nhome to Glory. The host of armed men also ran along on each side with\ntheir weapons ready; but leaving everything to Jesus, I ran on as if\nthey were my escort, or as if I saw them not. If any reader wonders how\nthey were restrained, much more would I, unless I believed that the same\nHand that restrained the lions from touching Daniel held back these\nSavages from hurting me! We came to a stream crossing our path. With a\nbound all my party cleared it, ran up the bank opposite, and disappeared\nin the bush. \"Faint yet pursuing,\" I also tried the leap, but I struck\nthe bank and slid back on my hands and knees towards the stream. At this\nmoment I heard a crash above my head amongst the branches of an\noverhanging tree, and I knew that a _Kawas_ had been thrown, and that\nthat branch had saved me. Praising my God, I scrambled up on the other\nside, and followed the track of my party into the bush. The savages\ngazed after me for a little in silence, but no one crossed the stream;\nand I saw them separate into two, one portion returning to the village\nand another pressing inland. With what gratitude did I recognize the\nInvisible One who brought their counsels to confusion.\n\nI found my party resting in the bush, and amazed to see me escaped alive\nfrom men who were thirsting for my blood. Faimungo and his men received\nme with demonstrations of joy, perhaps feeling a little ashamed of their\nown cowardice. He now ascended the mountain and kept away from the\ncommon path to avoid other Native bands. At every village enemies to the\nWorship were ready to shoot us. But I kept close to our guide, knowing\nthat the fear of shooting him would prevent their shooting at me, as he\nwas the most influential Chief in all that section of the island.\n\nOne party said, \"Miaki and Karewick said that Missi made the sickness\nand the hurricanes, and we ought to kill him.\"\n\nFaimungo replied, \"They lie about Missi! It is our own bad conduct that\nmakes us sick.\"\n\nThey answered, \"We don't know who makes the sickness, but our fathers\nhave taught us to kill all Foreign men.\"\n\nFaimungo, clutching club and spear, exclaimed, standing betwixt them and\nus, \"You won't kill Missi to-day!\"\n\nFaimungo now sent his own men home by a near path, and guided us himself\ntill we were close upon the shore. There sitting down, he said, \"Missi,\nI have now fulfilled my promise. I am so tired, I am so afraid, I dare\nnot go farther. My love to you all. Now go on quickly! Three of my men\nwill go with you to the next rocks. Go quickly! Farewell.\"\n\nThese men went on a little, and then said, \"Missi, we dare not go!\nFaimungo is at war with the people of the next land. You must keep\nstraight along this path.\" So they turned and ran back to their own\nvillage.\n\nTo us this district was especially perilous. Many years ago the\nAneityumese had joined in a war against the Tannese of this tribe, and\nthe thirst for revenge yet existed in their hearts, handed down from\nsire to son. Most providentially the men were absent on a war\nexpedition, and we saw only three lads and a great number of women and\nchildren, who ran off to the bush in terror. In the evening the enraged\nsavages of another district assaulted the people of the shore villages\nfor allowing us to pass, and, though sparing their lives, broke in\npieces their weapons of war--a very grievous penalty.\n\nIn the next district, as we hasted along the shore, two young men came\nrunning after us, poising their quivering spears. I took the useless\nrevolver out of my little native basket, and raising it cried, \"Beware!\nLay down your spears at once on the sand, and carry my basket to the\nnext landing at the Black Rocks.\"\n\nThey threw their spears on the sand, lifted the bag, and ran on before\nus to the rocks which formed the march betwixt them and their enemies.\nLaying it down, they said appealingly, \"Missi, let us return to our\nhome!\" And how they did run, fearing the pursuit of their foes.\n\nIn the next land we saw none. After that we saw crowds all along, some\nfriendly, others unfriendly, but they let us pass on, and with the\nblessing of Almighty God we drew dear to Mr. Mathieson's Station in\nsafety. Here a man gave me a cocoanut for each of our party, which we\ngreatly required, having tasted nothing all that day, and very little\nfor several days before. We were so weak that only the struggle for life\nenabled us to keep our feet; yet my poor Aneityumese never complained\nand never halted, not even the woman. The danger and excitement kept us\nup in the race for life; and by the blessing of God we were now\napproaching the Mission House, praising God for His wonderful\ndeliverances.\n\nHearing of our coming, Mr. Mathieson came running to meet me. They had\nheard of our leaving my own Station, and they thought I was dead! They\nwere themselves both very weak; their only child had just been laid in\nthe grave, and they were in great grief and in greater peril. We praised\nthe Lord for permitting us to meet; we prayed for support, guidance, and\nprotection; and resolved now, in all events, to stand by each other till\nthe last.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XL.\nWAITING AT KWAMERA.\n\nBEFORE I left the Harbor I wrote and left with Nowar letters to be given\nto the Captains of any vessels which called, for the first, and the\nnext, and the next, telling them of our great danger, that Mr. Mathieson\nwas almost without food, and that I would reward them handsomely if they\nwould call at the Station and remove any of us who might be spared\nthence to Aneityum. Two or three vessels called, and, as I afterwards\nlearned, got my letters; but, while buying my stolen property from the\nNatives for tobacco, powder, and balls, they took no further notice of\nmy appeals, and sailed past Mr. Mathieson's, straight on to Aneityum.\n\"The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel!\"\n\nLet me now cull the leading events from my Journal, that intervened\nbetwixt this date and the break-up of the Mission on Tanna--at least for\na season--though, blessed be God! I have lived to see the light\nrekindled by my dear friends Mr. and Mrs. Watt, and shining more\nbrightly and hopefully than ever. The candle was quenched, but the\ncandlestick was not removed!\n\nOn the 23d January, 1862, Mr. Mathieson sent for Taura, Kati, and\nKapuku, his three principal Chiefs, to induce them to promise protection\ntill a vessel called to take us away. They appeared friendly, and\npromised to do their best. Alas! the promises of the Tannese Chiefs had\ntoo often proved to be vain.\n\nOn Friday, 24th January, report reached our Station that Miaki and his\nparty, hearing that a friendly Chief had concealed two of Manuman's\nyoung men, compelled him to produce them and club them to death before\ntheir eyes. Also, that they surrounded Manuman's party on a mountain,\nand hemmed them in there, dying of starvation, and trying to survive on\nthe carcasses of the dead and on bark and roots. Also, that Miaki had\nunited all the Chiefs, friends and foes alike, in a bond of blood, to\nkill every one pertaining to the whole Mission on Tanna. Jesus reigns!\n\nOn Sunday, the 26th January, thirty persons came to worship at the\nMission House. Thereafter, at great risk, we had Worship at three of the\nnearest and most friendly villages. Amidst all our perils and trials we\npreached the Gospel to about one hundred and sixteen persons. It was\nverily a sowing time of tears; but, despite all that followed, who shall\nsay that it was vain! Twenty years have passed, and now when I am\nwriting this, there is a Church of God singing the praises of Jesus in\nthat very district of Tanna. On leaving the second village, a young lad\naffectionately took my hand to lead me to the next village; but a sulky,\ndown-browed savage, carrying a ponderous club, also insisted upon\naccompanying us. I led the way, guided by the lad. Mr. Mathieson got the\nman to go before him, while he himself followed, constantly watching.\nComing to a place where another path branched off from ours, I asked\nwhich path we took, and, on turning to the left as instructed by the\nlad, the savage, getting close behind me, swung his huge club over his\nshoulder to strike me on the head. Mr. Mathieson, springing forward,\ncaught the club from behind with a great cry to me; and I, wheeling\ninstantly, had hold of the club also, and betwixt us we wrested it out\nof his hands. The poor creature, craven at heart however bloodthirsty,\nimplored us not to kill him. I raised the club threateningly, and caused\nhim to march in front of us till we reached the next village fence. In\nterror lest these villagers should kill him, he gladly received back his\nclub, as well as the boy his bow and arrows, and they were lost in the\nbush in a moment.\n\nAt the village from which this man and boy had come, one savage brought\nhis musket while we were conducting Worship, and sat sullen and scowling\nat us all the time. Mocking questions were also shouted at us, such as,\n\"Who made the rains, winds, and hurricanes? Who caused all the disease?\nWho killed Missi Mathieson's child?\" They sneered and scoffed at our\nanswers, and in this Taura the Chief joined the rest.\n\nOn the 27th, at daylight, a vessel was seen in the offing, as if to\ntantalize us. The Captain had been at the Harbor, and had received my\nletter from Nowar. I hoisted a flag to induce him to send or come on\nshore, but he sailed off for Aneityum, bearing the plunder of my poor\nMission House, purchased for ammunition and tobacco for the Natives. He\nleft the news at Aneityum that I had been driven from my Station some\ntime ago, and was believed to have been murdered.\n\nOn the 29th of January, the young Chief Kapuku came and handed to Mr.\nMathieson his own and his father's war-gods and household idols. They\nconsisted chiefly of a basket of small and peculiar stones, much worn\nand shining with use. He said, \"While many are trying to kill you and\ndrive the Worship of Jehovah from this island, I give up my gods, and\nwill send away all Heathen idols from my land.\"\n\nOn the 31st, we learned that a party of Miaki's men were going about Mr.\nMathieson's district inciting the people to kill us. Faimungo also came\nto inform us that Maiki was exerting all his artifice to get us and the\nWorship destroyed. Manuman even sent, from inland, Raki, his adopted\nson, to tell me of the fearful sufferings that he and his people were\nnow passing through, and that some were killed almost every day. Raki's\nwife was a Chief's daughter, who, when the war began, returned to her\nfather's care. The savages of Miaki went to her own father's house and\ncompelled him to give her up as an enemy. She was clubbed and feasted\non.\n\nOn Sabbath, 2d February, thirty-two people attended the Morning Service.\nI addressed them on the Deluge, its causes and lessons. I showed them a\ndoll, explaining that such carved and painted images could not hear our\nprayers or help us in our need, that the living Jehovah God only could\nhear and help. They were much interested, and after Worship carefully\nexamined the doll. Mr. Mathieson and I, committing ourselves to Jesus,\nwent inland and conducted Worship at seven villages, listened to by\nabout one hundred people in all. Nearly all appeared friendly. The\npeople of one village had been incited to kill us on our return; but God\nguided us to return by another way, and so we escaped.\n\nDuring the day, on 3d February, a company of Miaki's men came to the\nMission House, and forced Mrs. Mathieson to show them through the\npremises. Providentially, I had bolted myself that morning into a closet\nroom, and was engrossed with writing. They went through every room in\nthe house and did not see me, concluding I had gone inland. They\ndischarged a musket into our Teacher's house, but afterwards left\nquietly, greatly disappointed at not finding me. My heart still rose in\npraise to God for another such deliverance, neither by man nor of man's\nplanning!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLI.\nTHE LAST AWFUL NIGHT.\n\nWORN out with long watching and many fatigues, I lay down that night\nearly, and fell into a deep sleep. About ten o'clock the savages again\nsurrounded the Mission House. My faithful dog Clutha, clinging still to\nme amid the wreck of all else on earth, sprang quietly upon me, pulled\nat my clothes, and awoke me, showing danger in her eye glancing at me\nthrough the shadows. I silently awoke Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson, who had\nalso fallen asleep. We committed ourselves in hushed prayer to God and\nwatched them, knowing that they could not see us. Immediately a glare of\nlight fell into the room! Men passed with flaming torches; and first\nthey set fire to the Church all round, and then to a reed fence\nconnecting the Church and the dwelling-house. In a few minutes the\nhouse, too, would be in flames, and armed savages waiting to kill us on\nattempting an escape!\n\nTaking my harmless revolver in the left hand and a little American\ntomahawk in the right, I pleaded with Mr. Mathieson to let me out and\ninstantly to again lock the door on himself and wife. He very\nreluctantly did so, holding me back and saying, \"Stop here and let us\ndie together! You will never return!\"\n\nI said, \"Be quick! Leave that to God. In a few minutes our house will be\nin flames, and then nothing can save us.\"\n\nHe did let me out, and locked the door again quickly from the inside;\nand, while his wife and he prayed and watched for me from within, I ran\nto the burning reed fence, cut it from top to bottom, and tore it up and\nthrew it back into the flames, so that the fire could not by it be\ncarried to our dwelling-house. I saw on the ground shadows, as if\nsomething were falling around me, and started back. Seven or eight\nsavages had surrounded me, and raised their great clubs in air. I heard\na shout--\"Kill him! Kill him!\" One savage tried to seize hold of me,\nbut, leaping from his clutch, I drew the revolver from my pocket and\nleveled it as for use, my heart going up in prayer to my God. I said,\n\"Dare to strike me, and my Jehovah God will punish you. He protects us,\nand will punish you for burning His Church, for hatred to His Worship\nand people, and for all your bad conduct. We love you all; and for doing\nyou good only, you want to kill us. But our God is here now to protect\nus and to punish you.\"\n\nThey yelled in rage, and urged each other to strike the first blow, but\nthe Invisible One restrained them. I stood invulnerable beneath His\ninvisible shield, and succeeded in rolling back the tide of flame from\nour dwelling-house.\n\nAt this dread moment occurred an incident, which my readers may explain\nas they like, but which I trace directly to the interposition of my God.\nA rushing and roaring sound came from the South, like the noise of a\nmighty engine or of muttering thunder. Every head was instinctively\nturned in that direction, and they knew, from previous hard experience,\nthat it was one of their awful tornadoes of wind and rain. Now, mark,\nthe wind bore the flames away from our dwelling-house; had it come in\nthe opposite direction, no power on earth could have saved us from being\nall consumed! It made the work of destroying the Church only that of a\nfew minutes; but it brought with it a heavy and murky cloud, which\npoured out a perfect torrent of tropical rain. Now, mark again, the\nflames of the burning Church were thereby cut off from extending to and\nseizing upon the reeds and the bush; and, besides, it had become almost\nimpossible now to set fire to our dwelling-house. The stars in their\ncourses were fighting against Sisera!\n\nThe mighty roaring of the wind, the black cloud pouring down unceasing\ntorrents, and the whole surroundings, awed those savages into silence.\nSome began to withdraw from the scene, all lowered their weapons of war,\nand several, terror-struck, exclaimed, \"That is Jehovah's rain! Truly\ntheir Jehovah God is fighting for them and helping them. Let us away!\" A\npanic seized upon them; they threw away their remaining torches; in a\nfew moments they had all disappeared in the bush; and I was left alone,\npraising God for His marvelous works. \"O taste and see that God is good!\nBlessed is the man that trusteth in Him!\"\n\nReturning to the door of the Mission House, I cried, \"Open and let me\nin. I am now all alone.\"\n\nMr. Mathieson let me in, and exclaimed, \"If ever, in time of need, God\nsent help and protection to His servants in answer to prayer, He has\ndone so to-night! Blessed be His holy Name!\"\n\nIn fear and in joy we united our praises. Truly our Jesus has all power,\nnot less in the elements of Nature than in the savage hearts of the\nTannese. Precious Jesus! Often since have I wept over His love and mercy\nin that deliverance, and prayed that every moment of my remaining life\nmay be consecrated to the service of my precious Friend and Saviour!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLII.\n\"SAIL O! SAIL O!\"\n\nALL through the remainder of that night I lay wide awake keeping watch,\nmy noble little dog lying near me with ears alert. Early in the morning\nfriends came weeping around us. Our enemies were loudly rejoicing. It\nhad been finally resolved to kill us at once, to plunder our house and\nthen to burn it. The noise of the shouting was distinctly heard as they\nneared the Mission premises, and our weeping, friendly Natives looked\nterror-struck, and seemed anxious to flee for the bush. But just when\nthe excitement rose to the highest pitch, we heard, or dreamed that we\nheard, a cry higher still, \"Sail O!\"\n\nWe were by this time beginning to distrust almost our very senses; but\nagain and again that cry came rolling up from the shore, and was\nrepeated from crowd to crowd all along the beach, \"Sail O! Sail O!\"\n\nThe shouts of those approaching us gradually ceased, and the whole\nmultitude seemed to have melted away from our view. I feared some cruel\ndeception, and at first peered out very cautiously to spy the land. But\nyonder in very truth a vessel came sailing into view. It was the _Blue\nBell_ Captain Hastings. I set fire to the reeds on the side of the hill\nto attract his attention. I put a black shawl as a flag on one end of\nthe Mission House and a white sheet on the other.\n\nThis was one of the vessels that had been to Port Resolution, and had\nsailed past to Aneityum some time ago. I afterwards saw the mate and\nsome of the men wearing my shirts, which they had bought from the\nTannese on their former visit. At the earnest request of Messrs. Geddie\nand Copeland, Mr. Underwood, the owner, had sent Captain Hastings to\nTanna to rescue us if yet alive. For this purpose he had brought twenty\narmed men from Aneityum, who came on shore in two boats in charge of the\nmate, the notorious Ross Lewin. He returned to the ship with a boat-load\nof Mr. Mathieson's things, leaving ten of the Natives to help us to pack\nmore and carry them down to the beach, especially what the Missionary\nthought most valuable.\n\nThe two boats were now loaded and ready to start. It was about two\no'clock in the afternoon, when a strange and painful trial befell us.\nPoor dear Mr. Mathieson, apparently unhinged, locked himself all alone\ninto what had been his study, telling Mrs. Mathieson and me to go, for\nhe had resolved to remain and die on Tanna. We tried to show him the\ninconsistency of praying to God to protect us or grant us means of\nescape, and then refuse to accept a rescue sent to us in our last\nextremity. We argued that it was surely better to live and work for\nJesus than to die as a self-made martyr, who, in God's sight, was guilty\nof self-murder. His wife wept aloud and pleaded with him, but all in\nvain! He refused to leave or to unlock his door. I then said, \"It is now\ngetting dark. Your wife must go with the vessel, but I will not leave\nyou alone. I shall send a note explaining why I am forced to remain; and\nas it is certain that we shall be murdered whenever the vessel leaves, I\ntell you God will charge you with the guilt of our murder.\" At this he\nrelented, unlocked the door, and accompanied us to the boats, in which\nwe all immediately left.\n\nMeantime, having lost several hours, the vessel had drifted leeward;\ndarkness suddenly settled upon us, and when we were out at sea we lost\nsight of her and she of us. After tumbling about for some hours in a\nheavy sea, and unable to find her, those in charge of the boats came\nnear for consultation, and, if possible, to save the lives of all. We\nadvised that they should steer for Port Resolution by the flame of the\nvolcano--a never failing lighthouse, seen fifty miles away--and there\nawait the vessel. The boats were to keep within hearing of each other by\nconstant calling; but this was soon lost to the ear, though on arriving\nin the bay we found they had got to anchor before us. There we sat in\nthe boats and waited for the coming day.\n\nAs the light appeared, we anchored as far out as possible, beyond the\nreach of musket shots; and there without water or food we sat under a\ntropical sun till midday came, and still there was no sign of the\nvessel. The mate at last put all the passengers and the poorest seamen\ninto one boat and left her to swing at anchor, while, with a strong crew\nin the other, he started off in search of the vessel.\n\nIn the afternoon, Nowar and Miaki came off in a canoe to visit us. Nowar\nhad on a shirt, but Miaki was naked and frowning. He urged me to go and\nsee the Mission House, but as we had seen a body of men near it I\nrefused to go. Miaki declared that everything remained as I had left it,\nbut we knew that he lied. Old Abraham and a party had slipped on shore\nin a canoe, and had found the windows smashed and everything gone except\nmy books, which were scattered about and torn in pieces. They learned\nthat Miaki had sold everything that he could sell to the Traders. The\nmate and men of the _Blue Bell_ had on my very clothes. They boasted\nthat they had bought them for a few figs of tobacco and for powder,\ncaps, and balls. But they would not return a single shirt to me, though\nI was without a change. We had all been without food since the morning\nbefore, so Nowar brought us off a cocoanut each, and two very small\nroasted yams for the ladies. Those, however, only seemed to make our\nthirst the more severe, and we spent a trying day in that boat under a\nburning sun.\n\nNowar informed me that only a few nights before this, Miaki and his\nfollowers went inland to a village where last year they had killed ten\nmen. Having secretly placed a savage at the door of every house, at a\ngiven signal they yelled, and when the terrified inmates tried to\nescape, they killed almost every man, woman, and child. Some fled into\nthe bush, others rushed to the shore. A number of men got into a canoe\nto escape, but hearing women and children crying after them they\nreturned, and taking those they could with them, they killed the rest,\nlest they should fall alive into Miaki's hands. These are surely \"they\nwho through fear of death are all their lifetime subject to bondage.\"\nThe Chief and nearly his whole village were cut off in one night! The\ndark places of the Earth are \"full of the habitations of horrid\ncruelty.\" To have actually lived amongst the Heathen and seen their life\ngives a man a new appreciation of the power and blessings of the Gospel,\neven where its influence is only very imperfectly allowed to guide and\nrestrain the passions of men. Oh, what it will be when all men in all\nnations love and serve the glorious Redeemer!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLIII.\nFAREWELL TO TANNA.\n\nABOUT five o'clock in the evening the vessel hove in sight. Before dark\nwe were all on board, and were sailing for Aneityum. Though both Mr. and\nMrs. Mathieson had become very weak, they stood the voyage wonderfully.\nNext day we were safely landed. We had offered Captain Hastings L20 to\ntake us to Aneityum, but he declined any fare. However, we divided it\namongst the mate and crew, for they had every one shown great kindness\nto us on the voyage.\n\nAfter arriving on Aneityum, Mrs. Mathieson gradually sank under\nconsumption, and fell asleep in Jesus on 11th March, 1862, and was\ninterred there in the full assurance of a glorious resurrection. Mr.\nMathieson, becoming more and more depressed after her death, went over\nto Mr. Creagh's Station, on Mare, and there died on 14th June, 1862,\nstill trusting in Jesus, and assured that he would soon be with Him in\nGlory.\n\nAfter their death I was the only one left alive, in all the New Hebrides\nMission north of Aneityum, to tell the story of those pioneer years,\nduring which were sown the seeds of what is now fast becoming a glorious\nharvest. Twenty-five years ago, all these dear brethren and sisters who\nwere associated with me in the work of the Mission were called home to\nGlory, to cast their crowns at the feet of Jesus and enjoy the bliss of\nthe redeemed; while I am privileged still to toil and pray for the\nsalvation of the poor Islanders, and plead the cause of the Mission both\nin the Colonies and at home, in which work the Lord has graciously given\nme undreamt-of success. My constant desire and prayer are that I may be\nspared to see at least one Missionary on every island of the group, or\ntrained Native Teachers under the superintendence of a Missionary, to\nunfold the riches of redeeming love and to lead the poor Islanders to\nJesus for salvation.\n\nWhat could be taken in three boats was saved out of the wreck of Mr.\nMathieson's property; but my earthly all perished, except the Bible and\nthe translations into Tannese. Along with the goods pertaining to the\nMission, the property which I had to leave behind would be\nunder-estimated at L600, besides the value of the Mission House, etc.\nOften since have I thought that the Lord stripped me thus bare of all\nthese interests that I might with undistracted mind devote my entire\nenergy to the special work soon to be carved out for me, and of which at\nthis moment neither I nor any one had ever dreamed. At any rate, the\nloss of my little Earthly All, though doubtless costing me several\npangs, was not an abiding sorrow like that which sprang from the thought\nthat the Lord's work was now broken up at both Stations, and that the\nGospel was for the time driven from Tanna.\n\nIn the darkest moment I never doubted that ultimately the victory there,\nas elsewhere, would be on the side of Jesus, believing that the whole\nEarth would yet be filled with the glory of the Lord. But I sometimes\nsorely feared that I might never live to see or hear of that happy day!\nBy the goodness of the Ever-merciful One I have lived to see and hear of\na Gospel Church on Tanna, and to read about my dear fellow-Missionaries,\nMr. and Mrs. Watt, celebrating the Holy Supper to a Native Congregation\nof Tannese, amid the very scenes and people where the seeds of faith and\nhope were planted not only in tears, but tears of blood,--\"in deaths\noft.\"\n\nMy own intention was to remain on Aneityum, go on with my work of\ntranslating the Gospels, and watch the earliest opportunity, as God\nopened up my way, to return to Tanna, I had, however, got very weak and\nthin; my health was undoubtedly much shaken by the continued trials and\ndangers through which we had passed; and therefore, as Dr. and Mrs.\nInglis were at home carrying the New Testament through the press in the\nlanguage of Aneityum, and as Tanna was closed for a season--Dr. Geddie,\nthe Rev. Joseph Copeland, and Mr. Mathieson all urged me to go to\nAustralia by a vessel then in the Harbor and leaving in a few days. My\ncommission was to awaken an interest among the Presbyterian Churches of\nour Colonies in this New Hebrides Mission which lay at their doors, up\ntill this time sustained by Scotland and Nova Scotia alone. And further,\nand very specially, to raise money there, if possible, to purchase a new\nMission Ship for the work of God in the New Hebrides,--a clamant\nnecessity which would save all future Missionaries some of the more\nterrible of the privations and risks of which a few examples have in\nthese pages already been recorded.\n\nWith regrets, and yet with unquenchable hope for these Islands, I\nembarked for Australia. But I had only spoken to one man in Sydney; all\nthe doors to influence had therefore to be unlocked; and I had no\nhelper, no leader, but the Spirit of my Lord.\n\nOftentimes, while passing through the perils and defeats of my first\nfour years in the Mission field on Tanna, I wondered, and perhaps the\nreader hereof has wondered, why God permitted such things. But on\nlooking back now, I already clearly perceive, and the reader of my\nfuture pages will, I think, perceive, that the Lord was thereby\npreparing me for doing, and providing me materials wherewith to\naccomplish, the best work of all my life, namely, the kindling of the\nheart of Australian Presbyterianism with a living affection for these\nIslanders of their own Southern Seas--the binding of all their children\ninto a happy league of shareholders, first in one Mission Ship, and\nfinally in a larger and more commodious Steam-Auxiliary; and, last of\nall, in being the instrument under God of sending out Missionary after\nMissionary to the New Hebrides, to claim another island and still\nanother for Jesus. That work, and all that may spring from it in Time\nand Eternity, never could have been accomplished by me, but for first\nthe sufferings and then the story of my Tanna days!\n\nNever for one moment have I had occasion to regret the step then taken.\nThe Lord has so used me, during the five-and-twenty years that have\npassed over me since my farewell to Tanna, as to stamp the event with\nHis own most gracious approval. Oh, to see a Missionary, and Christian\nTeachers, planted on every island of the New Hebrides! For this I labor,\nand wait, and pray. To help on the fulfillment thereof is the sacred\nwork of my life, under God. When I see that accomplished, or in a fair\nway of being so, through the organization that will provide the money\nand call forth the men, I can lay down my head as peacefully and\ngratefully as ever warrior did, with the shout of victory in his\nears--\"Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace!\"\n\n(_For \"Good News from Tanna,\" see Supplementary Chapter by the Editor,_\np.393.)\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLIV.\nTHE FLOATING OF THE \"DAYSPRING.\"\n\nRESCUED from Tanna by the _Blue Bell_ in the Spring of 1869, I was\nlanded on Aneityum, leaving behind me all that I owned on Earth, save\nthe clothes upon my back, my precious Bible, and a few translations that\nI had made from it into the Tannese language. The Missionaries on\nAneitymn united in urging me to go to Australia in the interests of our\nMission. A Mission Ship was sorely needed--was absolutely required--to\nprevent the needless sacrifice of devoted lives. More Missionaries were\ncalled for, and must somehow be brought into the field, unless the hope\nof claiming these fair Islands for Jesus was to be forever abandoned.\n\nWith unaffected reluctance, I at last felt constrained to undertake this\nunwelcome but apparently inevitable task. It meant the leaving of my\ndear Islanders for a season; but it embraced within it the hope of\nreturning to them again, with perhaps every power of blessing amongst\nthem tenfold increased.\n\nA _Sandal-wooder,_ then lying at Aneityum, was to sail in a few days\ndirect for Sydney. My passage was secured for L10. And, as if to make me\nrealize how bare the Lord had stripped me in my late trials, the first\nthing that occupied me on board was the making with my own hands, from a\npiece of cloth obtained on Aneityum, another shirt for the voyage, to\nchange with that which I wore--the only one that had been left to me.\n\nThe Captain proved to be a profane and brutal fellow. And how my heart\nbled for some poor Islanders whom he had on board! They knew not a word\nof English, and no one in the vessel knew a sound of their language.\nThey were made to work, and to understand what was expected of them,\nonly by hard knocks and blows, being pushed and pulled hither and\nthither. They were kept quite naked on the voyage up; but, when nearing\nSydney, each received two yards of calico to be twisted as a kilt around\nhis loins. A most pathetic spectacle it was to watch these poor\nNatives,--when they had leisure to sit on deck,--gazing, gazing,\nintently and imploringly, upon the face of the Sun! This they did every\nday, and at all hours, and I wept much to look on them, and not be able\nto tell them of the Son of God, the Light of the world, for I knew no\nword of their language. Perhaps they were worshipers of the Sun; and\nperhaps, amid all their misery, oh, _perhaps,_ some ray of truth from\nthe great Father of Lights may have streamed into those darkened souls!\n\nWhen we arrived at Sydney the Inspecting Officer of the Government,\ncoming on board, asked how these Islanders came to be there. The Captain\nimpudently replied that they were \"passengers.\" No further question was\nput. No other evidence was sought. Yet all who knew anything of our\nSouth-Sea Island Traders were perfectly aware that the moral certainty\nwas that these Natives were there practically as Slaves. They would be\nprivately disposed of by the Captain to the-highest bidder; and that,\nforsooth, is to be called the _Labor_ Traffic,--_Free_ Labor! I will, to\nmy dying breath, denounce and curse this _Kanaka_ traffic as the worst\nof Slavery.\n\nAs we came to anchorage, about midnight, in Sydney Harbor, I anxiously\npaced the deck, gazing towards the gas-lighted city, and pleading with\nGod to open up my way, and give success in the work before me, on which\nthe salvation of thousands of the Heathen might depend. Still I saw them\nperishing, still heard their wailing cry on the Islands behind me. At\nthe same time, I knew not a soul in that great city; though I had a note\nof introduction to one person, which, as experience proved, I would have\nbeen better without.\n\nThat friend, however, did his best. He kindly called with me on a number\nof Ministers and others. They heard my story, sympathized with me, shook\nhands, and wished me success; but, strangely enough, something \"very\nspecial\" prevented every one of them from giving me access to his pulpit\nor Sabbath School. At length I felt so disappointed, so miserable, that\nI wished I had been in my grave with my dear departed, and my brethren\non the Islands, who had fallen around me, in order that the work on\nwhich so much now appeared to depend might have been entrusted to some\none better fitted to accomplish it. The heart seemed to keep repeating,\n\"All these things are against thee.\"\n\nFinding out at last the Rev. A. Buzacott, then retired, but formerly the\nsuccessful and honored representative of the London Missionary Society\non Rarotonga, considerable light was let in upon the mystery of my last\nweek's experiences. He informed me that the highly-esteemed friend, who\nhad kindly been introducing me all round, was at that moment immersed in\na keen Newspaper war with Presbyterians and Independents. This made it\npainfully manifest that, in order to succeed, I must strike out a new\ncourse for myself, and one clear from all local entanglement.\n\nPaying a fortnight in advance, I withdrew even from the lodging I had\ntaken, and turned to the Lord more absolutely for guidance. He brought\nme into contact with good and generous-souled servants of His, the\nopen-hearted Mr. and Mrs. Foss. Though entire strangers, they kindly\ninvited me to be their guest while in Sydney, assuring me that I would\nmeet with many Ministers and other Christians at their house who could\nhelp me in my work. God had opened the door; I entered with a grateful\nheart; they will not miss their recompense.\n\nA letter and appeal had been already printed on behalf of our Mission. I\nnow re-cast and reprinted it, adding a postscript, and appending my own\nname and address. This was widely circulated among Ministers and others\nengaged in Christian work; and by this means, and by letters in the\nnewspapers, I did everything in my power to make our Mission known. But\none week had passed, and no response came. One Lord's Day had gone by,\nand no pulpit had been opened to me. I was perplexed beyond measure how\nto get access to Congregations and Sabbath Schools; though a something\ndeep in my soul assured me, that if once my lips were opened, the Word\nof the Lord would not return void.\n\nOn my second Sabbath in Sydney I wandered out with a great yearning at\nheart to get telling my message to any soul that would listen. It was\nthe afternoon; and children were flocking into a Church that I passed. I\nfollowed them--that yearning growing stronger every moment. My God so\nordered it that I was guided thus to the Chalmers Presbyterian Church.\nThe Minister, the Rev. Mr. M'Skimming, addressed the children. At the\nclose I went up and pleaded with him to allow me ten minutes to speak to\nthem. After a little hesitation, and having consulted together, they\ngave me fifteen minutes. Becoming deeply interested, the good man\ninvited me to preach to his Congregation in the evening. This was duly\nintimated in the Sabbath School; and thus my little boat was at last\nlaunched--surely by the hand of the dear Lord, with the help of His\nlittle children.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLV.\nA SHIPPING COMPANY FOR JESUS.\n\nTHE kindly minister of Chalmers church, now very deeply interested,\noffered to spend the next day in introducing me to his clerical\nbrethren. For his sake, I was most cordially received by them all, but\nespecially by Dr. Dunmore Lang, who greatly helped me; and now access\nwas granted me to almost every church and Sabbath School, both\nPresbyterian and Independent. In Sabbath Schools, I got a collection in\nconnection with my address, and distributed, with the sanction of\nsuperintendents, collecting cards amongst the children, to be returned\nthrough the Teachers within a specified date. In congregations, I\nreceived for the Mission the surplus over and above the ordinary\ncollection when I preached on Sabbaths, and the full collection at all\nweek-night meetings for which I could arrange.\n\nI now appealed to a few of the most friendly ministers to form\nthemselves into an honorary committee of advice; and, at my earnest\nrequest, they got J. Goodlet, Esq., an excellent elder, to become\nhonorary treasurer, and to take charge of all funds raised for the\nMission ship. For the public knew nothing of me; but all knew my good\ntreasurer and these faithful ministers, and had confidence in the work.\nThey knew that every penny went direct to the Mission; and they saw that\nmy one object was to promote God's glory in the conversion of the\nheathen. Our dear Lord Jesus thus opened up my way; and now I had\ninvitations from more schools and congregations than I knew how to\novertake--the response in money being also gratifying beyond almost all\nexpectation.\n\nIt was now that I began a little plan of interesting the children, that\nattracted them from the first, and has since had an amazing development.\nI made them shareholders in the new Mission Ship--each child receiving a\nprinted form, in acknowledgment of the number of shares, at sixpence\neach, of which he was the owner. Thousands of these shares were taken\nout, were shown about amongst families, and were greatly prized. The\nShip was to be their very own! They were to be a great Shipping Company\nfor Jesus. In hundreds of homes these receipt-forms have been preserved;\nand their owners, now in middle years, are training their children of\nto-day to give their pennies to support the white-winged Angel of the\nSeas, that bears the Gospel and the Missionary to the Heathen Isles.\n\nLet no one think me ungrateful to my good Treasurer and his wife, to Dr.\nand Mrs. Moon, and to other dear friends who generously helped me, when\nI trace step by step how the Lord Himself opened up my way. The Angel of\nHis Presence went before me, and wonderfully moved His people to\ncontribute in answer to my poor appeals. I had indeed to make all my own\narrangements and correspond regarding all engagements and details,--to\nme, always a slow and laborious writer, a very burdensome task. But it\nwas all necessary in order to the fulfillment of the Lord's purposes;\nand, to one who realizes that he is a fellow-laborer with Jesus, every\nyoke that He lays on becomes easy and every burden light.\n\nHaving done all that could at that time be accomplished in New South\nWales, and as rapidly as possible--my Committee gave me a Letter of\nCommendation to Victoria. But there I had no difficulty. The Ministers\nhad heard of our work in Sydney. They received me most cordially, and at\nmy request formed themselves into a Committee of Advice. Our dear\nfriend, James M'Bain, Esq., now Sir James, became Honorary Treasurer.\nAll moneys from this Colony, raised by my pleading for the Ship, were\nentrusted to him; and, ultimately, the acknowledging of every individual\nsum cost much time and labor. Dr. Cairns, and many others now gone to\ntheir rest, along with two or three honored Ministers yet living, formed\nmy Committee. The Lord richly reward them all in that Day!\n\nAs in New South Wales, I made, chiefly by correspondence, all my own\nengagements, and arranged for Churches and Sabbath Schools as best I\ncould. Few in the other Denominations of Victoria gave any help, but the\nPresbyterians rose to our appeal as with one heart. God moved them by\none impulse; and Ministers, Superintendents, Teachers, and Children,\nheartily embraced the scheme as their own. I addressed three or four\nmeetings every Sabbath, and one or more every week-day; and thus\ntraveled over the length and breadth of Victoria, Tasmania, and South\nAustralia. Wheresoever a few of the Lord's people could be gathered\ntogether, thither I gladly went, and told the story of our Mission,\nsetting forth its needs and claims.\n\nThe contributions and collections were nearly all in very small sums, I\nrecall only one exception,--a gift of L250 from the late Hon. G. F.\nAngus, South Australia, whose heart the Lord had touched. Yet gently and\nsteadily the required money began to come pouring in; and my personal\noutlays were reduced to a minimum by the hospitality of Christian\nfriends and their kindly conveying of me from place to place. For all\nthis I felt deeply grateful; it saved money for the Lord's work.\n\nThe work was unceasingly prosecuted. Meetings were urged upon me now\nfrom every quarter. Money flowed in so freely that, at the close of my\ntour, the fund had risen to L5000, including special Donations of L300\nfor the support of Native Teachers. Many Sabbath Schools, and many\nladies and gentlemen, had individually promised the sum of L5 yearly to\nkeep a Native Teacher on one or other of the New Hebrides Islands. This\nhappy custom prevails still, and is largely developed; the sum required\nbeing now L6 per annum at least--for which you may have your own\npersonal representative toiling among the Heathen and telling them of\nJesus.\n\nReturning to Melbourne, the whole matter was laid before my Committee. I\nreported how God had blessed the undertaking, and what sums were now in\nthe hands of the several Treasurers, indicating also larger hopes and\nplans which had been put into my soul. Dear Dr. Cairns rose and said,\n\"Sir, it is of the Lord. This whole enterprise is of God, and not of us.\nGo home, and He will give you more Missionaries for the Islands.\"\n\nOf the money which I had raised, L3000 were sent to Nova Scotia, to pay\nfor the building of our new Mission Ship, the _Dayspring._ The Church\nwhich began the Mission on the New Hebrides was granted the honor of\nbuilding our new Mission Ship. The remainder was set apart to pay for\nthe outfit and passage of additional Missionaries for the field, and I\nwas commissioned to return home to Scotland in quest of them. Dr. Inglis\nwrote, in vindication of this enterprise, to the friends whom he had\njust left, \"From first to last, Mr. Paton's mission here has been a\ngreat success; and it has been followed up with such energy and\npromptitude in Nova Scotia, both in regard to the Ship and the\nMissionaries, that Mr. Paton's pledge to the Australian Churches has\nbeen fully redeemed. The hand of the Lord has been very visible in the\nwhole movement from beginning to end, and we trust He has yet great\nblessing in store for the long and deeply-degraded Islanders.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLVI.\nAUSTRALIAN INCIDENTS.\n\nHERE let me turn aside from the current of Missionary toils, and record\na few wayside incidents that marked some of my wanderings to and fro in\nconnection with the Floating of the _Dayspring._ Traveling in the\nColonies in 1862-68 was vastly less developed than it is to-day; and a\nfew of my experiences then will, for many reasons, be not unwelcome to\nmost readers of this book. Besides, these incidents, one and all, will\nbe felt to have a vital connection with the main purpose of writing this\nAutobiography, namely, to show that the Finger of God is as visible\nstill, to those who have eyes to see, as when the fire-cloud Pillar led\nHis People through the wilderness.\n\nTwenty-six years ago, the roads of Australia, except those in and around\nthe principal towns, were mere tracks over unfenced plains and hills,\nand on many of them packhorses only could be used in slushy weather.\nDuring long journeys through the bush the traveler could find his road\nonly by following the deep notches, gashed by friendly precursors into\nthe larger trees, and all pointing in one direction. If he lost his way,\nhe had to struggle back to the last indented tree, and try to interpret\nmore correctly its pilgrim notch. Experienced bush-travelers seldom miss\nthe path; yet many others, losing the track, have wandered round and\nround till they sank and died. For then it was easy to walk thirty to\nforty miles, and see neither a person nor a house. The more intelligent\ndo sometimes guide their steps by sun, moon, and stars, or by glimpses\nof mountain peaks or natural features on the far and high horizon, or by\nthe needle of the compass; but the perils are not illusory, and\noccasionally the most experienced have miscalculated and perished.\n\nAn intelligent gentleman, a sheep farmer, who knew the country well,\nonce kindly volunteered to lift me in an out-of-the-way place, and drive\nme to a meeting at his Station. Having a long spell before us, we\nstarted at midday in a buggy drawn by a pair of splendid horses, in the\nhope of reaching our destination before dusk. He turned into the usual\nbush-track through the forests, saying, \"I know this road well; and we\nmust drive steadily, as we have not a moment to lose.\"\n\nOur conversation became absorbingly interesting. After we had driven\nabout three hours, he remarked, \"We must soon emerge into the open\nplain.\"\n\nI doubtfully replied, \"Surely we cannot have turned back! These trees\nand bushes are wonderfully like those we passed at starting.\"\n\nHe laughed, and made me feel rather vexed that I had spoken, when he\nsaid, \"I am too old a hand in the bush for that. I have gone this road\nmany a time before.\"\n\nBut my courage immediately revived, for I got what appeared to me a\nglint of the roof of the Inn beyond the bush, from which we had started\nat noon, and I repeated, \"I am certain we have wheeled, and are back at\nthe beginning of our journey; but there comes a Chinaman--let us wait\nand inquire.\"\n\nMy dear friend learned, to his utter amazement, that he had erred. The\nbush-track was entered upon once more, and followed with painful care,\nas he murmured, half to himself, \"Well, this beats all reckoning! I\ncould have staked my life that this was impossible.\"\n\nTurning to me, he said, with manifest grief, \"Our meeting is done for!\nIt will be midnight before we can arrive.\"\n\nThe sun was beginning to set as we reached the thinly-timbered ground.\nEre dusk fell, he took his bearing with the greatest possible care.\nBeyond the wood, a vast plain stretched before us, where neither fence\nnor house was visible, far as the eye could reach. He drove steadily\ntowards a far-distant point, which was in the direction of his home. At\nlast we struck upon the wire fence that bounded his property. The horses\nwere now getting badly fagged; and, in order to save them a long\nround-about drive, he lifted and laid low a portion of the fence, led\nhis horses cautiously over it, and, leaving it to be re-erected by a\nservant next day, he started direct for the Station. That seemed a long\njourney too; but it was for him familiar ground; and though amongst\ngreat patriarchal trees here and there, and safely past dangerous\nwater-holes, we swung steadily on, reached his home in safety, and had a\njoyous welcome. The household had by this time got into great excitement\nover our non-appearance. The expected meeting had, of course, been\nabandoned hours ago: and the people were all gone, wondering in their\nhearts \"whereto this would grow!\"\n\nAt that time, in the depth of winter, the roads were often wrought into\nrivers of mire, and at many points almost impassable even for\nwell-appointed conveyances. In connection therewith, I had one very\nperilous experience. I had to go from Clunes to a farm in the Learmouth\ndistrict. The dear old Minister there, Mr. Downes, went with me to every\nplace where a horse could be hired; but the owners positively\nrefused--they would sell, but they would not hire, for the conveyance\nwould be broken, and the horse would never return alive! Now, I was\nadvertised to preach at Learmouth, and must somehow get over the nine\nmiles that lay between. This would have been comparatively practicable,\nwere it not that I carried with me an indispensable bag of \"curios,\" and\na heavy bundle of clubs, arrows, dresses, etc., from the Islands,\nwherewith to illustrate my lectures and enforce my appeals. No one could\nbe hired to carry my luggage, nor could I get it sent after me by coach\non that particular way. Therefore, seeing no alternative opening up my\npath, I committed myself once more to the Lord, as in harder trials\nbefore, shouldered my bundle of clubs, lifted my heavy bag, and started\noff on foot. They urged me fervently to desist; but I heard a voice\nrepeating, \"As thy days, so shall thy strength be.\" There came back to\nme also the old adage that had in youthful difficulties, spurred me on,\n\"Where there's a will, there's a way.\" And I thought that with these two\nin his heart, a Scotchman and a Christian would not be easily beaten.\n\nWhen I found the road wrought into mire, and dangerous, or impassable, I\nclimbed the fence, and waded along in the plowed fields--though they\nwere nearly as bad. My bundle was changed from shoulder to shoulder, and\nmy bag from hand to hand, till I became thoroughly tired of both.\nPressing on, however, I arrived at a wayside Public-house, where several\nroads met, and there I inquired the way to Learmouth, and how far it\nwas. The innkeeper, pointing, answered--\n\n\"This is the road. If you are on horseback, it might be three to four\nmiles just now, as your horse is able to take it. If you are in a\nconveyance, with a good horse, it might be six miles. And if you are\nwalking, it might be eight or ten miles, or even more.\"\n\nI said, \"I am walking. How many English miles is it to Mr. Baird's\nfarm?\"\n\nHe laughingly replied, \"You will find it a long way indeed this dark\nnight, considering the state of the road, fenced in on both sides so\nthat you cannot get off.\"\n\nI passed on, leaving my Job's comforter; but a surly watchdog got upon\nmy track, and I had much difficulty in keeping it from biting me. Its\nattacks, renewed upon me again and again, had one good effect,--they\nstirred up my spirits and made me hasten on.\n\nHaving persevered along the Learmouth road, I next met a company of men\nhastening on with a bundle of ropes. They were on their way to relieve a\npoor bullock, which by this time had almost disappeared, sinking in the\nmire on the public highway! They kindly pointed me to a light, visible\nthrough the dusk. That was the farm at which I was to stay, and they\nadvised me to clear the fence, and make straight for that light, as the\nway was good.\n\nWith thankful heart, I did so. The light was soon lost to me, but I\nwalked steadily on in the direction thereof, to the best of my judgment.\nImmediately I began to feel the ground all floating under me. Then at\nevery step I took, or tried to take, I sank deeper and deeper, till at\nlast I durst not move either backward or forward. I was floundering in a\ndeadly swamp. I called out again and again, and \"coo-ee-d\" with all my\nstrength, but there came no reply. It grew extremely dark, while I kept\npraying to God for deliverance. About midnight, I heard two men\nconversing, apparently at no very great distance. I began \"coo-ee-ing\"\nagain, but my strength was failing. Fortunately, the night was perfectly\ncalm. The conversation ceased for a while, but I kept on crying for\nhelp. At length I heard one voice remark to the other, \"Some one is in\nthe swamp.\" And then the question came, \"Who's there?\"\n\nI answered, \"A stranger. Oh, do help me!\" Again a voice came through the\ndarkness, \"How did you get in there?\"\n\nAnd I feebly replied, \"I have lost my way.\" I heard the one say to the\nother, \"I will go and get him out, whoever he may be. We must not leave\nhim there; he'll be dead before the morning. As you pass by our door,\ntell my wife that I'm helping some poor creature out of the swamp, and\nwill be home immediately.\"\n\nHe kept calling to me, and I answering his call through the darkness,\ntill, not without peril, he managed to reach and aid me. Once I was\nsafely dragged out, he got my bag in his hand and slung my clubs on his\nshoulder, and in a very short time landed me at the farm, dripping and\ndirty and cold. Had God not sent that man to save me, I must have\nperished there, as many others have similarly perished before. The\nfarmer's wife heartily welcomed me and kindly ministered to all my\nneeds. Though not yet gone to rest, they had given up all hope of seeing\nme. I heard the kind servant say to his mistress, \"I don't know where he\ncame from, or how far he has carried his bundles; but I got him stuck\nfast in the swamp, and my shoulder is already sore from carrying his\nclubs!\"\n\nA cup of warm tea restored me. The Lord gave me a sound and blessed\nsleep. I rose next morning wonderfully refreshed, though arms and\nshoulders were rather sore with the burdens of yesterday. I conducted\nthree Services, and told the story of my Mission, not without comfort\nand blessing; and with gratifying results in money. The people gave\nliberally to the work.\n\nThereafter, a Schoolmaster drove me a long distance across the country\nto Violet Town, where for the night we had to stay at an Inn. We had a\ntaste of what Australian life really was, when the land was being broken\nin. A company of wild and reckless men were carousing there at the time,\nand our arrival was the signal for an outbreak of malicious mischief. A\npowerful fellow, who turned out to be a young Medical, rushed upon me as\nI left the conveyance, seized me by the throat, and shook me roughly,\nshouting, \"A parson! a parson! I will do for the parson!\"\n\nOthers with great difficulty relieved me from his grip, and dragged him\naway, cursing as if at his mortal enemy.\n\nAfter tea, we got into the only bedroom in the house, available for two.\nThe Teacher and I locked ourselves in and barricaded the door, hearing\nin the next room a large party of drunken men gambling and roaring over\ntheir cards. By and by they quarreled and fought; they smashed in and\nout of their room, and seemed to be murdering each other; every moment\nwe expected our door to come crashing in, as they were thrown or lurched\nagainst it. Their very language made us tremble. One man in particular\nseemed to be badly abused; he shouted that they were robbing him of his\nmoney; and he groaned and cried for protection, all in vain. We spent a\nsleepless and most miserable night. At four in the morning I arose, and\nwas glad to get away by the early coach. My friend also left in his own\nconveyance, and reached his home in safety. At that period, it was not\nonly painful but dangerous for any decent traveler to stay at many of\nthese wayside Inns in the new and rough country. Every man lived and\nacted just as he pleased, doing that which was right to his own eyes;\nand Might was Right.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLVII.\nAMONGST SQUATTERS AND DIGGERS.\n\nAFTER this, I made a Mission tour, in a somewhat mixed and original\nfashion, right across the Colony of Victoria, from Albury in New South\nWales to Mount Gambier in South Australia. I conducted Mission Services\nalmost every day, and three or more every Sabbath, besides visiting all\nSunday Schools that could be touched on the way. When I reached a\ngold-digging or township, where I had been unable to get any one to\nannounce a meeting, the first thing I did on arriving was to secure some\nChurch or Hall, and, failing that, to fix on some suitable spot in the\nopen air. Then, I was always able to hire some one to go round with the\nbell, and announce the meeting. Few will believe how large were the\naudiences in this way gathered together, and how very substantial was\nthe help that thereby came to the Mission fund.\n\nWheresover railway, steamboat, and coach were available, I always used\nthem; but failing these, I hired, or was obliged to friends of Missions\nfor driving me from place to place. On this tour, having reached a\ncertain place, from which my way lay for many miles across the country,\nwhere there was no public conveyance, I walked to the nearest squatter's\nStation and frankly informed the owner how I was situated; that I could\nnot hire, and that I would like to stay at his house all night, if he\nwould kindly send me on in the morning by any sort of trap to the next\nStation on my list. He happened to be a good Christian and a\nPresbyterian, and gave me a right cordial welcome. A meeting of his\nservants was called, which I had the pleasure of addressing. Next\nmorning, he gave me L20, and sent me forward with his own conveyance,\ntelling me to retain it all day, if necessary.\n\nOn reaching the next squatter's Station, I found the master also at\nhome, and said, \"I am a Missionary from the South Sea Islands. I am\ncrossing Victoria to plead the cause of the Mission. I would like to\nrest here for an hour or two. Could you kindly send me on to the next\nStation by your conveyance? If not, I am to keep the last squatter's\nbuggy, until I reach it.\"\n\nLooking with a queer smile at me, he replied, \"You propose a rather\nnovel condition on which to rest at my house! My horses are so employed\nto-day, I fear that I may have difficulty in sending you on. But come\nin; both you and your horses need rest; and my wife will be glad to see\nyou.\"\n\nI immediately discovered that the good lady came from Glasgow, from a\nstreet in which I had lodged when a student at the Free Normal College.\nI even knew some of her friends. All the places of her youthful\nassociations were equally familiar to me. We launched out into\ndeeply-interesting conversation, which finally led up, of course, to the\nstory of our Mission.\n\nThe gentleman, by this time, had so far been won that he slipped out and\nsent my conveyance and horses back to their owner, and ordered his own\nto be ready to take me to the next Station, or, if need be, to the next\nagain. At parting, the lady said to her husband, \"The Missionary has\nasked no money, though he sees we have been deeply interested; yet\nclearly that is the object of his tour. He is the first Missionary from\nthe Heathen that ever visited us here; and you must contribute something\nto his Mission fund.\"\n\nI thanked her, explaining, \"I never ask money directly from any person\nfor the Lord's work. My part is done when I have told my story and shown\nthe needs of the Heathen and the claims of Christ; but I gratefully\nreceive all that the Lord moves His people to give for the Mission.\"\n\nHer husband replied, rather sharply, \"You know I don't keep money here.\"\nTo which she retorted with ready tact and with a resistless smile, \"But\nyou keep a check-book; and your check is as good as gold! This is the\nfirst donation we ever gave to such a cause, and let it be a good one.\"\nHe made it indeed handsome, and I went on my way, thanking them very\nsincerely, and thanking God.\n\nAt the next Station, the owner turned out to be a gruff Irishman,\nforbidding and insolent. Stating my case to him as to the others, he\nshouted at me, \"Go on! I don't want to be troubled with the loikes o'\nyou here.\"\n\nI answered, \"I am sorry if my coming troubles you; but I wish you every\nblessing in Christ Jesus. Good-by!\"\n\nAs we drove off, he kept growling after us. On leaving his door, I heard\na lady calling to him from the window, \"Don't let that Missionary go\naway! Make haste and call him back. I want the children to see the idols\nand the South Sea curios.\"\n\nAt first he drowned her appeal in his own shoutings. But she must have\npersisted effectually; for shortly we heard him \"coo-ee-ing,\" and\nstopped. When he came up to us, he explained, \"That lady in my house\nheard you speaking in Melbourne. The ladies and children are very\nanxious to see your idols, dresses, and weapons. Will you please come\nback?\"\n\nWe did so. I spent fifteen minutes or so, giving them information about\nthe Natives and our Mission. As I left, our boisterous friend handed me\na check for L5, and wished me great success.\n\nThe next Station at which we arrived was one of the largest of all. It\nhappened to be a sort of payday, and men were assembled from all parts\nof the \"run,\" and were to remain there over night. The squatter and his\nfamily were from home; but Mr. Todd, the overseer, being a good\nChristian and a Scotchman, was glad to receive us, arranged to hold a\nmeeting that evening in the men's hut, and promised to set me forward on\nmy journey next day. The meeting was very enthusiastic; and they\nsubscribed L20 to the Mission--every man being determined to have so\nmany shares in the new Mission Ship. With earnest personal dealing, I\nurged the claims of the Lord Jesus upon all who were present, seeking\nthe salvation of every hearer. I ever found even the rough digger, and\nthe lowest of the hands about far-away Stations, most attentive and\nperfectly respectful.\n\nA lively and memorable extemporized meeting on this tour is associated\nin memory with one of my dearest friends. The district was very remote.\nHe, the squatter, and his beloved wife were sterling Christians, and\nhave been ever since warmly devoted to me. On my arrival, he invited the\npeople from all the surrounding Stations, as well as his own numerous\nservants, to hear the story of our Mission. Next day he volunteered to\ndrive me a long distance over the plains of St. Arnaud, his dear wife\naccompanying us. At that time there were few fences in such districts in\nAustralia. The drive was long, but the day had been lovely, and the\nfellowship was so sweet that it still shines a sunny spot in the fields\nof memory.\n\nHaving reached our destination about seven o'clock, he ordered tea at\nthe Inn for the whole party; and we sallied out meantime and took the\nonly Hall in the place, for an extemporized meeting to be held that\nevening at eight o'clock. I then hired a man to go through the township\nwith a bell, announcing the same; while I myself went up one side of the\nmain street, and my friend up the other, inviting all who would listen\nto us to attend the Mission meeting where South Sea Islands idols,\nweapons, and dresses would be exhibited, and stories of the Natives\ntold.\n\nRunning back for a hurried cup of tea, I then hasted to the Hall, and\nfound it crowded to excess with rough and boisterous diggers. The hour\nstruck as I was getting my articles arranged and spread out upon the\ntable, and they began shouting, \"Where's the Missionary?\"--\"Another\nhoax!\"--indicating that they were not unwilling for a row. I learned\nthat, only a few nights ago, a so-called Professor had advertised a\nlecture, lifted entrance money till the Hall was crowded, and then\nquietly slipped off the scene. In our case, though there was no charge,\nthey seemed disposed to gratify themselves by some sort of promiscuous\nrevenge.\n\nAmidst the noisy chaff and rising uproar, I stepped up on the table, and\nsaid, \"Gentlemen, I am the Missionary. If you will now be silent, the\nlecture will proceed. According to my usual custom, let us open the\nmeeting with prayer.\"\n\nThe hush that fell was such a contrast to the preceding hubbub, that I\nheard my heart throbbing aloud! Then they listened to me for an hour, in\nperfect silence and with ever-increasing interest. At the close I\nintimated that I asked no collection; but if, after what they had heard,\nthey would take a Collecting Card for the new Mission Ship, and send any\ncontributions to the Treasurer at Melbourne, I would praise God for\nsending me amongst them. Many were heartily taken, and doubtless some\nsouls felt the \"constraining love,\" who had till then been living\nwithout God.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLVIII.\nJOHN GILPIN IN THE BUSH.\n\nTHE crowning adventure of my tour in Australia came about in the\nfollowing manner. I was advertised to conduct Services at Narracoort on\nSabbath, and at a Station on the way on Saturday evening. But how to get\nfrom Penola was a terrible perplexity. On Saturday morning, however, a\nyoung lady offered me, out of gratitude for blessings received, the use\nof her riding horse for the journey. \"Garibaldi\" was his name; and,\nthough bred for a race-horse, I was assured that if I kept him firmly in\nhand, he would easily carry me over the two-and-twenty miles. He was to\nbe left at the journey's end, and the lady herself would fetch him back.\nI shrank from the undertaking, knowing little of horses, and having\nvague recollections of being dreadfully punished for more than a week\nafter my last and almost only ride. But every one in that country is\nquite at ease on the back of a horse. They saw no risk; and, as there\nappeared no other way of getting there to fulfil my engagements, I, for\nmy part, began to think that God had unexpectedly provided the means,\nand that He would carry me safely through.\n\nI accepted the lady's kind offer, and started on my pilgrimage. A friend\nshowed me the road, and gave me ample directions. In the bush, I was to\nkeep my eye on the notches in the trees, and follow them. He agreed\nkindly to bring my luggage to the Station, and leave it there for me by\nand by. After I had walked very quietly for some distance, three\ngentlemen on horseback overtook me. We entered into conversation. They\ninquired how far I was going, and advised me to sit a little \"freer\" in\nthe saddle, as it would be so much easier for me. They seemed greatly\namused at my awkward riding! Dark clouds were now gathering ahead, and\nthe atmosphere prophesied a severe storm; therefore they urged that I\nshould ride a little faster, as they, for a considerable distance, could\nguide me on the right way. I explained to them my plight through\ninexperience, said that I could only creep on slowly with safety, and\nbade them Good-by. As the sky was getting darker every minute, they\nconsented, wishing me a safe journey, and started off at a smart pace.\n\nI struggled to hold in my horse; but seizing the bit with his teeth,\nlaying back his ears, and stretching out his eager neck, he manifestly\nfelt that his honor was at stake; and in less time than I take to write\nit, the three friends cleared a way for us, and he tore past them all at\nan appalling speed. They tried for a time to keep within reach of us,\nbut that sound only put fire into his blood; and in an incredibly short\ntime I heard them not; nor, from the moment that he bore me swinging\npast them, durst I turn my head by one inch to look for them again. In\nvain I tried to hold him in; he tore on, with what appeared to me the\nspeed of the wind. Then the thunderstorm broke around us, with flash of\nlightning and flood of rain, and at every fresh peal my \"Garibaldi\"\ndashed more wildly onward.\n\nTo me, it was a vast surprise to discover that I could sit more easily\non this wild flying thing than when at a canter or a trot. At every turn\nI expected that he would dash himself and me against the great forest\ntrees; but instinct rather than my hand guided him miraculously.\nSometimes I had a glimpse of the road, but as for the \"notches,\" I never\nsaw one of them; we passed them with lightning speed. Indeed, I durst\nnot lift my eyes for one moment from watching the horse's head and the\ntrees on our track. My high-crowned hat was now drenched, and battered\nout of shape; for whenever we came to a rather clear space, I seized the\nchance and gave it another knock down over my head. I was spattered and\ncovered with mud and mire.\n\nCrash, crash, went the thunder, and on, on, went \"Garibaldi\" through the\ngloom of the forest, emerging at length upon a clearer ground with a\nmore visible pathway. Reaching the top of the slope, a large house stood\nout far in front of us to the left; and the horse had apparently\ndetermined to make straight for that, as if it were his home. He skirted\nalong the hill, and took the track as his own familiar ground, all my\neffort to hold him in or guide him having no more effect than that of a\nchild. By this time, I suspect, I really had lost all power. \"Garibaldi\"\nhad been at that house, probably frequently before; he knew those\nstables; and my fate seemed to be instant death against door or wall.\n\nSome members of the family, on the outlook for the Missionary, saw us\ncome tearing along as if mad or drunk; and now all rushed to the\nveranda, expecting some dread catastrophe. A tall and stout young groom,\namazed at our wild career, throwing wide open the gate, seized the\nbridle at great risk to himself, and ran full speed, yet holding back\nwith all his might, and shouting to me to do the same. We\nsucceeded--\"Garibaldi\" having probably attained his purpose--in bringing\nhim to a halt within a few paces of the door. Staring at me with open\nmouth, the man exclaimed, \"I have saved your life. What madness to ride\nlike that!\" Thanking him, though I could scarcely by this time\narticulate a word, I told him that the horse had run away, and that I\nhad lost all control.\n\nTruly I was in a sorry plight, drenched, covered with mud, and my hat\nbattered down over my eyes; little wonder they thought me drunk or mad!\nFinally, as if to confirm every suspicion, and amuse them all,--for\nmaster, mistress, governess, and children now looked on from the\nveranda,--when I was helped off the horse, I could not stand on my feet!\nMy head still went rushing on in the race; I staggered, and down I\ntumbled into the mud, feeling chagrin and mortification; yet there I had\nto sit for some time, before I recovered myself, so as either to rise or\nto speak a word. When I did get to my feet, I had to stand holding by\nthe veranda for some time, my head still rushing on in the race. At\nlength the master said, \"Will you not come in?\"\n\nI knew that he was treating me for a drunken man; and the giddiness was\nso dreadful still, that my attempts at speech seemed more drunken than\neven my gait.\n\nAs soon as I could stand, I went into the house, and drew near to an\nexcellent fire in my dripping clothes. The squatter sat opposite me in\nsilence, reading the newspapers, and taking a look at me now and again\nover his spectacles. By and by he remarked, \"Wouldn't it be worth while\nto change your clothes?\"\n\nSpeech was now returning to me. I replied, \"Yes, but my bag is coming on\nin the cart, and may not be here to-night.\"\n\nHe began to relent. He took me into a room, and laid out for me a suit\nof his own. I being then very slender, and he a big-framed farmer, my\nnew dress, though greatly adding to my comfort, enhanced the singularity\nof my appearance!\n\nReturning to him, washed and dressed, I inquired if he had arranged for\na meeting? My tongue, I fear, was still unsteady, for the squatter\nlooked at me rather reproachfully, and said, \"Do you really consider\nyourself fit to appear before a meeting to-night?\"\n\nI assured him he was quite wrong in his suspicions, that I was a\nlife-long Abstainer, and that my nerves had been so unhinged by the\nterrible ride and runaway horse. He smiled rather suggestively, and said\nwe would see how I felt after tea.\n\nWe went to the table. All that had occurred was now consummated by my\nappearing in the lusty farmer's clothes; and the lady and other friends\nhad infinite difficulty in keeping their amusement within decent bounds.\nI again took speech in hand, but I suspect my words had still the\nthickness of the tippler's utterance, for they seemed not to carry much\nconviction, \"Dear friends, I quite understand your feelings; appearances\nare so strangely against me. But I am not drunken, as ye suppose. I have\ntasted no intoxicating drink, I am a life-long Total Abstainer!\"\n\nThis fairly broke down their reserve. They laughed aloud, looking at\neach other and at me, as if to say, \"Man, you're drunk at this very\nmoment.\"\n\nBefore tea was over they appeared, however, to begin to entertain the\nidea that I _might_ address the meeting; and so I was informed of the\narrangements that had been made. At the meeting, my incredulous friends\nbecame very deeply interested. Manifestly their better thoughts were\ngaining the ascendency. And they heaped thereafter every kindness upon\nme, as if to make amends for harder suspicions.\n\nNext morning the master drove me about ten miles farther on to the\nChurch. A groom rode the racehorse, who took no scathe from his\nthundering gallop of the day before. It left deeper traces upon me. I\ngot through the Services, however, and with good returns for the\nMission. Twice since, on my Mission tours, I have found myself at that\nsame memorable house; and on each occasion, a large company of friends\nwere regaled by the good lady there with very comical descriptions of my\nfirst arrival at her door.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLIX.\nTHE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA.\n\nDETAINED for nearly a week at Balmoral by the breakdown of the coach on\nthese dreadful roads, I telegraphed to Hamilton for a conveyance; and\nthe Superintendent of the Sunday School, dear Mr. Laidlaw, volunteered,\nin order to reduce expenses, to spend one day of his precious time\ncoming for me, and another driving me down. While awaiting him, I came\ninto painful and memorable contact with the Aborigines of Australia. The\nPublicans had organized a day of sports, horse-racing, and circus\nexhibitions. Immense crowds assembled, and, amongst the rest, tribe\nafter tribe of the Aborigines from all the surrounding country. Despite\nthe law prohibiting the giving of strong drinks to these poor creatures,\nfoolish and unprincipled dealers supplied them with the same, and the\nvery blankets which the Government had given them were freely exchanged\nfor the fire-water which kindled them to madness.\n\nNext day was the Sabbath. The morning was hideous with the yells of the\nfighting savages. They tore about on the Common in front of the Church,\nleading gentlemen having tried in vain to quiet them, and their wild\nvoices without jarred upon the Morning Service. About two o'clock, I\ntried to get into conversation with them. I appealed to them whether\nthey were not all tired and hungry? They replied that they had had no\nfood all that day; they had fought since the morning! I said, \"I love\nyou, black fellows. I go Missionary black fellows far away. I love you,\nwant you rest, get food. Come all of you, rest, sit round me, and we\nwill talk, till the _Jins_ (=women) get ready tea. They boil water, and\nI take tea with you, and then you will be strong!\"\n\nBy broken English and by many symbols, I won their ear. They produced\ntea and _damper, i. e._ a rather forbidding-looking bread, without\nyeast, baked on the coals. Their wives hasted to boil water. I kept\nincessantly talking, to interest them, and told them how Jesus, God's\ndear Son, came and died to make them happy, and how He grieved to see\nthem beating and fighting and killing each other.\n\nWhen the tea was ready we squatted on the green grass, their tins were\nfilled, the _damper_ was broken into lumps, and I asked the blessing of\nGod on the meal. To me it was unpleasant eating! Many of them looked\nstrong and healthy; but not a few were weak and dying creatures. The\nstrong, devouring all they could get, urged me to be done, and let them\nfinish their fighting, eager for the fray. But having gained their\nconfidence, I prayed with them, and thereafter said, \"Now, before I\nleave, I will ask of you to do one thing for my sake, which you can all\neasily do.\" With one voice they replied, \"Yes, we all do whatever you\nsay.\"\n\nI got their leaders to promise to me one by one. I then said, \"Now you\nhave got your tea; and I ask every man and boy among you to lie down in\nthe bush and take a sleep, and your wives will sit by and watch over\nyour safety!\"\n\nIn glum silence, their war weapons still grasped in their hands, they\nstood looking intently at me, doubting whether I could be in earnest. I\nurged then, \"You all promised to do what I asked. If you break your\npromise, these white men will laugh at me, and say that black fellows\nonly lie and deceive. Let them see that you can be trusted. I wait here\ntill I see you all asleep.\"\n\nOne said that his head was cut, and he must have revenge before he could\nlie down. Others filed past showing their wounds, and declaring that it\nwas too bad to request them to go to sleep. I praised them as far as I\ncould, but urged them for once to be men and to keep their word.\nFinally, they all agreed to lie down, I waiting till the last man had\ndisappeared; and being doubly exhausted with the debauch and the\nfighting, they were soon all fast asleep. I prayed that the blessed\nSleep might lull their savage passions.\n\nBefore daylight next morning, the Minister and I were hastening to the\nscene to prevent further fighting; but as the sun was rising we saw the\nlast tribe of the distant Natives disappearing over the brow of a hill.\nA small party belonging to the district alone remained. They shouted to\nus, \"Black fellows all gone! No more fight. You too much like black\nfellow!\"\n\nFor three days afterwards I had still to linger there; and if their dogs\nran or barked at me, the women chased them with sticks and stones, and\nprotected me. One little touch of kindness and sympathy had unlocked\ntheir darkened hearts.\n\nWho wonders that the _dark_ races melt away before the _whites?_ The\npioneers of Civilization _will_ carry with them this demon of strong\ndrink, the fruitful parent of every other vice. The black people drink,\nand become unmanageable; and through the white man's own poison-gift, an\nexcuse is found for sweeping the poor creatures off the face of the\nearth. Marsden's writings show how our Australian blacks are destroyed.\nBut I have myself been on the track of such butcheries again and again.\nA Victorian lady told me the following incident. She heard a child's\npitiful cry in the bush. On tracing it, she found a little girl weeping\nover her younger brother. She said, \"The white men poisoned our father\nand mother. They threaten to shoot me, so that I dare not go near them,\nI am here, weeping over my brother till we die!\"\n\nThe compassionate lady promised to be a mother to the little sufferers,\nand to protect them. They instantly clung to her, and have proved\nthemselves to be loving and dutiful ever since.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER L.\nNORA.\n\nWHILE I was pondering over Kingsley's words,--about the blacks of\nAustralia being \"poor brutes in human shape,\" and too low to take in the\nGospel,--the story of Nora, an Aboriginal Christian woman, whom I myself\nactually visited and corresponded with, was brought under my notice, as\nif to shatter to pieces everything that the famous preacher had\nproclaimed. A dear friend told me how he had seen Nora encamped with the\nblacks near Hexham in Victoria. Her husband had lost, through drink,\ntheir once comfortable home at a Station where he was employed. The\nchange back to life in camp had broken her health, and she lay sick on\nthe ground within a miserable hut. The visitors found her reading a\nBible, and explaining to a number of her own poor people the wonders of\nredeeming love. My friend, Roderick Urquhart, Esq., overcome by the\nsight, said, \"Nora, I am grieved to see you here, and deprived of every\ncomfort in your sickness.\"\n\nShe answered, not without tears, \"The change has indeed made me unwell;\nbut I am beginning to think that this too is far the best; it has at\nlast brought my poor husband to his senses, and I will grudge nothing if\nGod thereby brings him to the Saviour's feet!\"\n\nShe further explained that she had found wonderful joy in telling her\nown people about the true God and His Son Jesus, and was quite assured\nthat the Lord in His own way would send her relief. The visitors who\naccompanied Mr. Urquhart showed themselves to be greatly affected by the\ntrue and pure Christian spirit of this poor Aboriginal, and on parting\nshe said, \"Do not think that I like this miserable hut, or the food, or\nthe company: but I am and have been happy in trying to do good amongst\nmy people.\"\n\nFor my part, let that dear Christlike soul look out on me from her\nAboriginal hut, and I will trample under foot all teachings or\ntheorizings that dare to say that she or her kind are but poor brutes,\nas mere blasphemies against Human Nature! \"I thank thee, O Father, Lord\nof Heaven and Earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and\nprudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.\"\n\nIt is easy to understand how even experienced travelers may be deluded\nto believe that the Aborigines have no idols and no religion. One must\nhave lived amongst them or their kindred ere he can authoritatively\ndecide these questions. Before I left Melbourne, for instance, I had met\nNathaniel Pepper, a converted Aboriginal from Wimmera. I asked him if\nhis people had any \"Doctors,\" _i. e._ Sacred Men or priests. He said\nthey had. I inquired if they had any objects of Worship, or any belief\nin God? He said, \"No! None whatever.\"\n\nBut on taking from my pocket some four small stone idols, his expression\nshowed at once that he recognized them as objects of Worship. He had\nseen the Sacred Men use them; but he refused to answer any more\nquestions. I resolved now, if possible, to secure some of their idols,\nand set this whole problem once for all at rest.\n\nAt Newstead, on another occasion, I persuaded a whole camp of the\nAborigines to come to my meeting. After the address, they waited to\nexamine the idols and stone gods which I had shown. Some of the young\nmen admitted that their \"doctors\" had things like these, which they and\nthe old people prayed to; but they added jauntily, \"We young fellows\ndon't worship; we know too much for that!\" No \"doctors\" were, however,\nin that camp; so I could not meet with them; but I already felt that the\ntestimony of nearly all white people that the \"blacks\" had \"no idols and\nno worship\" was quickly crumbling away.\n\nOn returning to Horsham, from a visit to a great camp of the blacks at\nWonwondah, and having purchased, in the presence of witnesses, specimens\nof their idols from the Doctor or Sacred Man of these tribes, I informed\nmy dear friends, Rev. P. Simpson and his excellent lady, of my exploits\nand possessions. He replied, \"There is a black 'doctor' gone round our\nhouse just now to see one of his people who is washing here to-day. Let\nus go and test them, whether they know these objects.\"\n\nCarrying them in his hand, we went to them. The woman instantly on\nperceiving them dropped what she was washing, and turned away in\ninstinctive terror. Mr. Simpson asked, \"Have you ever before seen stones\nlike these?\"\n\nThe wily \"doctor\" replied, \"Plenty on the plains, where I kick them out\nof my way.\"\n\nTaking others out of my pocket, I said, \"These make people sick and\nwell, don't they?\"\n\nHis rage overcame his duplicity, and he exclaimed, \"What black fellow\ngive you these? If I know him I do for him!\"\n\nThe woman, looking the picture of terror, and pointing to one of the\nobjects, cried, \"That fellow no good! he kill men. No good, no good! Me\ntoo much afraid.\"\n\nThen, looking at me, she said, pointing with her finger, \"That fellow\nsavvy (knows) too much! No white man see them. He no good.\"\n\nThere was more in this scene and in all its surroundings, than in many\narguments; and Mr. Simpson thoroughly believed that these were objects\nof idolatrous worship.\n\nAnd now let me relate the story of my visit to Nora, the converted\nAboriginal referred to above. Accompanied by Robert Hood, Esq., J. P.,\nVictoria, I found my way to the encampment near Hexham. She did not know\nof our coming, nor see us till we stood at the door of her hut. She was\nclean and tidily dressed, as were also her dear little children, and\nappeared glad to see us. She had just been reading the _Presbyterian\nMessenger_, and the Bible was lying at her elbow. I said, \"Do you read\nthe _Messenger_?\"\n\nShe replied, \"Yes; I like to know what is going on in the Church.\"\n\nWe found her to be a sensible and humble Christian woman, conversing\nintelligently about religion and serving God devotedly. Next Sabbath she\nbrought her husband, her children, and six blacks to church, all\ndecently dressed, and they all listened most attentively.\n\nAt our first meeting I said, \"Nora, they tell me you are a Christian. I\nwant to ask you a few questions about the blacks; and I hope that as a\nChristian you will speak the truth.\" Rather hurt at my language, she\nraised her right hand, and replied, \"I am a Christian. I fear and serve\nthe true God. I always speak the truth.\"\n\nTaking from my pocket the stone idols from the Islands, I inquired if\nher people had or worshipped things like these. She replied, \"The\n'doctors' have them.\"\n\n\"Have you a 'doctor' in your camp?\" I asked. She said, \"Yes, my uncle is\nthe Sacred Man; but he is now far away from this.\"\n\n\"Has he the idols with him now?\" I inquired. She answered, \"No; they are\nleft in my care.\"\n\nI then said, \"Could you let us see them?\"\n\nShe consulted certain representatives of the tribe who were at hand.\nThey rose, and removed to a distance. They had consented. Mr. Hood\nassured me that no fault would be found with her, as she was the real,\nor at least virtual head of the tribe. Out of a larger bag she then drew\ntwo smaller bags, and opened them. They were filled with the very\nobjects which I had brought from the Islands. I asked her to consult the\nmen of her tribe whether they would agree to sell four or five of them\nto me, that I might by them convince the white people that they had gods\nof their own, and are, therefore, above the brutes of the field; the\nmoney to be given to their Sacred Man on his return. This, also, after a\ntime was agreed to. I selected three of the objects, and paid the\nstipulated price. And I have the recorded testimony of \"Robert Hood, J.\nP., Hexham, Victoria, 28th February, 1863,\" certifying on his honor all\nthat I am here affirming.\n\nMr. Hood asked Nora how he had never heard of or seen these things\nbefore, living so long amongst them, and blacks constantly coming and\ngoing about his house. She replied, \"Long ago white men laughed at black\nfellows praying to their idols. Black fellows said, white men never see\nthem again! Suppose this white man not know all about them, he would not\nnow see them. No white men live now have seen what you have seen.\"\n\nThus it has been demonstrated on the spot, and in presence of the most\nreliable witnesses, that the Aborigines, before they saw the white\ninvaders, were not \"brutes\" incapable of knowing God, but human beings,\nyearning after a God of some kind. Nor do I believe that any tribe of\nmen will ever be found, who, when their language and customs are rightly\ninterpreted, will not display their consciousness of the need of a God,\nand that Divine capacity of holding fellowship with the Unseen Powers,\nof which the brutes are without one faintest trace.\n\nPoor, dear, Christian-hearted Nora! The Christ-spirit shines forth\nunmistakably through thee,--praying for and seeking to save husband and\nchildren, enduring trials and miseries by the aid of communion with thy\nLord, weeping over the degradation of thy people, and seeking to lift\nthem up by telling them of the true God and of His love to Mankind\nthrough Jesus Christ.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LI.\nBACK TO SCOTLAND.\n\nEACH of my Australian Committees strongly urged my return to Scotland,\nchiefly to secure, if possible, more Missionaries for the New Hebrides.\nDr. Inglis, just arrived from Britain, where he had the Aneityumese New\nTestament carried through the press, also zealously enforced this\nappeal.\n\nConstrained by what appeared to me the Voice of God, I sailed for London\nin the _Kosciusko_, an Aberdeen clipper, on the 17th May, 1863. Captain\nStuart made the voyage most enjoyable to all. The Rev. Mr. Stafford,\nfriend of the good Bishop Selwyn and tutor to his son, conducted along\nwith myself, alternately, an Anglican and a Presbyterian Service. We\npassed through a memorable thunder-burst in rounding the Cape. Our good\nship was perilously struck by lightning. The men on deck were thrown\nviolently down. The copper in the bulwarks was twisted and melted--a\nspecimen of which the Captain gave me and I still retain. When the ball\nof fire struck the ship, those of us sitting on chairs, screwed to the\nfloor around the cabin table, felt as if she were plunging to the\nbottom. When she sprang aloft again, a military man and a medical\nofficer were thrown heavily into the back passage between the cabins,\nthe screws that held their seats having snapped asunder. I, in grasping\nthe table, got my leg severely bruised, being jammed betwixt the seat\nand the table, and had to be carried to my berth. All the men were\nattended to, and quickly recovered consciousness; and immediately the\ngood Captain, an elder of the Church, came to me, and said, \"Lead us in\nprayer, and let us thank the Lord for this most merciful deliverance;\nthe ship is not on fire, and no one is seriously injured!\"\n\nPoor fellow! whether hastened on by this event I know not, but he\nstruggled for three weeks thereafter in a fever, and it took our united\ncare and love to pull him through. The Lord, however, restored him; and\nwe cast anchor safely in the East India Docks, at London, on 26th\nAugust, 1863, having been three months and ten days at sea from port to\nport.\n\nIt was 5.30 P. M. when we cast anchor, and the gates closed at 6\no'clock. My little box was ready on deck. The Custom House officers\nkindly passed me, and I was immediately on my way to Euston Square.\nNever before had I been within the Great City, and doubtless I could\nhave enjoyed its palaces and memorials. But the King's business\nentrusted to me, \"required haste,\" and I felt constrained to press\nforward, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left.\n\nAt nine o'clock that evening, I left for Scotland by train. Next\nmorning, about the same hour, I reported myself at the manse of the Rev.\nJohn Kay, Castle Douglas, the Convener of the Foreign Mission Committee\nof the Reformed Presbyterian Church, to which I then belonged. We\narranged for a meeting of said Committee, at earliest practicable date,\nthat my scheme and plans might at once be laid before them.\n\nBy the next train I was on my way to Dumfries, and thence by conveyance\nto my dear old home at Torthorwald. There I had a Heavenly Welcome from\nmy saintly parents, yet not unmixed with many fast-falling tears. Five\nbrief years only had elapsed, since I went forth from their Sanctuary,\nwith my young bride; and now, alas! alas! that grave on Tanna held\nmother and son locked in each other's embrace till the Resurrection Day.\n\nNot less glowing, but more terribly agonizing, was my reception, a few\ndays thereafter, at Coldstream, when I first gazed on the bereaved\nfather and mother of my beloved; who, though godly people, were\nconscious of a heart-break under that stroke, from which through their\nremaining years they never fully rallied. They murmured not against the\nLord; but all the same, heart and flesh began to faint and fail, even as\nour Divine Exemplar Himself fainted under the Cross, which yet He so\nuncomplainingly bore.\n\nThe Foreign Mission Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church met in\nEdinburgh, and welcomed me kindly, nay, warmly. A full report of all my\ndoings for the past, and of all my plans and hopes, was laid before\nthem. They at once agreed to my visiting and addressing every\nCongregation and Sabbath School in the Church. They opened to me their\nDivinity Hall, that I might appeal to the Students. My Address there was\npublished and largely circulated, under the motto--\"Come over and help\nus.\" It was used of God to deepen vastly the interest in our Mission.\n\nThe Committee generously and enthusiastically did everything in their\npower to help me. By their influence, the Church in 1864 conferred on me\nthe undesired and undeserved honor, the highest which they could\nconfer--the honor of being the Moderator of their Supreme Court. No one\ncan understand how much I shrank from all this; but, in hope of the\nLord's using it and me to promote His work amongst the Heathen, I\naccepted the Chair, though, I fear, only to occupy it most unworthily,\nfor Tanna gave me little training for work like that!\n\nI have ever regarded it as a privilege and honor that I was born and\ntrained within the old covenanting Reformed Presbyterian Church of\nScotland. As a separate Communion, that Church was small amongst the\nthousands of Israel; but the principles of Civil and Religious Liberty\nfor which her founders suffered and died are, at this moment, the heart\nand soul of all that is best and divinest in the Constitution of our\nBritish Empire. I am more proud that the blood of Martyrs is in my\nveins, and their truths in my heart, than other men can be of noble\npedigree or royal names.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LII.\nTOUR THROUGH THE OLD COUNTRY.\n\nMy tour through Scotland brought me into contact with every Minister,\nCongregation, and Sabbath School in the Church of my fathers. They were\nnever at any time a rich people, but they were always liberal. At this\ntime they contributed beyond all previous experience, both in money and\nin boxes of useful articles for the Islanders.\n\nUnfortunately, my visit to the far North, to our Congregations at Wick\nand Stromness, had been arranged for the month of January; and thereby a\nsore trial befell me in my pilgrimages. The roads were covered with snow\nand ice. I reached Aberdeen and Wick by steamer from Edinburgh, and had\nto find my way thence to Thurso. The inside seats on the mail coach\nbeing all occupied, I had to take my place outside. The cold was\nintense, and one of my feet got bitten by the frost. The storm detained\nme nearly a week at Thurso, but feeling did not return to the foot.\n\nWe started, in a lull, by steamer for Stromness; but the storm burst\nagain, all were ordered below, and hatches and doors made fast. The\npassengers were mostly very rough, the place was foul with whisky and\ntobacco. I appealed to the Captain to let me crouch somewhere on deck\nand hold on as best I could. He shouted, \"I dare not! You'll be washed\noverboard.\"\n\nOn seeing my appealing look, he relented, directed his men to fasten a\ntarpaulin over me, and lash it and me to the mast, and there I lay till\nwe reached Stromness. The sea broke heavily and dangerously over the\nvessel. But the Captain, finding shelter for several hours under the lee\nof a headland, saved both the ship and the passengers. When at last we\nlanded, my foot was so benumbed and painful that I could move a step\nonly with greatest agony. Two meetings, however, were in some kind of\nway conducted; but the projected visit to Dingwall and other places had\nto be renounced, the snow lying too deep for any conveyance to carry me,\nand my foot crying aloud for treatment and skill.\n\nOn returning Southwards I was confined for about two months, and placed\nunder the best medical advice. All feeling seemed gradually to have\ndeparted from my foot; and amputation was seriously proposed both in\nEdinburgh and in Glasgow. Having somehow managed to reach Liverpool, my\ndear friend, the Rev. Dr. Graham, took me there to a Doctor who had\nwrought many wonderful recoveries by galvanism. Time after time he\napplied the battery, but I felt nothing. He declared that the power used\nwould \"have killed six ordinary men,\" and that he had never seen any\npart of the human body so dead to feeling on a live and healthy person.\nFinally, he covered it all over with a dark plaster, and told me to\nreturn in three days. But next day, the throbbing feeling of\ninsufferable coldness in the foot compelled me to return at once. After\nmy persistent appeals, he removed the plaster; and, to his great\nastonishment, the whole of the frosted part adhered to it! Again,\ndressing the remaining parts, he covered it with plaster as before, and\nassured me that with care and rest it would now completely recover. By\nthe blessing of the Lord it did, though it was a bitter trial to me\namidst all these growing plans to be thus crippled by the way; and to\nthis day I am sometimes warned in over-walking that the part is capable\nof many a painful twinge. And humbly I feel myself crooning over the\ngraphic words of the Greatest Missionary, \"I bear about in my body the\nmarks of the Lord Jesus.\"\n\nOn that tour, the Sabbath Schools joyfully adopted my scheme, and became\n\"Shareholders\" in the Mission Ship. It was thereafter ably developed by\nan elder of the Church. A _Dayspring_ collecting box found its way into\nalmost every family; and the returns from Scotland have yielded ever\nsince about L250 per annum, as their proportion for the expenses of the\nChildren's Mission Ship to the New Hebrides. The Church in Nova Scotia\nheartily accepted the same idea, and their Sabbath School children have\nregularly contributed their L250 per annum too. The Colonial children\nhave contributed the rest, throughout all these years, with unfailing\ninterest. And whensoever the true and full history of the South Sea\nIslands Mission is written for the edification of the Universal Church,\nlet it not be forgotten that the children of Australasia, and Nova\nScotia, and Scotland, did by their united pennies keep the _Dayspring_\nfloating in the New Hebrides; that the Missionaries and their families\nwere thereby supplied with the necessaries of life, and that the\nIslanders were thus taught to clothe themselves and to sit at the feet\nof Jesus. This was the Children's Holy League, erewhile referred to; and\none knows that on such a Union the Divine Master smiles well pleased.\n\nThe Lord also crowned this tour with another precious fruit of blessing,\nthough not all by any means due to my influence. Four new Missionaries\nvolunteered from Scotland, and three from Nova Scotia. By their aid we\nnot only re-claimed for Jesus the posts that had been abandoned, but we\ntook possession of other Islands in His most blessed Name. But I did not\nwait and take them out with me. They had matters to look into and to\nlearn about, that would be infinitely helpful to them in the Mission\nfield. Especially, and far above everything else in addition to their\nregular Clerical course, some Medical instruction was an absolute\nprerequisite. Every Missionary was urged to obtain all insight that was\npracticable at the Medical Mission Dispensary, and otherwise, especially\non lines known to be most requisite for these Islands. For this, and\nsimilar objects, all that I raised over and above what was required for\nthe _Dayspring_ was entrusted to the Foreign Mission Committee, that the\nnew Missionaries might be fully equipped, and their outfit and traveling\nexpenses be provided for without burdening the Church at home. Her\nresponsibilities were already large enough for her resources. But she\ncould give men, God's own greatest gift, and His people elsewhere gave\nthe money,--the Colonies and the Home Country thus binding themselves to\neach other in this Holy Mission of the Cross.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LIII.\nMARRIAGE AND FAREWELL.\n\nBUT I did not return alone. The dear Lord had brought to me one\nprepared, all unknown to either of us, by special culture, by godly\ntraining, by many gifts and accomplishments, and even by family\nassociations, to share my lot on the New Hebrides. Her brother had been\nan honored Missionary in the Foreign field, and had fallen asleep while\nthe dew of youth was yet upon him; her sister was the wife of a devoted\nMinister of our Church in Adelaide, both she and her husband being\nzealous promoters of our work; and her father had left behind him a\nfragrant memory through his many Christian works at Edinburgh, Kenneth,\nand Alloa, besides being not unknown to fame as the author of those\nstill popular books, _Whitecross's Anecdotes_, illustrative of the\nShorter Catechism and of the Holy Scriptures. Ere I left Scotland in\n1864, I was married to Margaret Whitecross, and God spares us to each\nother still (1892); and the family which He has been pleased in His love\nto grant unto us we have dedicated to His service, with the prayer and\nhope that He may use every one of them in spreading the Gospel\nthroughout the Heathen World.\n\nOur marriage was celebrated at her sister's house in Edinburgh; and I\nmay be pardoned for recalling a little event which characterized the\noccasion. My youngest brother, then tutor to a gentleman studying at the\nUniversity, stepped forth at the close of the ceremony and recited an\nEpithalamium composed for the day. For many a month and year the\nrefrain, a play upon the Bride's name, kept singing itself through my\nmemory:--\n\n\"Long may the _Whitecross_ banner wave,\nBy the battle blasts unriven;\nLong may our Brother and Sister brave\nRejoice in the light of Heaven.\"\n\nHe describes the Bride as hearing a \"Voice from the far Pacific Seas\";\nand turning to us both, he sang of an Angel \"beckoning us to the\nTanna-land,\" to gather a harvest of souls:--\n\n\"The warfare is brief, the crown is bright,\nThe pledge is the souls of men;\nGo, may the Lord defend the Right,\nAnd restore you safe again!\"\n\nBut the verse which my dear wife thought most beautiful for a bridal\nday, and which her memory cherishes still, was this:--\n\n\"May the ruddy Joys, and the Graces fair,\nWait fondly around you now;\nSweet angel Hopes and young Loves repair\nTo your home and bless your vow!\"\n\nMy last scene in Scotland was kneeling at the family altar in the old\nSanctuary Cottage at Torthorwald, while my venerable father, with his\nhigh-priestly locks of snow-white hair streaming over his shoulders,\ncommenced us once again to \"the care and keeping of the Lord God of the\nfamilies of Israel.\" It was the last time that ever on this Earth those\naccents of intercession, loaded with a pathos of deathless love, would\nfall upon my ears. I knew to a certainty that when we rose from our\nknees and said farewell, our eyes would never meet again till they were\nflooded with the lights of the Resurrection Day. But he and my darling\nmother gave us away once again with a free heart, not unpierced with the\nsword of human anguish, to the service of our common Lord and to the\nSalvation of the Heathen. And we went forth, praying that a double\nportion of their spirit, along with their precious blessing, might rest\nupon us in all the way that we had to go.\n\nOur beloved mother, always more self-restrained, and less demonstrative\nin the presence of others, held back her heart till we were fairly gone\nfrom the door; and then, as my dear brother afterward informed me, she\nfell back into his arms with a great cry, as if all the heart-strings\nhad broken, and lay for long in a deathlike swoon. Oh, all ye that read\nthis page, think most tenderly of the cries of Nature, even where Grace\nand Faith are in perfect triumph. Read, through scenes like these, a\nfuller meaning into the words addressed to that blessed Mother, whose\nSon was given for us all, \"Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own\nsoul also.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LIV.\nFIRST PEEP AT THE \"DAYSPRING.\"\n\nWE embarked at Liverpool for Australia in _The Crest o' the Wave_,\nCaptain Ellis; and, after what was then considered a fast passage of\nninety-five days, we landed at Sydney on 17th January, 1865. Within an\nhour we had to grapple with a new and amazing perplexity. The Captain of\nour _Dayspring_ came to inform me that his ship had arrived three days\nago and now lay in the stream,--that she had been to the Islands, and\nhad settled the Gordons, M'Cullaghs, and Morrisons on their several\nstations,--that she had left Halifax in Nova Scotia fourteen months ago,\nand that now, on arriving at Sydney, he could not get one penny of\nmoney, and that the crew were clamoring for their pay, etc. etc. He\ncontinued, \"Where shall I get money for current expenses? No one will\nlend unless we mortgage the _Dayspring_. I fear there is nothing before\nus but to sell her!\" I gave him L50 of my own to meet clamant demands,\nand besought him to secure me a day or two of delay that something might\nbe done.\n\nHaving landed, and been heartily welcomed by dear Dr. and Mrs. Moon and\nother friends, I went with a kind of trembling joy to have my first look\nat the _Dayspring_, like a sailor getting a first peep at the child born\nto him whilst far away on the sea. Some of the irritated ship's company\nstopped us by the way, and threatened prosecution and all sorts of\nannoyance. I could only urge again for a few days' patience. I found her\nto be a beautiful two-masted Brigantine, with a deck-house (added when\nshe first arrived at Melbourne), and every way suitable for our\nnecessities,--a thing of beauty, a white-winged Angel set a-floating by\nthe pennies of the children to bear the Gospel to these sin-darkened but\nsun-lit Southern Isles. To me she became a sort of living thing, the\nimpersonation of a living and throbbing love in the heart of thousands\nof \"shareholders\"; and I said, with a deep, indestructible faith,--\"The\nLord has provided--the Lord will provide.\"\n\nSince she sailed, L1400 had been expended; for present liabilities at\nleast L700 more were instantly required: and, at any rate, as large a\nsum to pay her way and meet expenses of next trip to the Islands. Having\nlaid our perplexing circumstances before our dear Lord Jesus, having\n\"spread out\" all the details in His sympathetic presence, pleading that\nthe Ship itself and the new Missionaries were all His own, not mine, I\ntold Him that this money was needed to do His own blessed work.\n\nOn Friday morning, I consulted friends of the Mission, but no help was\nvisible. I tried to borrow, but found that the lender demanded 20 per\ncent for interest, besides the title-deeds of the ship for security. I\napplied for a loan from the agent of the London Missionary Society (then\nagent for us too) on the credit of the Reformed Presbyterian Church's\nForeign Committee, but he could not give it without a written order from\nScotland. There were some who seemed rather to enjoy our perplexity!\n\nDriven thus to the wall, I advertised for a meeting of Ministers and\nother friends, next morning at eleven o'clock, to receive my report and\nto consult _re_ the _Dayspring_. I related my journeyings since leaving\nthem and the results, and then asked for advice about the ship.\n\n\"Sell her,\" said some, \"and have done with it.\"--\"What,\" said others,\n\"have the Sabbath Schools given you the _Dayspring_ and can you not\nsupport her yourselves?\"\n\nI pointed out to them that the salary of each Missionary was then only\nL120 per annum, that they gave their lives for the Heathen, and that\nsurely the Colonial Christians would undertake the up-keep of the ship,\nwhich was necessary to the very existence of the Mission. I appealed to\nthem that, as my own Church in Scotland had now one Missionary abroad\nfor every six Ministers at home, and the small Presbyterian Church of\nNova Scotia had actually three Missionaries now on our Islands, it would\nbe a blessed privilege for the Australian Churches and Sabbath Schools\nto keep the _Dayspring_ afloat, without whose services the Missionaries\ncould not live nor the Islanders be evangelized.\n\nBeing Saturday, the morning Services for Sabbath were all arranged for,\nor advertised; but Dr. M'Gibbon offered me a meeting for the evening,\nand Dr. Steel an afternoon Service at three o'clock, combined with his\nSabbath School. Rev. Mr. Patterson of Piermont, offered me a Morning\nService; but, as his was only a Mission Church, he could not give me a\ncollection. These openings I accepted, as from the Lord, however much\nthey fell short of what I desired.\n\nAt the Morning Service I informed the congregation how we were situated,\nand expressed the hope that under God and their devoted pastor they\nwould greatly prosper, and would yet be able to help in supporting our\nMission to their South Sea neighbors. Returning to the vestry, a lady\nand gentleman waited to be introduced to me. They were from Launceston,\nTasmania.\n\n\"I am,\" said he, \"Captain and owner of that vessel lying at anchor\nopposite the _Dayspring_. My wife and I, being too late to get on shore\nto attend any Church in the city, heard this little Chapel bell ringing,\nand followed, when we saw you going up the hill. We have so enjoyed the\nService. We do heartily sympathize with you. This check for L50 will be\na beginning to help you out of your difficulties.\"\n\nThe reader knows how warmly I would thank them; and how in my own heart\nI knew _Who_ it was that made them arrive too late for _their_ plans,\nbut not for _His_, and led them up that hill, and opened their hearts.\nJehovah-Jireh?\n\nAt three o'clock, Dr. Steel's Church was filled with children and\nothers. I told them in my appeal what had happened in the Mission\nChapel, and how God had led Captain Frith and his wife, entire\nstrangers, to sound the first note of our deliverance. One man stood up\nand said, \"I will give L10.\" Another, \"I will give L5.\" A third, \"I\nshall send you L20 to-morrow morning.\" Several others followed their\nexample, and the general collection was greatly encouraging.\n\nIn the evening I had a very large as well as sympathetic congregation. I\nfully explained the difficulty about the _Dayspring_, and told them what\nGod had already done for us, announcing an address to which\ncontributions might be sent. Almost every mail brought me the free-will\nofferings of God's people; and on Wednesday, when the adjourned meeting\nwas held, the sum had reached in all L456. Believing that the Lord thus\nintervened at a vital crisis in our Mission, I dwell on it to the praise\nof His blessed Name. Trust in Him, obey Him, and He will not suffer you\nto be put to shame.\n\nClearing out from her sister ships, then in harbor, the _John Williams_\nand the _John Wesley_, our little _Dayspring_ sailed for Tasmania. At\nHobart we were visited by thousands of children and parents, and\nafterwards at Launceston, who were proud to see their own Ship, in which\nthey were \"shareholders\" for Jesus. Daily, all over the Colony, I\npreached in churches, and addressed public meetings, and got\ncollections, and gave out Collection Cards to be returned within two\nweeks.\n\nWe received many tokens of interest and sympathy. The steam tug was\ngranted to us free, and the harbor dues were remitted. Many presents\nwere also sent on board the _Dayspring_. Still, after meeting all\nnecessary outlays, the trip to Tasmania gave us only L227: 8: 11 clear\nfor the Mission fund.\n\nSailing now for South Australia, we arrived at Adelaide. Many friends\nthere showed the deepest interest in our plans. Thousands of children\nand parents came to visit their own Mission Ship by several special\ntrips. Daily and nightly I addressed meetings, and God's people were\nmoved greatly in the cause. After meeting ail expenses while in port,\nthere remained a sum of L634: 9: 2 for the up-keep of the vessel. The\nHonorable George Fife Angus gave me L241--a dear friend belonging to the\nBaptist Church. But there was still a deficit of L400 before the\n_Dayspring_ could sail free of debt, and my heart was sore as I cried\nfor it to the Lord.\n\nLeaving the ship to sail direct for Sydney, I took steamer to Melbourne;\nbut, on arriving there, sickness and anxiety laid me aside for three\ndays. Under great weakness, I crept along to my dear friends at the\nScotch College, Dr. and Mrs. Morrison, and Miss Fraser, and threw myself\non their advice.\n\n\"Come along,\" said the Doctor cheerily, \"and I'll introduce you to Mr.\nButchart and one or two friends in East Melbourne, and we'll see what\nwhat can be done!\"\n\nI gave all information, being led on in conversation by the Doctor, and\ntried to interest them in our work, but no subscriptions were asked or\nreceived. Ere I sailed for Sydney however, the whole deficiency was sent\nto me. I received in all, on this tour, the sum of L1726: 9: 10. Our\n_Dayspring_ once more sailed free, and our hearts overflowed with\ngratitude to the Lord and to His stewards!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LV.\nTHE FRENCH IN THE PACIFIC.\n\nWe went down to the Islands with the _Dayspring_ in 1865. The full story\nof the years that had passed was laid before my Missionary brethren at\ntheir Annual Synod. They resolved that permanent arrangements must now\nbe made for the vessel's support, and that I must return to the Colonies\nand see these matured, to prevent any such crisis as that through which\nwe had recently passed. This, meantime, appeared to all of them, the\nmost clamant of all Missionary duties,--their very lives, and the\nexistence of the Mission itself, depending thereon. The Lord seemed to\nleave me no alternative: and, with great reluctance, my back was again\nturned away from the Islands.\n\nThe _Dayspring_, doing duty among the Loyalty Islands, left me, along\nwith my dear wife, on Mare, there to await an opportunity of getting to\nNew Caledonia, and thence to Sydney. Detained there for some time, we\nsaw the noble work done by Messrs. Jones and Creagh, of the London\nMissionary Society, all being cruelly undone by the tyranny and Popery\nof the French. One day, in an inland walk, Mrs. Paton and I came on a\nlarge Conventicle in the bush. They were teaching each other, and\nreading the Scriptures which the Missionaries had translated into their\nown language, and which the French had forbidden them to use. They cried\nto God for deliverance from their oppressors! Missionaries were\nprohibited from teaching the Gospel to the Natives without the\npermission of France; their books were suppressed, and they themselves\nplaced under military guard on the Island of Lifu. Even when, by\nBritain's protest, the Missionaries were allowed to resume their work,\nthe French language was alone to be used by them; and some, like Rev. J.\nJones (as far down as 1888), were marched on board a Man-of-war, at half\nan hour's notice, and, without crime laid to their charge, forbidden\never to return to the Islands. While, on the other hand, the French\nPopish Missionaries were everywhere fostered and protected, presenting\nto the Natives as many objects of idolatry as their own, and following,\nas is the custom of the Romish Church in those Seas, in the wake of\nevery Protestant Mission, to pollute and to destroy.\n\nBeing delayed also for two weeks on Noumea, we saw the state of affairs\nunder military rule. English Protestant residents, few in number,\nappealed to me to conduct worship, but liberty could not be obtained\nfrom the authorities, who hated everything English. Again a number of\nProtestant parents, some French, others English and German, applied to\nme to baptize their children at their own houses. To have asked\npermission would have been to court refusal, and to falsify my position.\nI laid the matter before the Lord, and baptized them all. Within two\ndays the Private Secretary of the Governor arrived with an interpreter,\nand began to inquire of me, \"Is it true that you have been baptizing\nhere?\"\n\nI replied quite frankly, \"It is.\"\n\n\"We are sent to demand on whose authority?\"\n\n\"On the authority of my Great Master.\"\n\n\"When did you get that authority?\"\n\n\"When I was licensed and ordained to preach the Gospel, I got that\nauthority from my Great Master.\"\n\nHere a spirited conversation followed betwixt the two in French, and\nthey politely bowed, and left me.\n\nVery shortly they returned, saying, \"The Governor sends his compliments,\nand he wishes the honor of a visit from you at Government House at three\no'clock, if convenient for you.\"\n\nI returned my greeting, and said that I would have pleasure in waiting\nupon his Excellency at the appointed hour. I thought to myself that I\nwas in for it now, and I earnestly cried for Divine guidance.\n\nHe saluted me graciously as \"de great Missionary of de New Hebrides.\" He\nconversed in a very friendly manner about the work there, and seemed\nanxious to find any indication as to the English designs. I had to deal\nvery cautiously. He spoke chiefly through the interpreter; but,\nsometimes dismissing him, he talked to me as good, if not better English\nhimself. He was eager to get my opinions as to how Britain got and\nretained her power over the Natives. After a very prolonged interview,\nwe parted without a single reference to the baptisms or to religious\nservices!\n\nThat evening the Secretary and interpreter waited upon us at our Inn,\nsaying, \"The Governor will have pleasure in placing his yacht and crew\nat your disposal to-morrow. Mrs. Paton and you can sail all around, and\nvisit the Convict Island, and the Government Gardens, where lunch will\nbe prepared for you.\"\n\nIt was a great treat to us indeed. The crew were in prison garments, but\nall so kind to us. By Convict labor all the public works seemed to be\ncarried on, and the Gardens were most beautiful. The carved work in\nbone, ivory, cocoanuts, shells, etc., was indeed very wonderful. We\nbought a few specimens, but the prices were beyond our purse. It was a\nstrange spectacle--these things of beauty and joy, and beside them the\nchained gangs of fierce and savage Convicts, kept down only by bullet\nand sword!\n\nThanking the Governor for his exceeding kindness, I referred to their\nMan-of-war about to go to Sydney, and offered to pay full passage money\nif they would take me, instead of leaving me to wait for a \"trader.\" He\nat once granted my request, and arranged that we should be charged only\nat the daily cost for the sailors. At his suggestion, however, I took a\nnumber of things on board with me, and presented them to be used at the\ncabin table. We were most generously treated--the Captain giving up his\nown room to my wife and myself, as they had no special accommodation for\npassengers.\n\nNoumea appeared to me at that time to be wholly given over to\ndrunkenness and vice, supported as a great Convict Settlement by the\nGovernment of France, and showing every extreme of reckless, worldly\npleasure, and of cruel, slavish toil. When I saw it again,\nthree-and-twenty years thereafter, it showed no signs of progress for\nthe better. It there be a God of justice and of love, His blight cannot\nbut rest on a nation whose pathway is stained with corruption and\nsteeped in blood, as is undeniably the case with France in the Pacific\nIsles.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LVI.\nTHE GOSPEL AND GUNPOWDER.\n\nArriving at Sydney, I was at once plunged into a whirlpool of horrors.\nH. M. S. _Curacoa_ had just returned from her official trip to the\nIslands, in which the Commodore, Sir William Wisenian, had thought it\nhis duty to inflict punishment on the Natives for murder and robbery of\nTraders and others. On these Islands, as in all similar cases, the\nMissionaries had acted as interpreters, and of course always used their\ninfluence on the side of mercy, and in the interests of peace. But\nSydney, and indeed Australia and the Christian World, were thrown into a\nferment just a few days before our arrival, by certain articles in a\nleading publication there, and by the pictorial illustrations of the\nsame. They were professedly from an officer on board Her Majesty's ship,\nand the sensation was increased by their apparent truthfulness and\nreality. Tanna was the scene of the first event, and a series was to\nfollow in succeeding numbers. The _Curacoa_ was pictured lying at anchor\noff the shore having the _Dayspring_ astern. The Tannese warriors were\nbeing blown to pieces by shot and shell, and lay in heaps on the bloody\ncoast. And the Missionaries were represented as safe in the lee of the\nMan-of-war, directing the onslaught, and gloating over the carnage.\n\nWithout a question being asked or a doubt suggested, without a voice\nbeing raised in fierce denial that such men as these Missionaries were\nknown to be could be guilty of such conduct,--men who had jeoparded\ntheir lives for years on end rather than hurt one hair on a Native's\nhead,--a cry of execration, loud and deep, and even savage, arose from\nthe Press, and was apparently joined in by the Church itself. The common\nwitticism about the \"Gospel and Gunpowder\" headed hundreds of bitter and\nscoffing articles in the journals; and, as we afterwards learned, the\nshocking news had been telegraphed to Britain and America, losing\nnothing in force by the way, and, while filling friends of Missions with\ndismay, was dished up day after day with every imaginable enhancement of\nhorror for the readers of the secular and infidel Press. As I stepped\nashore at Sydney I found myself probably the best-abused man in all\nAustralia, and the very name of the New Hebrides Mission stinking in the\nnostrils of the people.\n\nThe gage of battle had been thrown and fell at my feet. Without one\nmoment's delay I lifted it in the name of my Lord and of my maligned\nbrethren. That evening my reply was in the hands of the editor, denying\nthat such battles ever took place, retailing the actual facts of which I\nhad been myself an eyewitness, and intimating legal prosecution unless\nthe most ample and unequivocal withdrawal and apology were at once\npublished. The Newspaper printed my rejoinder, and made satisfactory\namends for having been imposed upon and deceived. I waited upon the\nCommodore and appealed for his help in redressing this terrible injury\nto our Mission. He informed me that he had already called his officers\nto account, but that all denied any connection with the articles or the\npicture. He had little doubt, all the same, that some one on board was\nthe prompter, who gloried in the evil that was being done to the cause\nof Christ. He offered every possible assistance, by testimony or\notherwise, to place all the facts before the Christian public and to\nvindicate our Missionaries.\n\nThe outstanding facts are best presented in the following extract from\nthe official report of the Mission Synod:--\n\n\"When the New Hebrides Missionaries were assembled at their annual\nmeeting on Aneityum, H. M. S. _Curacoa_, Sir Win. Wiseman, Bart., C. B.,\narrived in the harbor to investigate many grievances of white men and\ntrading vessels among the Islands. A petition having been previously\npresented to the Governor in Sydney, as drawn out by the Revs. Messrs.\nGeddie and Copeland, after the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon on\nErromanga, requesting an investigation into the sad event, and the\nremoval of a Sandal-wood Trader, a British subject, who had incited the\nNatives to it,--the Missionaries gave the Commodore a memorandum on the\nloss of life and property that had been sustained by the Mission on\nTanna, Erromanga, and Efate. He requested the Missionaries to supply him\nwith interpreters, and requested the _Dayspring_ to accompany him with\nthem. The request was at once acceded to. Mr. Paton was appointed to act\nas interpreter for Tanna, Mr. Gordon (brother of the martyr) for\nErromanga, and Mr. Morrison for Efate.\n\n\"At each of these Islands, the Commodore summoned the principal Chiefs\nnear the harbors to appear before him, and explained to them that his\nvisit was to inquire into the complaints British subjects had made\nagainst them, and to see if they had any against British subjects; and\nwhen he had found out the truth he would punish those who had done the\nwrong and protect those who had suffered wrong. The Queen did not send\nhim to compel them to become Christians, or to punish them for not\nbecoming Christians. She left them to do as they liked in this matter;\nbut she was very angry at them because they had encouraged her subjects\nto live amongst them, sold them land, and promised to protect them, and\nafterwards murdered some of them and attempted to murder others, and\nstolen and destroyed their property; that the inhabitants of these\nislands were talked of over the whole world for their treachery,\ncruelty, and murders; and that the Queen would no longer allow them to\nmurder or injure her subjects, who were living peaceably among them\neither as Missionaries or Traders. She would send a Ship of War every\nyear to inquire into their conduct, and if any white man injured any\nNative they were to tell the Captain of the Man-of-war, and the white\nman would be punished as fast as the black man.\"\n\nAfter spending much time, and using peaceably every means in his power\nin trying to get the guilty parties on Tanna, and not succeeding, he\nshelled two villages,--having the day before informed the Natives that\nhe would do so, and advising to have all women, children, and sick\nremoved, which in fact they did. Indeed nearly the whole of the\ninhabitants, young and old, went to Nowar's land, where they were\ninstructed they would be safe, while they witnessed what a Man-of-war\ncould do in punishing murderers. But before the hour approached, a\nfoolish host of Tannese warriors had assembled on the beach, painted and\narmed and determined to fight the Man-of-war! And the Chief of a village\non the other side of the bay was at that moment assembled with his men\non the high ground within our view, and dancing to a war song in\ndefiance.\n\nThe Commodore caused a shell to strike the hill and explode with\nterrific fury just underneath the dancers. The earth and the bush were\ntorn and thrown into the air above and around them; and next moment the\nwhole host were seen disappearing over the brow of the hill. Two shots\nwere sent over the heads of the warriors on the shore, with terrific\nnoise and uproar: in an instant, every man was making haste for Nowar's\nland, the place of refuge. The Commodore then shelled the villages, and\ndestroyed their property. Beyond what I have here recorded, absolutely\nnothing was done.\n\nWe returned then for a moment to Sydney. The public excitement made it\nimpossible for me to open my lips in the promotion of our Mission. The\nRev. Drs. Dunmore, Lang and Steel, along with Professor Smith of the\nUniversity, waited on the Commodore, and got an independent version of\nthe facts. They then called a meeting on the affair by public\nadvertisement. Without being made acquainted with the results of their\ninvestigations, I was called upon to give my own account of the\n_Curacoa's_ visit and of the connection of the Missionaries therewith.\nThey then submitted the Commodore's statement, given by him in writing.\nHe exonerated the Missionaries from every shadow of blame and from all\nresponsibility. In the interests of mercy as well as justice, and to\nsave life, they had acted as his interpreters; and there all that they\nhad to do with the _Curacoa_ began and ended. All this was published in\nthe newspapers next day, along with the speeches of the three deputies.\nThe excitement began to subside. But the poison had been lodged in many\nhearts, and the ejectment of it was a slow and difficult process.\n\nFeeling absolutely conscious that I had only done my Christian duty, I\nleft all results in the hands of my Lord Jesus, and pressed forward in\nHis blessed work. But more than one dear personal friend had to be\nsacrificed over this painful affair. A presbyterian Minister, and a\ngodly elder and his wife, all most excellent and well-beloved, at whose\nhouses I had been received as a brother, intimated to me that owing to\nthis case of the _Curacoa_ their friendship and mine must entirely cease\nin this world. And it did cease; but my esteem never changed. I had\nlearned not to think unkindly of friends, even when they manifestly\nmisunderstood my actions. Nor would these things merit being recorded\nhere, were it not that they may be at once a beacon and a guide. God's\npeople are still belied. And the mob is still as ready as ever to cry,\n\"Crucify! Crucify!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LVII.\nA PLEA FOR TANNA.\n\nEVERYTHING having been at length arranged for in the Colonies, in\nconnection with the Mission and _Dayspring_, as far as could possibly\nbe,--and I having been adopted by the Victorian Assembly of 1866, as the\nfirst Missionary from the Presbyterian Church of Australia to the New\nHebrides,--we sailed for the Islands on the 8th August of that year.\nBesides my wife and child, the following accompanied us to the field:\nRevs. Copeland, Cosh, and M'Nair, along with their respective wives. On\n20th August we reached Aneityum; and, having landed some of our friends,\nwe sailed Northwards, as far as Efate, to let the new Missionaries see\nall the Islands open for occupation, and to bring all our Missionaries\nback to the annual meeting, where the permanent settlements would be\nfinally agreed upon.\n\nWhile staying at Aneityum, I learned with as deep emotion as man ever\nfelt for man, that noble old Abraham, the sharer of my Tannese trials,\nhad during the interval peacefully fallen asleep in Jesus. He left for\nme his silver watch--one which I had myself sent to the dear soul from\nSydney, and which he greatly prized. In his dying hour he said, \"Give it\nto Missi, my own Missi Paton; and tell him that I go to Jesus, where\nTime is dead.\"\n\nI learned also, and truly human-hearted readers will need no apology for\nintroducing this news in so grave a story--that my faithful dog\n_Clutha_, entrusted to the care of a kindly Native to be kept for my\nreturn, had, despite all coaxing, grown weary of heart amongst all these\ndark faces, and fallen asleep too, truly not unworthy of a grateful\ntear!\n\nAt our annual Synod, after much prayerful deliberation and the careful\nweighing of every vital circumstance, I was constrained by the united\nvoice of my brethren not to return to Tanna, but to settle on the\nadjoining island of Aniwa (=A-nee-wa). It was even hoped that thereby\nTanna might eventually be the more surely reached and evangelized.\n\nBy the new Missionaries all the other old Stations were reoccupied and\nsome fresh Islands were entered upon in the name of Jesus. As we moved\nabout with our _Dayspring_, and planted the Missionaries here and there,\nnothing could repress the wonder of Natives.\n\n\"How is this?\" they cried. \"We slew or drove them all away! We plundered\ntheir houses and robbed them. Had we been so treated, nothing would have\nmade us return. But they come back with a beautiful new ship, and with\nmore and more Missionaries. And is it to trade and to get money, like\nthe other white men? No! no! But to tell us of their Jehovah God and of\nHis Son Jesus. If their God makes them do all that, we may well worship\nHim too.\"\n\nIn this way, island after island was opened up to receive the\nMissionary, and their Chiefs bound themselves to protect and cherish\nhim, before they knew anything whatever of the Gospel, beyond what they\nsaw in the disposition and character of its Preachers or heard rumored\nregarding its fruits on other Islands. Imagine _Cannibals_ found thus\nprepared to welcome the Missionary, and to make not only his property\nbut his life comparatively safe. The Isles \"wait\" for Christ.\n\nOn our way to Aniwa, the _Dayspring_ had to call at Tanna. By stress of\nweather we lay several days in Port Resolution. And there many memories\nwere again revived--wounds that after five-and-twenty years, when I now\nwrite, still bleed afresh! Nowar, the old Chief, unstable but friendly,\nwas determined to keep us there by force or by fraud. The Captain told\nhim that the council of the Missionaries had forbidden him to land our\nboxes at Tanna.\n\n\"Don't land them,\" said the wily Chief, \"just throw them over; my men\nand I will catch everything before it reaches the water, and carry them\nall safely ashore!\"\n\nThe Captain said he durst not. \"Then,\" persisted Nowar, \"just point them\nout to us; you will have no further trouble; we will manage everything\nfor Missi.\"\n\nThey were in distress when he refused; and poor old Nowar tried another\ntack. Suspecting that my clear wife was afraid of them, he got us on\nshore to see his extensive plantations. Turning eagerly to her, he said,\nleaving me to interpret, \"Plenty of food! While I have a yam or a\nbanana, you shall not want.\"\n\nShe answered, \"I fear not any lack of food.\"\n\nPointing to his warriors, he cried, \"We are many! We are strong! We can\nalways protect you.\"\n\n\"I am not afraid,\" she calmly replied.\n\nHe then led us to that chestnut tree, in the branches of which I had sat\nduring a lonely and memorable night, when all hope had perished of any\nearthly deliverance, and said to her with a manifest touch of genuine\nemotion, \"The God who protected Missi there will always protect you.\"\n\nShe told him that she had no fear of that kind, but explained to him\nthat we must for the present go to Aniwa, but would return to Tanna, if\nthe Lord opened up our way. Nowar, Arkurat, and the rest, seemed to be\ngenuinely grieved, and it touched my soul to the quick.\n\nA beautiful incident was the outcome, as we learned only in long after\nyears. There was at that time an Aniwan Chief on Tanna, visiting\nfriends. He was one of their great Sacred Men. He and his people had\nbeen promised a passage home in the _Dayspring_, with their canoes in\ntow. When old Nowar saw that he could not keep us with himself, he went\nto this Aniwan Chief, and took the white shells, the insignia of\nChieftainship, from his own arm, and bound them on the Sacred Man,\nsaying, \"By these you promise to protect my Missi and his wife and child\non Aniwa. Let no evil befall them; or, by this pledge, I and my people\nwill revenge it.\"\n\nIn a future crisis, this probably saved our lives, as shall be\nafterwards related. After all, a bit of the Christ-Spirit had found its\nway into that old cannibal's soul! And the same Christ-Spirit in me\nyearned more strongly still, and made it a positive pain to pass on to\nanother Island, and leave him in that dim-groping twilight of the soul.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LVIII.\nOUR NEW HOME ON ANIWA.\n\nANIWA became my Mission Home in November, 1866; and for the next fifteen\nyears it was the heart and center of my personal labors in the Heathen\nWorld. Since 1881, alas! my too frequent deputation pilgrimages among\nChurches in Great Britain and in the Colonies have rendered my visits to\nAniwa but few and far between. God never guided me back to Tanna; but\nothers, my dear friends, have seen His Kingdom planted and beginning to\ngrow amongst that slowly relenting race. Aniwa was to be the land\nwherein my past years of toil and patience and faith were to see their\nfruits ripening at length. I claimed Aniwa for Jesus, and by the grace\nof God Aniwa now worships at the Saviour's feet.\n\nThe Island of Aniwa is one of the smaller isles of the New Hebrides. It\nmeasures scarcely seven miles by two, and is everywhere girt round with\na belt of coral reef. The sea breaks thereon heavily, with thundering\nroar, and the white surf rolls in furious and far. But there are days of\ncalm, when all the sea is glass, and the spray on the reef is only a\nfringe of silver.\n\nAniwa, having no hills to attract and condense the clouds, suffers badly\nfor lack of genial rains; and the heavy rains of hurricane and tempest\nseem to disappear as if by magic through the light soil and porous rock.\nThe moist atmosphere and the heavy dews, however keep the Island covered\nwith green, while large and fruitful trees draw wondrous nourishment\nfrom their rocky beds.\n\nAniwa has no harbor, or safe anchorage of any kind for ships; though, in\ncertain winds, they have been seen at anchor on the outer edge of the\nreef, always a perilous haven! There is one rock in the coral belt,\nthrough which a boat can safely run to shore; but the little wharf,\nbuilt there of the largest coral blocks that could be rolled together,\nhas been once and again swept clean off by the hurricane, leaving \"not a\nwrack behind.\"\n\nWhen we landed, the Natives received us kindly. They and the Aneityumese\nTeachers led us to a temporary home, prepared for our abode. It was a\nlarge Native Hut. Walls and roof consisted of sugar-cane leaf and reeds,\nintertwisted on a strong wooden frame. It had neither doors nor windows,\nbut open spaces instead of these. The earthen floor alone looked\nbeautiful, covered thick with white coral broken small. It had only one\napartment; and that, meantime, had to serve also for Church and School\nand Public Hall. We screened off a little portion, and behind that\nscreen planted our bed, and stored our valuables. All the natives within\nreach assembled to watch us taking our food! A box at first served for a\nchair, the lid of another box was our table, our cooking was all done in\nthe open air under a large tree, and we got along with amazing comfort.\nBut the house was under the shelter of a coral rock, and we saw at a\nglance that at certain seasons it would prove a very hotbed of fever and\nague. We were, however, only too thankful to enter it, till a better\ncould be built, and on a breezier site.\n\nThe Aniwans were not so violently dishonorable as the Tannese. But they\nhad the knack of asking in a rather menacing manner whatever they\ncoveted; and the tomahawk was sometimes swung to enforce an appeal. We\nstrove to get along quietly and kindly, in the hope that when we knew\ntheir language, and could teach them the principles of Jesus, they would\nbe saved, and life and property would be secure. But the rumor of the\n_Curacoa's_ visit and her punishment of murder and robbery did more, by\nGod's blessing, to protect us during those Heathen days than all other\ninfluences combined. The savage cannibal was heard to whisper to his\nbloodthirsty mates, \"not to murder or to steal, for the Man-of-war that\npunished Tanna would blow up their little island!\"\n\nSorrowful experience on Tanna had taught us to seek the site of our\nAniwan house on the highest ground, and away from the malarial\ninfluences near the shore. There was one charming mound, covered with\ntrees, whose roots ran down into the crevices of coral, and from which\nTanna and Erromanga are clearly seen. But there the Natives for some\nsuperstitious reason forbade us to build, and we were constrained to\ntake another rising ground somewhat nearer the shore. In the end, this\nturned out to be the very best site on the island for us, central and\nsuitable every way. But we afterwards learned that perhaps superstition\nalso led them to sell us this site, in the malicious hope that it would\nprove our ruin. The mounds on the top, which had to be cleared away,\ncontained the bones and refuse of their Cannibal feasts for ages. None\nbut their Sacred Men durst touch them; and the Natives watched us hewing\nand digging, certain that their gods would strike us dead! That failing,\ntheir thoughts may probably have been turned to reflect that after all\nthe Jehovah God was stronger than they.\n\nIn leveling the site, and gently sloping the sides of the ground for\ngood drainage purposes, I had gathered together two large baskets of\nhuman bones. I said to a Chief in Tannese, \"How do these bones come to\nbe here?\"\n\nAnd he replied, with a shrug worthy of a cynical Frenchman, \"Ah, we are\nnot Tanna-men! We don't eat the bones!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LIX.\nHOUSE-BUILDING FOR GOD.\n\nTHE site being now cleared, we questioned whether to build only a\ntemporary home, hoping to return to dear old Tanna as soon as possible,\nor, though the labor would be vastly greater, a substantial house--for\nthe comfort of our successors, if not of ourselves. We decided that, as\nthis was work for God, we would make it the very best we could. We\nplanned two central rooms, sixteen feet by sixteen, with a five feet\nwide lobby between, so that other rooms could be added when required.\nAbout a quarter of a mile from the sea, and thirty-five feet above its\nlevel, I laid the foundations of the house. Coral blocks raised the wall\nabout three feet high all round. Air passages carried sweeping currents\nunderneath each room, and greatly lessened the risk of fever and ague. A\nwide trench was dug all round, and filled up as a drain with broken\ncoral. At back and front, the verandah stretched five feet wide; and\npantry, bath-room, and tool-house were partitioned off under the\nverandah behind. The windows sent to me had hinges; I added two feet to\neach, with wood from Mission-boxes, and made them French door-windows,\nopening from each room to the verandah. And so we had, by God's\nblessing, a healthy spot to live in, if not exactly a thing of beauty!\n\nThe Mission House, as ultimately finished, had six rooms, three on each\nside of the lobby, and measured ninety feet in length, surrounded by a\nverandah, one hundred feet by five, which kept everything shaded and\ncool. Underneath two rooms a cellar was dug eight feet deep, and shelved\nall round for a store. In more than one terrific hurricane that cellar\nsaved our lives,--all crushing into it when trees and houses were being\ntossed like feathers on the wings of the wind. Altogether, the house at\nAniwa has proved one of the healthiest and most commodious of any that\nhave been planted by Christian hands on the New Hebrides. In selecting\nsite and in building \"the good hand of our God was upon us for good.\"\n\nI built also two small Orphanages, almost as inevitably necessary as the\nMissionary's own house. They stood on a line with the front of my own\ndwelling, one for girls, the other for boys, and we had them constantly\nunder our own eyes. The orphans were practically boarded at the Mission\npremises, and adopted by the Missionaries. Their clothing was a heavy\ndrain upon our resources; and every odd and curious article that came in\nany of the boxes or parcels was utilized. We trained these young people\nfor Jesus. And at this day many of the best of our Native Teachers, and\nmost devoted Christian helpers, are amongst those who would probably\nhave perished but for these Orphanages.\n\nEvery day after dinner we set the bell a-ringing--intimating, from, our\nfirst arrival on Aniwa, readiness to give advice or medicine to all who\nwere sick. We spoke to them, so soon as we had learned, a few words\nabout Jesus. The weak received a cup of tea and a piece of bread. The\ndemand was sometimes great, especially when epidemics befell them. But\nsome rather fled from us as the cause of their sickness, and sought\nrefuge from our presence in remotest corners, or rushed off at our\napproach and concealed themselves in the bush. They were but children,\nand full of superstition; and we had to win them by kindly patience,\nnever losing faith in them and hope for them, any more than the Lord did\nwith us!\n\nOur learning the language on Aniwa was marked by similar incidents to\nthose of Tanna related in a preceding chapter; though a few of them\ncould understand my Tannese, and that greatly helped me. One day a man,\nafter carefully examining some article, turned to his neighbor and said,\n\"Taha tinei?\"\n\nI inferred that he was asking, \"What is this?\" Pointing to another\narticle, I repeated their words; they smiled at each other, and gave me\nits name.\n\nOn another occasion, a man said to his companion, looking toward me,\n\"Taha neigo?\" Concluding that he was asking my name, I pointed towards\nhim, and repeated the words, and they at once gave me their names.\n\nReaders would be surprised to discover how much you can readily learn of\nany language, with these two short questions constantly on your lips,\nand with people ready at every turn to answer--\"What's this?\" \"What's\nyour name?\" Every word was at once written down, spelled phonetically\nand arranged in alphabetic order, and a note appended as to the\ncircumstances in which it was used. By frequent comparison of these\nnotes, and by careful daily and even hourly imitation of all their\nsounds, we were able in a measure to understand each other before we had\ngone far in the house-building operations, during which some of them\nwere constantly beside me.\n\nOne incident of that time was very memorable, and God turned it to good\naccount for higher ends. I often tell it as \"the miracle of the speaking\nbit of wood\"; and it has happened to other Missionaries exactly as to\nmyself. While working at the house, I required some nails and tools.\nLifting a piece of planed wood, I penciled a few words on it, and\nrequested our old Chief to carry it to Mrs. Paton, and she would send\nwhat I wanted. In blank wonder, he innocently stared at me, and said,\n\"But what do you want?\"\n\nI replied, \"The wood will tell her.\" He looked rather angry, thinking\nthat I befooled him, and retorted, \"Who ever heard of wood speaking?\"\n\nBy hard pleading I succeeded in persuading him to go. He was amazed to\nsee her looking at the wood and then fetching the needed articles. He\nbrought back the bit of wood, and eagerly made signs for an explanation.\nChiefly in broken Tannese I read to him the words, and informed him that\nin the same way God spoke to us through His Book. The will of God was\nwritten there, and by and by, when he learned to read, he would hear God\nspeaking to him from its page, as Mrs. Paton heard me from the bit of\nwood.\n\nA great desire was thus awakened in the poor man's soul to see the very\nWord of God printed in his own language. He helped me to learn words and\nmaster ideas with growing enthusiasm. And when my work of translating\nportions of Holy Scripture began, his delight was unbounded and his help\ninvaluable. The miracle of a speaking page was not less wonderful than\nthat of speaking wood!\n\nOne day, while building the house, an old Inland Chief and his three\nsons came to see us. Everything was to them full of wonder. After\nreturning home one of the sons fell sick, and the father at once blamed\nus and the Worship, declaring that if the lad died we all should be\nmurdered in revenge. By God's blessing, and by our careful nursing and\nsuitable medicine, he recovered and was spared. The old Chief\nsuperstitiously wheeled round almost to another extreme. He became not\nonly friendly, but devoted to us. He attended the Sabbath Services, and\nlistened to the Aneityumese Teachers, and to my first attempts, partly\nin Tannese, translated by the orator Taia or the Chief Namakei, and\nexplained in our hearing to the people in their mother tongue.\n\nBut on the heels of this, another calamity overtook us. So soon as two\nrooms of the Mission House were roofed in, I hired the stoutest of the\nyoung men to carry our boxes thither. Two of them started off with a\nheavy box suspended on a pole from shoulder to shoulder, their usual\ncustom. They were shortly after attacked with vomiting of blood; and one\nof them, an Erromangan, actually died. The father of the other swore\nthat, if his son did not get better, every soul at the Mission House\nshould be slain in revenge. But God mercifully restored him.\n\nAs the boat-landing was nearly three-quarters of a mile distant, and\nsuch a calamity recurring would be not only sorrowful in itself but\nperilous in the extreme for us all, I steeped my wits, and with such\ncrude materials as were at hand, I manufactured not only a hand-barrow,\nbut a wheel-barrow, for the pressing emergencies of the time. In due\ncourse, I procured a more orthodox hand-cart from the Colonies, and\ncoaxed and bribed the Natives to assist me in making a road for it.\nPerhaps the ghost of _Macadam_ would shudder at the appearance of that\nroad, but it has proved immensely useful ever since.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LX.\nA CITY OF GOD.\n\nWhen, in the course of years, everything had been completed to our\ntaste, we lived practically in the midst of a beautiful village,--the\nChurch, the School, the Orphanage, the Smithy and Joiner's Shop, the\nPrinting Office, the Banana and Yam House, the Cook House, etc.; all\nvery humble indeed, but all standing sturdily up there among the\norange-trees, and preaching the Gospel of a higher civilization and of a\nbetter life for Aniwa. The little road leading to each door was laid\nwith the white coral broken small. The fence around all shone fresh and\nclean with new paint. Order and taste were seen to be laws in the white\nman's New Life; and several of the Natives began diligently to follow\nour example.\n\nMany and strange were the arts which I had to try to practise, such as\nhandling the adze, the mysteries of tenon and mortise, and other feats\nof skill. If a Native wanted a fish-hook, or a piece of red calico to\nbind his long whip-cord hair, he would carry me a block of coral or\nfetch me a beam; but continuous daily toil seemed to him a mean\nexistence. The women were tempted, by calico and beads for pay, to\nassist in preparing the sugar-cane leaf for thatch, gathering it in the\nplantations, and tying it over reeds four or six feet long with strips\nof bark of pandanus leaf, leaving a long fringe hanging over on one\nside. How differently they acted when the Gospel began to touch their\nhearts! They built their Church and their Schools then, by their own\nfree toil, rejoicing to labor without money or price; and they have ever\nsince kept them in good repair, for the service of the Lord, by their\nvoluntary offerings of wood and sugar-cane leaf and coral-lime.\n\nThe roof was firmly tied on and nailed; thereon were laid the reeds,\nfringed with sugar-cane leaf, row after row tied firmly to the wood; the\nridge was bound down by cocoanut leaves, dexterously plaited from side\nto side and skewered to the ridge-pole with hard wooden pins; and over\nall, a fresh storm-roof was laid on yearly for the hurricane months,\ncomposed of folded cocoanut leaves, held down with planks of wood, and\nbound to the frame-work below--which, however, had to be removed again\nin April to save the sugar-cane leaf from rotting beneath it. There you\nwere snugly covered in, and your thatching good to last from eight years\nto ten; that is, provided you were not caught in the sweep of the\nhurricane, before which trees went flying like straws, huts disappeared\nlike autumn leaves, and your Mission House, if left standing at all, was\nprobably swept bare alike of roof and thatch at a single stroke! Well\nfor you at such times if you have a good barometer indicating the\napproach of the storm; and better still, a large cellar like ours,\nfour-and-twenty feet by sixteen, built round with solid coral\nblocks,--where goods may be stored, and whereinto also all your\nhousehold may creep for safety, while the tornado tosses your dwelling\nabout, and sets huge trees dancing around you! We had also to invent a\nlime-kiln, and this proved one of the hardest nuts of all that had to be\ncracked. The kind of coral required could be obtained only at one spot,\nabout three miles distant. Lying at anchor in my boat, the Natives dived\ninto the sea, broke off with hammer and crowbar piece after piece, and\nbrought it up to me, till I had my load. We then carried it ashore, and\nspread it out in the sun to be blistered there for two weeks or so.\nHaving thus secured twenty or thirty boat-loads, and had it duly\nconveyed round to the Mission Station, a huge pit was dug in the ground,\ndry wood piled in below, and green wood above to the height of several\nfeet, and on the top of all the coral blocks were orderly laid. When\nthis pile had burned for seven or ten days, the coral had been reduced\nto excellent lime, and the plasterwork made therefrom shone like marble.\n\nOn one of these trips the Natives performed an extraordinary feat. The\nboat with full load was struck heavily by a wave, and the reef drove a\nhole in her side. Quick as thought the crew were all in the sea, and, to\nmy amazement, bearing up the boat with their shoulder and one hand,\nwhile swimming and guiding us ashore with the other! There on the land\nwe were hauled up, and four weary days were spent fetching and carrying\nfrom the Mission Station every plank, tool, and nail, necessary for her\nrepair. Every boat for these seas ought to be built of cedar wood and\ncopper-fastened, which is by far the most economical in the end. And all\nhouses should be built of wood which is as full as possible of gum or\nresin, since the large white ants devour not only other soft woods, but\neven Colonial blue gum-trees, the hard cocoanut, and window sashes,\nchairs, and tables!\n\nGlancing back on all these toils, I rejoice that such exhausting demands\nare no longer made on our newly-arrived Missionaries. Houses, all ready\nfor being set up, are now brought down from the Colonies. Zinc roofs and\nother improvements have been introduced. The Synod appoints a deputation\nto accompany the young Missionary, and plant the house along with\nhimself at the Station committed to his care. Precious strength is thus\nsaved for higher uses; and not only property but life itself is\noftentimes preserved.\n\nI will close this chapter with an incident which, though it came to our\nknowledge only years afterwards, closely bears upon our Settlement on\nAniwa. At first we had no idea why they so determinedly refused us one\nsite, and fixed us to another of their own choice. But after the old\nChief Namakei became a Christian, he one day addressed the Aniwan people\nin our hearing to this effect:--\n\n\"When Missi came we saw his boxes. We knew he had blankets and calico,\naxes and knives, fish-hooks and all such things. We said, 'Don't drive\nhim off, else we will lose all these things. We will let him land. But\nwe will force him to live on the Sacred Plot. Our gods will kill him,\nand we will divide all that he has amongst the men of Aniwa.' But Missi\nbuilt his house on our most sacred spot. He and his people lived there,\nand the gods did not strike. He planted bananas there, and we said, 'Now\nwhen they eat of these they will all drop down dead, as our fathers\nassured us, if any one ate fruit from that ground, except only our\nSacred Men themselves.' These bananas ripened. They did eat them. We\nkept watching for days and days, but no one died! Therefore what we say,\nand what our fathers have said, is not true. Our gods cannot kill them.\nTheir Jehovah God is stronger than the gods of Aniwa.\"\n\nI enforced old Namakei's appeal, telling them that, though they knew it\nnot, it was the living and true and only God who had sent them every\nblessing which they possessed, and had at last sent us to teach them how\nto serve and love and please Him. In wonder and silence they listened,\nwhile I tried to explain to them that Jesus, the Son of this God, had\nlived and died and gone to the Father to save them, and that He was now\nwilling to take them by the hand and lead them through this life to\nglory and immortality together with Himself.\n\nThe old Chief led them in prayer--a strange, dark, groping prayer, with\nstreaks of Heathenism coloring every thought and sentence; but still a\nheart-breaking prayer, as the cry of a soul once Cannibal, but now being\nthrilled through and through with the first conscious pulsations of the\nChrist-Spirit, throbbing into the words--\"Father, Father; our Father.\"\n\nWhen these poor creatures began to wear a bit of calico or a kilt, it\nwas an outward sign of a change, though yet far from civilization. And\nwhen they began to look up and pray to One whom they called \"Father, our\nFather,\" though they might be far, very far, from the type of Christian\nthat dubs itself \"respectable,\" my heart broke over them in tears of\njoy; and nothing will ever persuade me that there was not a Divine Heart\nin the Heavens rejoicing too.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXI.\nTHE RELIGION OF REVENGE.\n\nON landing in November, 1866, we found the Natives of Aniwa, some very\nshy and distrustful, and others forward and imperious. No clothing was\nworn; but the wives and elder women had grass aprons or girdles like our\nfirst parents in Eden. The old Chief interested himself in us and our\nwork; but the greater number showed a far deeper interest in the axes,\nknives, fishhooks, strips of red calico, and blankets, received in\npayment for work or for bananas. Even for payment they would scarcely\nwork at first, and they were most unreasonable, easily offended, and\nstarted off in a moment at any imaginable slight.\n\nFor instance, a Chief once came for medicine. I was so engaged that I\ncould not attend to him for a few minutes. So off he went, in a great\nrage, threatening revenge, and muttering, \"I must be attended to! I\nwon't wait on _him_.\" Such were the exactions of a naked savage!\n\nShortly before our arrival, an Aneityumese Teacher was sacrificed on\nAniwa. The circumstances are illustrative of what may be almost called\ntheir worship of revenge. Many long years ago, a party of Aniwans had\ngone to Aneityum on a friendly visit; but the Aneityumese, then all\nsavages, murdered and ate every man of them save one, who escaped into\nthe bush. Living on cocoanuts, he awaited a favorable wind, and,\nlaunching his canoe by night, he arrived in safety. The bereaved\nAniwans, hearing his terrible story, were furious for revenge; but the\nforty-five miles of sea between proving too hard an obstacle, they made\na deep cut in the earth and vowed to renew that cut from year to year\ntill the day of revenge came round. Thus the memory of the event was\nkept alive for nearly eighty years.\n\nAt length the people of Aneityum came to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.\nThey strongly yearned to spread their saving Gospel to the Heathen\nIslands all around. Amid prayers and strong cryings to God they, like\nthe Church at Antioch, designated two of their leading men to go as\nNative Teachers and evangelize Aniwa, viz. Navalak and Nemeyan; whilst\nothers went forth to Fotuna, Tanna, and Erromanga, as opportunity arose.\nNamakei, the principal Chief of Aniwa, had promised to protect and be\nkind to them. But as time went on, it was discovered that the Teachers\nbelonged to the Tribe on Aneityum, and one of them to the very land,\nwhere long ago the Aniwans had been murdered. The Teachers had from the\nfirst known their danger, but were eager to make known the Gospel to\nAniwa. It was resolved that they should die. But the Aniwans, having\npromised to protect them, shrank from doing it themselves; so they hired\ntwo Tanna-men and an Aniwan Chief, one of whose parents had belonged to\nTanna, to waylay and shoot the Teachers as they returned from their tour\nof Evangelism among the villages on Sabbath afternoon. Their muskets did\nnot go off, but the murderers rushed upon them with clubs and left them\nfor dead.\n\nNemeyan was dead, and entered that day amongst the noble army of the\nMartyrs. Poor Navalak was still breathing, and the Chief Namakei carried\nhim to his village and kindly nursed him. He pleaded with the people\nthat the claims of revenge had been satisfied, and that Navalak should\nbe cherished and sent home,--the Christ-Spirit beginning to work in that\ndarkened soul! Navalak was restored to his people and is yet living\n(1888)--a high class Chief on Aneityum, and an honor to the Church of\nGod, bearing on his body \"the marks of the Lord Jesus.\" And often since\nhas he visited Aniwa, in later years, and praised the Lord amongst the\nvery people who once thirsted for his blood and left him by the wayside\nas good as dead!\n\nFor a time, Aniwa was left without any witness for Jesus,--the London\nMissionary Society Teachers, having suffered dreadfully for lack of food\nand from fever and ague, being also removed. But on a visit of a Mission\nvessel, Namakei sent his orator Taia to Aneityum, to tell them that now\nrevenge was satisfied, the cut in the earth filled up, and a cocoanut\ntree planted and flourishing where the blood of the Teachers had been\nshed, and that no person from Aneityum would ever be injured by Aniwans.\nFurther, he was to plead for more Teachers, and to pledge his Chiefs\nword that they would be kindly received and protected. They knew not the\nGospel, and had no desire for it; but they wanted friendly intercourse\nwith Aneityum, where trading vessels called, and whence they might\nobtain mats, baskets, blankets, and iron tools. At length two\nAneityumese again volunteered to go, Kangaru and Nelmai, one from each\nside of the Island, and were located by the Missionaries, along with\ntheir families, on Aniwa, one with Namakei, and the other at the south\nend, to lift up the Standard of a Christlike life among their Heathen\nneighbors.\n\nTaia, who went on the Mission to Aneityum, was a great speaker and also\na very cunning man. He was the old Chief's appointed \"Orator\" on all\nstate occasions, being tall and stately in appearance, of great bodily\nstrength, and possessed of a winning manner. On the voyage to Aneityum\nhe was constantly smoking and making things disagreeable to all around\nhim. Being advised not to smoke while on board, he pleaded with the\nMissionary just to let him take a whiff now and again till he finished\nthe tobacco he had in his pipe, and then he would lay it aside. But,\nlike the widow's meal, it lasted all the way to Aneityum, and never\nappeared to get less--at which the innocent Taia expressed much\nastonishment!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXII.\nFIRST FRUITS ON ANIWA.\n\nTHE two Teachers and their wives on Aniwa were little better than slaves\nwhen we landed there, toiling in the service of their masters and living\nin constant fear of being murdered. Doubtless, however, the mighty\ncontrast presented by the life, character, and disposition of these\ngodly Teachers was the sowing of the seed that bore fruit in other\ndays,--though as yet no single Aniwan had begun to wear clothing out of\nrespect to Civilization, much less been brought to know and love the\nSaviour.\n\nSo soon as I could speak a little to them in their own language, we\nbegan to visit regularly at their villages and to talk to them about\nJesus and His love. We tried also to get them to come to our Church\nunder the shade of the banyan tree. Nasi and some of the worst\ncharacters would sit scowling not far off, or follow us with loaded\nmuskets. Using every precaution, we still held on doing our work;\nsometimes giving fish-hooks or beads to the boys and girls, showing them\nthat our objects were kind and not selfish. And however our hearts\nsometimes trembled in the presence of imminent death and sank within us,\nwe stood fearless in their presence, and left all results in the hands\nof Jesus. Often have I had to run into the arms of some savage, when his\nclub was swung or his musket leveled at my head, and, praying to Jesus,\nso clung round him that he could neither strike nor shoot me till his\nwrath cooled down, and I managed to slip away. Often have I seized the\npointed barrel and directed it upwards, or, pleading with my assailant,\nuncapped his musket in the struggle. At other times, nothing could be\nsaid, nothing done, but stand still in silent prayer, asking God to\nprotect us or to prepare us for going home to His Glory. He fulfilled\nHis own promise--\"I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.\"\n\nThe first Aniwan that ever came to the knowledge and love of Jesus was\nthe old Chief Namakei. We came to live on his land, as it was near our\ndiminutive harbor; and, upon the whole, he and his people were the most\nfriendly, though his only brother, the Sacred Man of the tribe, on two\noccasions tried to shoot me. Namakei came a good deal about us at the\nMission House, and helped us to acquire the language. He discovered that\nwe took tea evening and morning. When we gave him a cup and a piece of\nbread, he liked it well, and gave a sip to all around him. At first he\ncame for the tea, perhaps, and disappeared suspiciously soon thereafter;\nbut his interest manifestly grew, till he showed great delight in\nhelping us in every possible way. Along with him and as his associates\ncame also the Chief Naswai and his wife Katua. These three grew into the\nknowledge of the Saviour together. From being savage Cannibals they rose\nbefore our eyes, under the influence of the Gospel, into noble and\nbeloved characters, and they and we loved each other exceedingly.\n\nNamakei brought his little daughter, his only child, the Queen of her\nrace, called Litsi Sore (=Litsi the Great), and said, \"I want to leave\nmy Litsi with you, I want you to train her for Jesus.\"\n\nShe was a very intelligent child, learned things like any white girl,\nand soon became quite a help to Mrs. Paton. On seeing his niece dressed,\nand so smart-looking, the old Chief's only brother, the Sacred Man that\nhad attempted to shoot me, also brought his child, Litsi Sisi (=the\nLittle) to be trained like her cousin. The mothers of both were dead.\nThe children reported all they saw, and all we taught them, and so their\nfathers became more deeply interested in our work, and the news of the\nGospel spread far and wide. Soon we had all the Orphans committed to us,\nwhose guardians were willing to part with them, and our Home become\nliterally the School of Christ--the boys growing up to help all my\nplans, and the girls to help my wife and to be civilized and trained by\nher, and many of them developing into devoted Teachers and Evangelists.\n\nOur earlier Sabbath Services were sad affairs. Every man came\narmed--indeed, every man slept with his weapons of war at his side--and\nbow and arrow, spear and tomahawk, club and musket, were always ready\nfor action. On fair days we assembled under the banyan tree, on rainy\ndays in a Native hut partly built for the purpose. One or two seemed to\nlisten, but the most lay about on their backs or sides, smoking,\ntalking, sleeping! When we stopped the feast at the close, which the\nAneityumese Teacher had been forced to prepare before our coming, and\nfor which they were always ready, the audiences at first went down to\ntwo or three; but these actually came to learn, and a better tone began\nimmediately to pervade the Service. We informed them that it was for\ntheir good that we taught them, and that they would get no \"pay\" for\nattending Church or School, and the greater number departed in high\ndudgeon as very ill-used persons! Others of a more commercial turn came\noffering to sell their \"idols,\" and when we would not purchase them, but\nurged them to give up and cast them away for love to Jesus, they carried\nthem off, saying they would have nothing to do with this new Worship.\n\nAmidst our frequent trials and dangers in those earlier times on Aniwa,\nour little Orphans often warned us privately and and saved our lives\nfrom cruel plots. When, in baffled rage, our enemies demanded who had\nrevealed things to us, I always said, \"It was a little bird from the\nbush.\" So the dear children grew to have perfect confidence in us. They\nknew we would not betray them; and they considered themselves the\nguardians of our lives.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXIII.\nTRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS.\n\nWHAT a suggestive tradition of the Fall came to me in one of those early\ndays on Aniwa! Upon our leaving the hut and removing to our new house,\nit was seized upon by Tupa for his sleeping-place, though still\ncontinuing to be used by the Natives as club-house, court of law, etc.\nOne morning at daylight this Tupa came running to us in great\nexcitement, wielding his club furiously, and crying, \"Missi, I have\nkilled the Tebil. I have killed Teapolo. He came to catch me last night.\nI raised all the people, and we fought him round the house with our\nclubs. At daybreak he came out and I killed him dead. We will have no\nmore bad conduct or trouble now. Teapolo is dead!\"\n\nI said, \"What nonsense; Teapolo is a spirit, and cannot be seen.\"\n\nBut in mad excitement he persisted that he had killed him. And at Mrs.\nPaton's advice, I went with the man, and he led me to a great Sacred\nRock of coral near our old hut, over which hung the dead body of a huge\nand beautiful sea-serpent, and exclaimed, \"There he lies! Truly I killed\nhim.\"\n\nI protested, \"That is not the Devil; it is only the body of a serpent.\"\n\nThe man quickly answered, \"Well? but it is all the game! He is Teapolo.\nHe makes us bad, and causes all our troubles.\"\n\nFollowing up this hint by many inquiries, then and afterwards, I found\nthat they clearly associated man's troubles and sufferings somehow with\nthe serpent. They worshiped the Serpent, as a spirit of evil, under the\nname of Matshiktshiki; that is to say, they lived in abject terror of\nhis influence, and all their worship was directed towards propitiating\nhis rage against man.\n\nTheir story of Creation, at least of the origin of their own Aniwa and\nthe adjacent Islands, is much more an outcome of the unaided Native\nmind. They say that Matshiktshiki fished up these lands out of the sea.\nAnd they show the deep print of his foot on the coral rocks, opposite\neach island, whereon he stood as he strained and lifted them up above\nthe waters. He then threw his great fishing-line round Fotuna,\nthirty-six miles distant, to draw it close to Aniwa and make them one\nland; but, as he pulled, the line broke and he fell, where his mark may\nstill be seen upon the rock--so the Islands remain separated unto this\nday.\n\nMatshiktshiki placed men and women on Aniwa. On the southern end of the\nIsland there was a beautiful spring and a freshwater river, with rich\nland all around, for plantations. But the people would not do what\nMatshiktshiki wanted them; so he got angry, and split off the richer\npart of Aniwa, with the spring and river, and sailed with them across to\nAneityum, leaving them where Dr. Inglis has since built his beautiful\nMission Station. To this day, the river there is called \"the water of\nAniwa\" by the inhabitants of both islands; and it is the ambition of all\nAniwans to visit Aneityum and drink of that spring and river, as they\nsigh to each other, \"Alas, for the waters of Aniwa!\"\n\nTheir picture of the Flood is equally grotesque. Far back, when the\nvolcano now on Tanna was part of Aniwa, the rain fell and fell from day\nto day, and the sea rose till it threatened to cover everything. All\nwere drowned except the few who climbed up on the volcano mountain. The\nsea had already put out the volcano at the southern end of Aniwa; and\nMatshiktshiki, who dwelt in the greater volcano, becoming afraid of the\nextinction of his big fire too, split it off from Aniwa with all the\nland on the southeastern side, and sailed it across to Tanna on the top\nof the flood. There, by his mighty strength, he heaved the volcano to\nthe top of a high mountain in Tanna, where it remains to this day. For,\non the subsiding of the sea, he was unable to transfer his big fire to\nAniwa; and so it was reduced to a very small island, without a volcano,\nand without a river, for the sins of the people long ago.\n\nEven where there are no snakes they apply the superstitions about the\nserpent to a large, black, poisonous lizard called _Kekvau_. They call\nit Teapolo, and women or children scream wildly at the sight of one.\n\nOne of the darkest and most hideous blots on Heathenism is the practice\nof Infanticide. Only three cases came to our knowledge on Aniwa; but we\npublicly denounced them at all hazards, and awoke not only natural\nfeeling, but the selfish interests of the community for the protection\nof the children. These three were the last that died there by parents'\nhands. A young husband, who had been jealous of his wife, buried their\nmale child alive as soon as born. An old Tanna woman, who had no\nchildren living, having at last a fine healthy boy born to her, threw\nhim into the sea before any one could interfere to save. And a savage,\nin anger with his wife, snatched her baby from her arms, hid himself in\nthe bush till night, and returned without the child, refusing to give\nany explanation, except that he was dead and buried. Praise be to God,\nthese three murderers of their own children were by and by touched with\nthe story of Jesus, became members of the Church, and each adopted\nlittle orphan children, towards whom they continued to show the most\ntender affection and care.\n\nWife-murder was also considered quite legitimate. In one of our inland\nvillages dwelt a young couple, happy in every respect except that they\nhad no children. The man, being a Heathen, resolved to take home another\nwife, a widow with two children. This was naturally opposed by his young\nwife. And, without the slightest warning, while she sat plaiting a\nbasket, he discharged a ball into her from his loaded musket. It crashed\nthrough her arm and lodged in her side. Everything was done that was in\nmy power to save her life; but on the tenth day tetanus came on, and she\nsoon after passed away. The man appeared very attentive to her all the\ntime; but, being a Heathen, he insisted that she had no right to oppose\nhis wishes! He was not in any way punished or disrespected by the people\nof his village, but went out and in amongst them as usual, and took home\nthe other woman as his wife a few weeks thereafter. His second wife\nbegan to attend Church and School regularly with her children; and at\nlast he also came along with them, changing very manifestly from his\nsullen and savage former self. They have a large family; they are\navowedly trying to train them all for the Lord Jesus, and they take\ntheir places meekly at the Lord's Table.\n\nIt would give a wonderful shock, I suppose, to many namby-pamby\nChristians to whom the title \"Mighty to Save\" conveys no ideas of\nreality, to be told that nine or ten converted murderers were partaking\nwith them the Holy Communion of Jesus! But the Lord who reads the heart,\nand weighs every motive and circumstance, has perhaps much more reason\nto be shocked by the presence of some of themselves. Penitence opens all\nthe heart of God--\"To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXIV.\nNELWANG'S ELOPEMENT.\n\nSOME most absurd and preposterous experiences were forced upon us by the\nhabits and notions of the people. Amongst these I recall very vividly\nthe story of Nelwang's elopement with his bride. I had begun, in spare\nhours, to lay the foundation of two additional rooms for our house, and\nfelt rather uneasy to see a well-known savage hanging around every day\nwith his tomahawk, and eagerly watching me at work. He had killed a man,\nbefore our arrival on Aniwa; and had also startled my wife by suddenly\nappearing from amongst the boxes, and causing her to run for life. On\nseeing him hovering so alarmingly near, tomahawk in hand, I saluted him,\n\"Nelwang, do you want to speak to me?\"\n\n\"Yes, Missi,\" he replied; \"if you will help me now, I will be your\nfriend forever.\"\n\nI answered, \"I am your friend. That brought me here and keeps me here.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said he very earnestly, \"but I want you to be strong as my\nfriend, and I will be strong for you!\"\n\nI replied, \"Well, how can I help you?\"\n\nHe quickly answered, \"I want to get married, and I need your help.\"\n\nI protested,--\"Nelwang, you know that marriages here are all made in\ninfancy, by children being bought and betrothed to their future\nhusbands. How can I interfere? You don't want to bring evil on me and my\nwife and child? It might cost us our lives.\"\n\n\"No! no! Missi,\" earnestly retorted Nelwang. \"No one hears of this, or\ncan hear. Only help me now. You tell me, if you were my circumstances,\nhow would you act?\"\n\n\"That's surely very simple,\" I answered. \"Every man knows how to go\nabout that business, if he wants to be honest! Look out for your\nintended, find out if she loves you and the rest will follow\nnaturally,--you will marry her.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" argued Nelwang, \"but just there my trouble comes in!\"\n\n\"Do you know the woman you would like to get?\" I asked, wishing to bring\nhim to some closer issue.\n\n\"Yes,\" replied he very frankly, \"I want to marry Yakin, the Chiefs'\nwidow up at the inland village, and that will break no infant\nbetrothals.\"\n\n\"But,\" I persevered, \"do you know if she loves you or would take you?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" replied Nelwang; \"one day I met her on the path and told her I\nwould like to have her for my wife. She took out her ear-rings and gave\nthem to me, and I know thereby that she loves me. I was one of her late\nhusband's men; and if she had loved any of them more than she loved me,\nshe would have given them to another. With the ear-rings she gave me her\nheart.\"\n\n\"Then why,\" I insisted, \"don't you go and marry her?\"\n\n\"There,\" said Nelwang gravely, \"begins my difficulty. In her village\nthere are thirty young men for whom there are no wives. Each of them\nwants her, but no one has the courage to take her, for the other\nnine-and-twenty will shoot him!\"\n\n\"And if you take her,\" I suggested, \"the disappointed thirty will shoot\nyou!\"\n\n\"That's exactly what I see, Missi,\" continued Nelwang; \"but I want you\njust to think you are in my place, and tell me how you would carry her\noff. You white men can always succeed. Missi, hear my plans, and advise\nme.\"\n\nWith as serious a face as I could command, I had to listen to Nelwang,\nto enter into his love affair, and to make suggestions, with a view to\navoiding bloodshed and other miseries. The result of the deliberations\nwas that Nelwang was to secure the confidence of two friends, his\nbrother and the orator Taia, to place one at each end of the coral rocks\nabove the village as watchmen, to cut down with his American tomahawk a\npassage through the fence at the back, and to carry off his bride at\ndead of night into the seclusion and safety of the bush! Nelwang's eyes\nflashed as he flourished his tomahawk about and cried, \"I see it now,\nMissi! I shall win her from them all. Yakin and I will be strong for you\nall our days.\"\n\nNext morning Yakin's house was found deserted. They sent to all the\nvillages around, but no one had seen her. The hole in the fence behind\nwas then discovered, and the thirty whispered to each other that Yakin\nhad been wooed and won by some daring lover. Messengers were despatched\nto all the villages, and Nelwang was found to have disappeared on the\nsame night as the widow, and neither could anywhere be found.\n\nThe usual revenge was taken. The houses of the offenders burned, their\nfences broken down, and all their property either destroyed or\ndistributed. Work was suspended, and the disappointed thirty solaced\nthemselves by feasting at Yakin's expense.\n\nThree weeks passed. The runaways were nowhere to be found. It was\ngenerally believed that they had gone in a canoe to Tanna or Erromanga.\nBut one morning, as I began my work at my house alone, the brave Nelwang\nappeared at my side!\n\n\"Hillo!\" I said, \"where have you come from? and where is Yakin?\"\n\n\"I must not,\" he replied, \"tell you yet. We are hid. We have lived on\ncocoanuts gathered at night. Yakin is well and happy. I come now to\nfulfil my promise: I will help you, and Yakin will help Missi Paton the\nwoman, and we shall be your friends. I have ground to be built upon and\nfenced, whenever we dare; but we will come and live with you, till peace\nis secured. Will you let us come to-morrow morning?\"\n\n\"All right!\" I said. \"Come to-morrow!\" And, trembling with delight, he\ndisappeared into the bush.\n\nThus strangely God provided us with wonderful assistance. Yakin soon\nlearnt to wash and dress and clean everything, and Nelwang served me\nlike a faithful disciple. They clung by us like our very shadow, partly\nthrough fear of attack, partly from affection; but as each of them could\nhandle freely both musket and tomahawk, which, though laid aside, were\nnever far away, it was not every enemy that cared to try issues with\nNelwang and his bride. After a few weeks had thus passed by, and as both\nof them were really showing an interest in things pertaining to Jesus\nand His Gospel, I urged them strongly to appear publicly at the Church\non Sabbath, to show that they were determined to stand their ground\ntogether as true husband and wife, and that the others must accept the\nposition and become reconciled. Delay now could gain no purpose, and I\nwished the strife and uncertainty to be put to an end.\n\nNelwang knew our customs. Every worshiper has to be seated, when our\nChurch bell ceases ringing. Aniwans would be ashamed to enter after the\nService had actually begun. As the bell ceased, Nelwang, knowing that he\nwould have a clear course, marched in, dressed in shirt and kilt, but\ngrasping very determinedly his tomahawk! He sat down as near to me as he\ncould conveniently get, trying hard to conceal his manifest agitation.\nSilently smiling towards me, he then turned and looked eagerly at the\nother door through which the women entered and left the Church, as if to\nsay, \"Yakin is coming!\" But his tomahawk was poised ominously on his\nshoulder, and his courage gave him a defiant and almost impudent air. He\nwas evidently quite ready to sell his life at a high price, if any one\nwas prepared to risk the consequences.\n\nIn a few seconds Yakin entered; and if Nelwang's bearing and appearance\nwere rather inconsistent with the feeling of worship,--what on earth was\nI to do when the figure and costume of Yakin began to reveal itself\nmarching in? The first visible difference betwixt a Heathen and a\nChristian is,--that the Christian wears some clothing, the Heathen wears\nnone. Yakin had determined to show the extent of her Christianity by the\namount of clothing she could carry upon her person. Being a Chief's\nwidow before she became Nelwang's bride, she had some idea of state\noccasions, and appeared dressed in every article of European apparel,\nmostly portions of male attire, that she could beg or borrow from about\nthe premises! Her bridal gown was a man's drab-colored great-coat, put\non above her Native grass skirts, and sweeping down to her heels,\nbuttoned tight. Over this she had hung on a vest, and above that again,\nmost amazing of all, she had superinduced a pair of men's trousers,\nplanting the body of them on her neck and shoulders, and leaving her\nhead and face looking out from between the legs--a leg from either side\nstreaming over her bosom arid dangling down absurdly in front! Fastened\nto the one shoulder also there was a red shirt, and to the other a\nstriped shirt, waving about her like wings as she sailed along. Around\nher head a red shirt had been twisted like a turban, and her notions of\nart demanded that a sleeve thereof should hang aloft over each of her\nears! She seemed to be a moving monster loaded with a mass of rags. The\nday was excessively hot, and the perspiration poured over her face in\nstreams. She, too, sat as near to me as she could get on the women's\nside of the Church. Nelwang looked at me and then at her, smiling\nquietly, as if to say, \"You never saw, in all your white world, a bride\nso grandly dressed!\"\n\nI little thought what I was bringing on myself when I urged them to come\nto Church. The sight of that poor creature sweltering before me\nconstrained me for once to make the service very short--perhaps the\nshortest I ever conducted in all my life! The day ended in peace. The\ntwo souls were extremely happy; and I praised God that what might have\nbeen a scene of bloodshed had closed thus, even though it were in a kind\nof wild grotesquerie!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXV.\nTHE CHRIST-SPIRIT AT WORK.\n\nTHE progress of God's work was most conspicuous in, relation to wars and\nrevenges among the Natives. The two high Chiefs, Namakei and Naswai,\nfrequently declared, \"We are the men of Christ now. We must not fight.\nWe must put down murders and crimes among our people.\"\n\nTwo young fools, returning from Tanna with muskets, attempted twice to\nshoot a man in sheer wantonness and display of malice. The Islanders\nmet, and informed them that if man or woman was injured by them, the\nother men would load their muskets and shoot them dead in general\ncouncil. This was a mighty step towards public order, and I greatly\nrejoiced before the Lord. His Spirit, like leaven, was at work!\n\nMy constant custom was, in order to prevent war, to run right in between\nthe contending parties. My faith enabled me to grasp and realize the\npromise, \"Lo, I am with you always.\" In Jesus I felt invulnerable and\nimmortal, so long as I was doing His work. And I can truly say that\nthese were the moments when I felt my Saviour to be most truly and\nsensibly present, inspiring and empowering me.\n\nAnother scheme had an excellent educative and religious influence. I\ntried to interest all the villages, and to treat all the Chiefs equally.\nIn our early days, after getting into my two-roomed house, I engaged the\nChief, or representative man of each district, to put up one or other at\nthe many outhouses required at the Station. One, along with his people,\nbuilt the cookhouse; another, the store; another, the banana and\nyam-house; another, the washing-house; another, the boys and girls'\nhouse; the houses for servants and teachers, the Schoolhouse, and the\nlarge shed, a kind of shelter where Natives sat and talked when not at\nwork about the premises. Of course these all were at first only Native\nhuts, of larger or smaller dimensions. But they were all built by\ncontract for articles which they highly valued, such as axes, knives,\nyards of prints and calico, strings of beads, blankets, etc. They served\nour purpose for the time, and when another party, by contract also, had\nfenced around our premises, the Mission Station was really a beautiful,\nlittle, lively, and orderly village, and in itself no bad emblem of\nChristian and civilized life. The payments, made to all irrespectively,\nbut only for work duly done and according to reasonable bargain,\ndistributed property and gifts amongst them on wholesome principles, and\nencouraged a well-conditioned rivalry which had many happy effects.\n\nHeathenism made many desperate and some strange efforts to stamp out our\nCause on Aniwa, but the Lord held the helm. One old Chief, formerly\nfriendly, turned against us. He ostentatiously set himself to make a\ncanoe, working at it very openly and defiantly on Sabbaths. He, becoming\nsick and dying, his brother started, on a Sabbath morning and in\ncontempt of the Worship, with an armed company to provoke our people to\nwar. They refused to fight; and one man, whom he struck with his club,\nsaid, \"I will leave my revenge to Jehovah.\"\n\nA few days thereafter, this brother also fell sick and suddenly died.\nThe Heathen party made much of these incidents, and some clamored for\nour death in revenge, but most feared to murder us; so they withdrew and\nlived apart from our friends, as far away as they could get. By and by,\nhowever, they set fire to a large district belonging to our supporters\nburning cocoanut and breadfruit trees and plantations. Still our people\nrefused to fight, and kept near to protect us. Then all the leading men\nassembled to talk it over. Most were for peace, but some insisted upon\nburning our house and driving us away or killing us, that they might be\nleft to live as they had hitherto done. At last a Sacred Man, a Chief\nwho had been on Tanna when the Curacoa punished the murderers and\nrobbers, but protected the villages of the friendly Natives there, stood\nup and spoke in our defense, and warned them what might happen; and\nother three, who had been under my instruction on Tanna, declared\nthemselves to be the friends of Jehovah and of His Missionary. Finally,\nthe Sacred Man rose again, and showed them rows of beautiful white\nshells strung round his left arm, saying--\n\n\"Nowar, the great Chief at Port Resolution on Tanna, when he saw that\nMissi and his wife could not be kept there, took me to his heart, and\npledged me by these, the shells of his office as Chief, taken from his\nown arm and bound on mine, to protect them from all harm. He told me to\ndeclare to the men of Aniwa that if the Missi be injured or slain, he\nand his warriors will come from Tanna and take the full revenge in\nblood.\" This turned the scale. The meeting closed in our favor.\n\nClose on the heels of this, another and a rather perplexing incident\nbefell us. A party of Heathens assembled and made a great display of\nfishing on the Lord's Day, in contempt of the practice of the men on\nJehovah's side, threatening also to waylay the Teachers and myself in\nour village circuits. A meeting was held by the Christian party, at the\nclose of the Sabbath Services. All who wished to serve Jehovah were to\ncome to my house next morning, unarmed, and accompany me on a visit to\nour enemies, that we might talk and reason together with them. By\ndaybreak, the Chiefs and nearly eighty men assembled at the Mission\nHouse, declaring that they were on Jehovah's side, and wished to go with\nme. But, alas! they refused to lay down their arms, or leave them\nbehind; nor would they either refrain from going or suffer me to go\nalone. Pledging them to peace, I was reluctantly placed at their head,\nand we marched off to the village of the unfriendly party.\n\nThe villagers were greatly alarmed. The Chief's two sons came forth with\nevery available man to meet us. That whole day was consumed in talking\nand speechifying, sometimes chanting their replies--the Natives are all\ninveterate talkers! To me the day was utterly wearisome; but it had one\nredeeming feature,--their rage found vent in hours of palaver, instead\nof blows and blood. It ended in peace. The Heathen were amazed at the\nnumber of Jehovah's friends; and they pledged themselves henceforth to\nleave the Worship alone, and that every one who pleased might come to it\nunmolested. For this, worn out and weary, we returned, praising the\nLord.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXVI.\nTHE SINKING OF THE WELL.\n\nBUT I must here record the story of the Sinking of the Well, which broke\nthe back of Heathenism on Aniwa. Being a flat coral island, with no\nhills to attract the clouds, rain is scarce there as compared with the\nadjoining mountainous islands; and even when it does fall heavily, with\ntropical profusion, it disappears, as said before, through the light\nsoil and porous rock, and drains itself directly into the sea. The rainy\nseason is from December to April, and then the disease most\ncharacteristic of all these regions is apt to prevail, viz., fever and\nague.\n\nAt certain seasons, the Natives drink very unwholesome water; and,\nindeed, the best water they had at any time for drinking purposes was\nfrom the precious cocoanut, a kind of Apple of Paradise for all these\nSouthern Isles! They also cultivate the sugar-cane very extensively, and\nin great variety; and they chew it, when we would fly to water for\nthirst; so it is to them both food and drink. The black fellow carries\nwith him to the field, when he goes off for a day's work, four or five\nsticks of sugar-cane, and puts in his time comfortably enough on these.\nBesides, the sea being their universal bathing-place, in which they\nswattle like fish, and little water, almost none, being required for\ncooking purposes, and none whatever for washing clothes, the lack of\nfresh-springing water was not the dreadful trial to them that it would\nbe to us. Yet they appreciate and rejoice in it immensely too; though\nthe water of the green cocoanut is refreshing, and in appearance, taste,\nand color not unlike lemonade--one nut filling a tumbler; and though\nwhen mothers die they feed the babies on it and on the soft white pith,\nand they flourish on the same, yet the Natives themselves show their\ndelight in preferring, when they can get it, the water from the well.\n\nAniwa, having therefore no permanent supply of fresh water, in spring or\nstream or lake, and my own household also suffering sadly for lack of\nthe same, I resolved by the help of God to sink a well near the Mission\nPremises, hoping that a wisdom higher than my own would guide me to the\nsource of some blessed spring. Of the scientific conditions of such an\nexperiment I was comparatively ignorant; but I counted on having to dig\nthrough earth and coral above thirty feet, and my constant fear was,\nthat owing to our environment, the water, if water I found, could only\nbe salt water after all my toils! Still I resolved to sink that shaft in\nhope, and in faith that the Son of God would be glorified thereby.\n\nOne morning I said to the old Chief and his fellow-Chief, both now\nearnestly inquiring about the religion of Jehovah and of Jesus, \"I am\ngoing to sink a deep well down into the earth, to see if our God will\nsend us fresh water up from below.\"\n\nThey looked at me with astonishment, and said in a tone of sympathy\napproaching to pity, \"O Missi! Wait till the rain comes down, and we\nwill save all we possibly can for you.\"\n\nI replied, \"We may all die for lack of water. If no fresh water can be\ngot, we may be forced to leave you.\"\n\nThe old Chief looked imploringly, and said \"O Missi! you must not leave\nus for that. Rain comes only from above. How could you expect our Island\nto send up showers of rain from below?\"\n\nI told him, \"Fresh water does come up springing from the earth in my\nLand at home, and I hope to see it here also.\"\n\nThe old Chief grew more tender in his tones, and cried, \"O Missi, your\nhead is going wrong; you are losing something, or you would not talk\nwild like that! Don't let our people hear you talking about going down\ninto the earth for rain, or they will never listen to your word or\nbelieve you again.\"\n\nBut I started upon my hazardous job, selecting a spot near the Mission\nStation and close to the public path, that my prospective well might be\nuseful to all. I began to dig, with pick and spade and bucket at hand,\nan American axe for a hammer and crowbar, and a ladder for service by\nand bye. The good old Chief now told off his men in relays to watch me,\nlest I should attempt to take my own life, or do anything outrageous,\nsaying, \"Poor Missi! That's the way with all who go mad. There's no\ndriving of a notion out of their heads. We must just watch him now. He\nwill find it harder to work with pick and spade than with his pen, and\nwhen he's tired we'll persuade him to give it up.\"\n\nI did get exhausted sooner than I expected, toiling under that tropical\nsun; but we never own before the Natives that we are beaten; so I went\ninto the house and filled my vest pocket with large, beautiful\nEnglish-made fish-hooks. These are very tempting to the young men as\ncompared with their own,--skilfully made though they be out of shell,\nand serving their purposes wonderfully. Holding up a large hook, I\ncried, \"One of these to every man who fills and turns over three buckets\nout of this hole!\"\n\nA rush was made to get the first turn, and back again for another and\nanother. I kept those on one side who had got a turn, till all the rest\nin order had a chance, and bucket after bucket was filled and emptied\nrapidly. Still the shaft seemed to lower very slowly, while my\nfish-hooks were disappearing very quickly. I was constantly there, and\ntook the heavy share of everything, and was thankful one evening to find\nthat we had cleared more than twelve feet deep,--when lo! next morning,\none side had rushed in, and our work was all undone.\n\nThe old Chief and his best men now came around me more earnestly than\never. He remonstrated with me very gravely. He assured me for the\nfiftieth time that rain would never be seen coming up through the earth\non Aniwa!\n\n\"Now,\" said he, \"had you been in that hole last night, you would have\nbeen buried, and a Man-of-war would have come from Queen 'Toria to ask\nfor the Missi that lived here. We would have to say, 'He is down in that\nhole.' The Captain would ask, 'Who killed him and put him down there?'\nWe would have to say, 'He went down there himself!' The Captain would\nanswer, 'Nonsense! Who ever heard of a white man going down into the\nearth to bury himself? You killed him, you put him there; don't hide\nyour bad conduct with lies!' Then he would bring out his big guns and\nshoot us, and destroy our Island in revenge. You are making your own\ngrave, Missi, and you will make ours too. Give up this mad freak, for no\nrain will be found by going downwards on Aniwa. Besides, all your\nfish-hooks cannot tempt my men again to enter that hole; they don't want\nto be buried with you. Will you not give it up now?\"\n\nI said all that I could to quiet his fears, explained to them that this\nfalling in had happened by my neglect of precautions, and finally made\nknown that by the help of my God, even without all other help, I meant\nto persevere.\n\nSteeping my poor brains over the problem, I became an extemporized\nengineer. Two trees were searched for, with branches on opposite sides,\ncapable of sustaining a cross tree betwixt them. I sank them on each\nside firmly into the ground, passed the beam across them over the center\nof the shaft, fastened thereon a rude home-made pulley and block, passed\na rope over the wheel, and swung my largest bucket to the end of it.\nThus equipped, I began once more sinking away at the well, but at so\ngreat an angle that the sides might not again fall in. Not a Native,\nhowever, would enter that hole, and I had to pick and dig away till I\nwas utterly exhausted. But a Native Teacher, in whom I had confidence,\ntook charge above, managing to hire them with axes, knives, etc., to\nseize the end of the rope and walk along the ground, pulling it till the\nbucket rose to the surface, and then he himself swung it aside, emptied\nit, and lowered it down again. I rang a little bell which I had with me,\nwhen the bucket was loaded, and that was the signal for my brave helpers\nto pull their rope. And thus I toiled on from day to day, my heart\nalmost sinking sometimes with the sinking of the well, till we reached a\ndepth of about thirty feet. And the phrase, \"living water,\" \"living\nwater,\" kept chiming through my soul like music from God, as I dug and\nhammered away!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXVII.\nRAIN FROM BELOW.\n\nAT this depth the earth and coral began to be soaked with damp. I felt\nthat we were nearing water. My soul had a faith that God would open a\nspring for us; but side by side with this faith was a strange terror\nthat the water would be salt. So perplexing and mixed are even the\nhighest experiences of the soul; the rose-flower of a perfect faith, set\nround and round with prickly thorns. One evening I said to the old\nChief, \"I think that Jehovah God will give us water to-morrow from that\nhole!\"\n\nThe Chief said, \"No, Missi; you will never see rain coming up from the\nearth on this Island. We wonder what is to be the end of this mad work\nof yours. We expect daily, if you reach water, to see you drop through\ninto the sea and the sharks will eat you! That will be the end of it;\ndeath to you, and danger to us all.\"\n\nI still answered, \"Come to-morrow. I hope and believe that Jehovah God\nwill send you the rain water up through the earth.\"\n\nAt the moment I knew I was risking much, and probably incurring\nsorrowful consequences, had no water been given; but I had faith that\nthe Lord was leading me on, and I knew that I sought His glory, not my\nown.\n\nNext morning, I went down again at daybreak and sank a narrow hole in\nthe center about two feet deep. The perspiration broke over me with\nuncontrollable excitement, and I trembled through every limb, when the\nwater rushed up and began to fill the hole. Muddy though it was, I\neagerly tasted it, lapping it with my trembling hand, and then I almost\nfell upon my knees in that muddy bottom as my heart burst up in praise\nto the Lord. It was water! It was fresh water. It was living water from\nJehovah's well! True, it was a little brackish, but nothing to speak of;\nand no spring in the desert, cooling the parched lips of a fevered\npilgrim, ever appeared more worthy of being called a Well of God than\ndid that water to me!\n\nThe Chiefs had assembled with their men near by. They waited on in eager\nexpectancy. It was a rehearsal, in a small way, of the Israelites coming\nround, while Moses struck the rock and called for water. By and by, when\nI had praised the Lord, and my excitement was a little calmed, the mud\nbeing also greatly settled, I filled a jug, which I had taken down empty\nin the sight of them all, and ascending to the top called for them to\ncome and see the rain which Jehovah God had given us through the well.\nThey closed around me in haste, and gazed on it in superstitious fear.\nThe old Chief shook it to see if it would spill, and then touched it to\nsee if it felt like water. At last he tasted it, and rolling it in his\nmouth with joy for a moment, he swallowed it, and shouted, \"Rain! Rain!\nYes, it is Rain! But how did you get it?\"\n\nI repeated, \"Jehovah my God gave it out of His own Earth in answer to\nour labors and prayers. Go and see it springing up for yourselves!\"\n\nNow, though every man there could climb the highest tree as swiftly and\nas fearlessly as a squirrel or an opossum, not one of them had courage\nto walk to the side and gaze down into that well. To them this was\nmiraculous! But they were not without a resource that met the emergency.\nThey agreed to take firm hold of each other by the hand, to place\nthemselves in a long line, the foremost man to lean cautiously forward,\ngaze into the well, and then pass to the rear, and so on till all had\nseen \"Jehovah's rain\" far below. It was somewhat comical, yet far more\npathetic, to stand by and watch their faces, as man after man peered\ndown into the mystery, and then looked up at me in blank bewilderment!\nWhen all had seen it with their own very eyes, and were \"weak with\nwonder,\" the old Chief exclaimed--\n\n\"Missi, wonderful, wonderful is the work of your Jehovah God! No god of\nAniwa ever helped us in this way. The world is turned upside down since\nJehovah came to Aniwa! But, Missi,\" continued he, after a pause that\nlooked liked silent worship, \"will it always rain up through the earth?\nor will it come and go like the rain from the clouds?\"\n\nI told them that I believed it would always continue there for our use,\nas a good gift from Jehovah.\n\n\"Well, but, Missi,\" replied the Chief some glimmering of self-interest\nbeginning to strike his brain, \"will you or your family drink it all, or\nshall we also have some?\"\n\n\"You and all your people,\" I answered, \"and all the people of the\nIsland, may come and drink and carry away as much of it as you wish. I\nbelieve there will always be plenty for us all, and the more of it we\ncan use the fresher it will be. That is the way with many of our\nJehovah's best gifts to men, and for it and for all we praise His Name!\"\n\n\"Then, Missi,\" said the Chief, \"it will be our water, and we may all use\nit as our very own.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I answered, \"whenever you wish it, and as much as you need, both\nhere and at your own houses, as far as it can possibly be made to go.\"\n\nThe Chief looked at me eagerly, fully convinced at length that the well\ncontained a treasure, and exclaimed, \"Missi, what can we do to help you\nnow?\"\n\nI was thankful, indeed, to accept of the Chief's assistance, now sorely\nneeded, and I said, \"You have seen it fall in once already. If it falls\nagain, it will conceal the rain from below which our God has given us.\nIn order to preserve it for us and for our children in all time, we must\nbuild it round and round with great coral blocks from the bottom to the\nvery top. I will now clear it out, and prepare the foundation for this\nwall of coral. Let every man and woman carry from the shore the largest\nblock they can bring. It is well worth all the toil thus to preserve our\ngreat Jehovah's gift!\"\n\nScarcely were my words uttered, when they rushed to the shore, with\nshoutings and songs of gladness; and soon every one was seen struggling\nunder the biggest block of coral with which he dared to tackle. They lay\nlike limestone rocks, broken up by the hurricanes, and rolled ashore in\nthe arms of mighty billows; and in an incredibly short time scores of\nthem were tumbled down for my use at the mouth of the well. Having\nprepared a foundation, I made ready a sort of bag-basket, into which\nevery block was firmly tied and then let down to me by the pulley--a\nNative Teacher, a faithful fellow, cautiously guiding it. I received and\nplaced each stone in its position, doing my poor best to wedge them one\nagainst the other, building circularly, and cutting them to the needed\nshape with my American ax. The wall is about three feet thick, and the\nmasonry may be guaranteed to stand till the coral itself decays. I\nwrought incessantly, for fear of any further collapse, till I had it\nraised about twenty feet; and now, feeling secure, and my hands being\ndreadfully cut up, I intimated that I would rest a week or two, and\nfinish the building then. But the Chief advanced and said--\n\n\"Missi, you have been strong to work. Your strength has fled. But rest\nhere beside us; and just point out where each block is to be laid. We\nwill lay them there, we will build them solidly behind like you. And no\nman will sleep till it is done.\"\n\nWith all their will and heart they started on the job; some carrying,\nsome cutting and squaring the blocks, till the wall rose like magic, and\na row of the hugest rocks laid round the top, bound all together, and\nformed the mouth of the well. Women, boys, and all wished to have a hand\nin building it, and it remains to this day, a solid wall of masonry, the\ncircle being thirty-four feet deep, eight feet wide at the top, and six\nat the bottom. I floored it over with wood above all, and fixed the\nwindlass and bucket, and there it stands as one of the greatest material\nblessings which the Lord has given to Aniwa. It rises and falls with the\ntide, though a third of a mile distant from the sea; and when, after\nusing it, we tasted the pure fresh water on board the _Dayspring_, the\nlatter seemed so insipid that I had to slip a little salt into my tea\nalong with the sugar before I could enjoy it! All visitors are taken to\nsee the well, as one of the wonders of Aniwa; and an Elder of the Native\nChurch said to me, on a recent visit, \"But for that water, during the\nlast two years of drought, we would have all been dead!\"\n\nVery strangely, though the Natives themselves have since tried to sink\nsix or seven wells in the most likely places near their different\nvillages, they have either come to coral rock which they could not\npierce, or found only water that was salt. And they say amongst\nthemselves, \"Missi not only used pick and spade, but he prayed and cried\nto his God. We have learned to dig, but not how to pray, and therefore\nJehovah will not give us the rain, from below!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXVIII.\nTHE OLD CHIEF'S SERMON.\n\nTHE well was now finished. The place was neatly fenced in. And the old\nChief said, \"Missi, I think I could help you next Sabbath. Will you let\nme preach a sermon on the well?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I at once replied, \"if you will try to bring all the people to\nhear you.\"\n\n\"Missi, I will try,\" he eagerly promised. The news spread like wildfire\nthat the Chief Namakei was to be Missionary on the next day for the\nWorship, and the people, under great expectancy, urged each other to\ncome and hear what he had to say.\n\nSabbath came round. Aniwa assembled in what was for that island a great\ncrowd. Namakei appeared dressed in shirt and kilt. He was so excited,\nand flourished his tomahawk about at such a rate, that it was rather\nlively work to be near him. I conducted short opening devotions, and\nthen called upon Namakei. He rose at once, with eye flashing wildly, and\nhis limbs twitching with emotion. He spoke to the following effect,\nswinging his tomahawk to enforce every eloquent gesticulation:--\n\n\"Friends of Namakei, men and women and children of Aniwa, listen to my\nwords! Since Missi came here he has talked many strange things we could\nnot understand--things things all too wonderful; and we said regarding\nmany of them that they must be lies. White people might believe such\nnonsense, but we said that the black fellow knew better than to receive\nit. But of all his wonderful stories, we thought the strangest was about\nsinking down through the earth to get rain! Then we said to each other,\nThe man's head is turned; he's gone mad. But the Missi prayed on and\nwrought on, telling us that Jehovah God heard and saw, and that his God\nwould give him rain. Was he mad? Has he not got the rain deep down in\nthe earth? We mocked at him; but the water was there all the same. We\nhave laughed at other things which the Missi told us, because we could\nnot see them. But from this day I believe that all he tells us about his\nJehovah God is true. Some day our eyes will see it. For to-day we have\nseen the rain from the earth.\"\n\nThen rising to a climax, first the one foot and then the other making\nthe broken coral on the floor fly behind like a war-horse pawing the\nground, he cried with great eloquence:--\n\n\"My people, the people of Aniwa, the world is turned upside down since\nthe word of Jehovah came to this land! Who ever expected to see rain\ncoming up through the earth? It has always come from the clouds!\nWonderful is the work of this Jehovah God. No god of Aniwa ever answered\nprayers as the Missi's God has done. Friends of Namakei, all the powers\nof the world could not have forced us to believe that rain could be\ngiven from the depths of the earth, if we had not seen it with our eyes,\nfelt it and tasted it as we here do. Now, by the help of Jehovah God the\nMissi brought that invisible rain to view, which we never before heard\nof or saw, and\"--(beating his hand on his breast, he exclaimed):--\n\n\"Something here in my heart tells me that the Jehovah God does exist,\nthe Invisible One, whom we never heard of nor saw till the Missi brought\nHim to our knowledge. The coral has been removed, the land has been\ncleared away, and lo! the water rises. Invisible till this day, yet all\nthe same it was there, though our eyes were too weak. So I, your Chief,\ndo now firmly believe that when I die, when the bits of coral and the\nheaps of dust are removed which now blind my old eyes, I shall then see\nthe Invisible Jehovah God with my soul, as Missi tells me, not less\nsurely than I have seen the rain from the earth below. From this day, my\npeople, I must worship the God who has opened for us the well, and who\nfills us with rain from below. The gods of Aniwa cannot hear, cannot\nhelp us, like the God of Missi. Henceforth I am a follower of Jehovah\nGod. Let every man that thinks with me go now and fetch the idols of\nAniwa, the gods which our fathers feared, and cast them down at Missi's\nfeet. Let us burn and bury and destroy these things of wood and stone,\nand let us be taught by the Missi how to serve God who can hear, the\nJehovah who gave us the well, and who will give us every other blessing,\nfor He sent His Son Jesus to die for us and bring us to Heaven. This is\nwhat the Missi has been telling us every day since he landed on Aniwa.\nWe laughed at him, but now we believe him. The Jehovah God has sent us\nrain from the earth. Why should He not also send us His Son from Heaven?\nNamakei stands up for Jehovah!\"\n\nThis address, and the Sinking of the Well, broke the back of Heathenism\non Aniwa. That very afternoon, the old Chief and several of his people\nbrought their idols and cast them down at my feet beside the door of our\nhouse. Oh, the intense excitement of the weeks that followed! Company\nafter company came to the spot, loaded with their gods of wood and\nstone, and piled them up in heaps, amid the tears and sobs of some, and\nthe shoutings of others, in which was heard the oft-repeated word,\n\"Jehovah! Jehovah!\" What could be burned, we cast into the flames;\nothers we buried in pits twelve or fifteen feet deep; and some few, more\nlikely than the rest to feed or awaken superstition, we sank far out\ninto the deep sea. Let no Heathen eyes ever gaze on them again!\n\nOne of the very first steps in Christian discipline to which they\nreadily and almost unanimously took was the asking of God's blessing on\nevery meal and praising the great Jehovah for their daily bread.\nWhosoever did not do so was regarded as a Heathen. (Query: how many\nwhite Heathens are there?) The next step, and it was taken in a manner\nas if by some common consent that was not less surprising than joyful,\nwas a form of Family Worship every morning and evening. Doubtless the\nprayers were often very queer, and mixed up with many remaining\nsuperstitions; but they were prayers to the great Jehovah, the\ncompassionate Father, the Invisible One--no longer to gods of stone!\n\nNecessarily these were the conspicuous features of our life as\nChristians in their midst--morning and evening Family Prayer, and Grace\nat Meat; and hence, most naturally, their instinctive adoption and\nimitation of the same as the first outward tokens of Christian\ndiscipline. Every house in which there was not Prayer to God in the\nfamily was known thereby to be Heathen. This was a direct and practical\nevidence of the New Religion; and, so far as it goes (and that is very\nfar indeed, where there is any sincerity beneath it), the test was one\nabout which there could be no mistake on either side.\n\nA third conspicuous feature stood out distinctly and at once,--the\nchange as to the Lord's Day. Village after village followed in this also\nthe example of the Mission House. All ordinary occupation ceased.\nSabbath was spoken of as the Day for Jehovah. Saturday came to be called\n\"Cooking Day,\" referring to the extra preparations for the coming day of\nrest and worship. They believed that it was Jehovah's will to keep the\nfirst day holy. The reverse was a distinctive mark of Heathenism.\n\nThe first traces of a new Social Order began to rise visibly on the\ndelighted eye. The whole inhabitants, young and old, now attended\nSchool,--three generations sometimes at the one copy or A B C book!\nThefts, quarrels, crimes, etc., were settled now, not by club law, but\nby fine or bonds or lash, as agreed upon by the Chiefs and their people.\nEverything was rapidly and surely becoming \"New\" under the influence of\nthe leaven of Jesus. Industry increased. Huts and plantations were safe.\nFormerly every man, in traveling, carried with him all his valuables;\nnow they were secure, left at home.\n\nEven a brood of fowls or a litter of pigs would be carried in bags on\ntheir person in Heathen days. Hence at Church we had sometimes lively\nepisodes, the chirruping of chicks, the squealing of piggies, and the\nbarking of puppies, one gaily responding to the other, as we sang, or\nprayed, or preached the Gospel! Being glad to see the Natives there,\neven with all their belongings, we carefully refrained from finding\nfault; but the thread of devotion was sometimes apt to slip through\none's fingers, especially when the conflict of the owner to silence a\nbaby pig inspired the little wretch to drown everything in a\nlong-sustained and high-pitched scream.\n\nThe natives, finding this state of matters troublesome to themselves and\ndisagreeable all round, called a General Assembly, unanimously condemned\ndishonesty, agreed upon severe fines and punishments for every act of\ntheft, and covenanted to stand by each other in putting it down. The\nchiefs, however found this a long and difficult task, but they held at\nit under the inspiration of the gospel and prevailed. Even the trials\nand difficulties with which they met were overruled by God, in assisting\nthem to form by the light of their own experience a simple code of\nSocial Laws, fitted to repress the crimes there prevailing, and to\nencourage the virtues specially needing to be cultivated there. Heathen\nWorship was gradually extinguished; and, though no one was compelled to\ncome to Church, every person on Aniwa, without exception, became ere\nmany years an avowed worshipper of Jehovah God. Again, \"O Galilean, Thou\nhast conquered!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXIX.\nTHE FIRST BOOK AND THE NEW EYES.\n\nTHE printing of my first Aniwan book was a great event, not so much for\nthe toil and worry which it cost me, though that was enough to have\nbroken the heart of many a compositor, as rather for the joy it gave to\nthe old Chief Namakei.\n\nThe break-up at Tanna had robbed me of my own neat little\nprinting-press. I had since obtained at Aneityum the remains of one from\nErromanga, that had belonged to the murdered Gordon. But the supply of\nletters, in some cases, was so deficient that I could print only four\npages at a time; and, besides, bits of the press were wanting, and I had\nfirst to manufacture substitutes from scraps of iron and wood. I\nmanaged, however, to make it go, and by and by it did good service. By\nit I printed our Aniwan Hymn-Book, a portion of Genesis in Aniwan, a\nsmall book in Erromangan for the second Gordon, and some other little\nthings.\n\nThe old Chief had eagerly helped me in translating and preparing this\nfirst book. He had a great desire \"to hear it speak,\" as he graphically\nexpressed it. It was made up chiefly of short passages from the\nScriptures that might help me to introduce them to the treasures of\nDivine truth and love. Namakei came to me, morning after morning,\nsaying, \"Missi, is it done? Can it speak?\"\n\nAt last I was able to answer, \"Yes!\"\n\nThe old Chief eagerly responded, \"Does it speak my words?\"\n\nI said, \"It does.\"\n\nWith rising interest, Namakei exclaimed, \"Make it speak to me, Missi!\nLet me hear it speak.\"\n\nI read to him a part of the book, and the old man fairly shouted in an\necstasy of joy, \"It does speak! It speaks my own language, too! Oh, give\nit to me!\"\n\nHe grasped it hurriedly, turned it all round every way, pressed it to\nhis bosom, and then, closing it with a look of great disappointment,\nhanded it back to me, saying, \"Missi, I cannot make it speak! It will\nnever speak to me.\"\n\n\"No,\" said I; \"you don't know how to read it yet, how to make it speak\nto you; but I will teach you to read, and then it will speak to you as\nit does to me.\"\n\n\"O Missi, dear Missi, show me how to make it speak!\" persisted the\nbewildered Chief. He was straining his eyes so, that I suspected they\nwere dim with age, and could not see the letters. I looked out for him a\npair of spectacles, and managed to fit him well. He was much afraid of\nputting them on at first, manifestly in dread of some sort of sorcery.\nAt last, when they were properly placed, he saw the letters and\neverything so clearly that he exclaimed in great excitement and joy--\n\n\"I see it all now! This is what you told us about Jesus. He opened the\neyes of a blind man. The word of Jesus has just come to Aniwa. He has\nsent me these glass eyes. I have gotten back again the sight that I had\nwhen a boy. O Missi, make the book speak to me now!\"\n\nI walked out with him to the public Village Ground. There I drew A B C\nin large characters upon the dust, showed him the same letters in the\nbook, and left him to compare them, and find out how many occurred on\nthe first page. Fixing these in his mind, he came running to me, and\nsaid, \"I have lifted up A B C. They are here in my head and I will hold\nthem fast. Give me other three.\"\n\nThis was repeated time after time. He mastered the whole Alphabet, and\nsoon began to spell out the smaller words. Indeed, he came so often,\ngetting me to read it over and over, that before he himself could read\nit freely, he had it word for word committed to memory. When strangers\npassed him, or young people came around, he would get out the little\nbook, and say, \"Come, and I will let you hear how the book speaks our\nown Aniwan words. You say, it is hard to learn to read and make it\nspeak. But be strong to try! If an old man like me has done it, it ought\nto be much easier for you.\"\n\nOne day I heard him read to a company with wonderful fluency. Taking the\nbook, I asked him to show me how he had learned to read so quickly.\nImmediately I perceived that he could recite the whole from memory! He\nbecame our right-hand helper in the Conversion of Aniwa.\n\nNext after God's own Word, perhaps the power of Music was most amazingly\nblessed in opening up our way. Amongst many other illustrations, I may\nmention how Namakei's wife was won. The old lady positively shuddered at\ncoming near the Mission House, and dreaded being taught anything. One\nday she was induced to draw near the door, and fixing a hand on either\npost, and gazing inwards, she exclaimed, \"Awai, Missi! Kai, Missi!\"--the\nNative cry for unspeakable wonder. Mrs. Paton began to play on the\nharmonium, and sang a simple hymn in the old woman's language.\nManifestly charmed, she drew nearer and nearer, and drank in the music,\nas it were, at every pore of her being. At last she ran off, and we\nthought it was with fright, but it was to call together all the women\nand girls from her village \"to hear the _bokis_ sing!\" (Having no _x_,\nthe word _box_ is pronounced thus.) She returned with them all at her\nheels. They listened with dancing eyes. And ever after the sound of a\nhymn, and the song of the _bokis_, made them flock freely to class or\nmeeting.\n\nBeing myself as nearly as possible destitute of the power of singing,\nall my work would have been impaired and sadly hindered, and the joyous\nside of the Worship and Service of Jehovah could not have been presented\nto the Natives, but for the gift bestowed by the Lord on my dear wife.\nShe led our songs of praise, both in the Family and in the Church, and\nthat was the first avenue by which the New Religion winged its way into\nthe heart of Cannibal and Savage.\n\nThe old Chief was particularly eager that this same aged lady, his wife\nYauwaki, should be taught to read. But her sight was far gone. So, one\nday, he brought her to me, saying, \"Missi, can you give my wife also a\npair of new glass eyes like mine? She tries to learn, but she cannot see\nthe letters. She tries to sew, but she pricks her finger, and throws\naway the needle, saying, 'The ways of the white people are not good!' If\nshe could get a pair of glass eyes, she would be in a new world like\nNamakei.\" In my bundle I found a pair that suited her. She was in\npositive terror about putting them on her face, but at last she cried\nwith delight, \"Oh, my new eyes! my new eyes! I have the sight of a\nlittle girl. Oh, my new eyes!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXX.\nA ROOF-TREE FOR JESUS.\n\nAT first we moved about amongst the Natives from village to village,\nacquired their language, and taught them everywhere,--by the roadside,\nunder the shade of a tree, or on the public Tillage Ground. Our old\nNative Hut, when we removed to the Mission House formerly referred to,\nwas also used for all sorts of public meetings. Feeling by and by,\nhowever, that the time had come to interest them in building a new\nChurch, and that it would be every way helpful, I laid the proposal\nbefore them, carefully explaining that for this work no one would be\npaid, that the Church was for all the Islanders and for the Worship\nalone, and that every one must build purely for the love of Jesus.\n\nI told them that God would be pleased with such materials as they had to\ngive, that they must not begin till they had divided the work and\ncounted the cost, and that for my part I would do all that I could to\ndirect and help, and would supply the sinnet (= cocoanut fiber rope)\nwhich I had brought from Aneityum, and the nails from Sydney.\n\nThey held meeting after meeting throughout the Island. Chiefs made long\nspeeches; orators chanted their palavers; and warriors acted their part\nby waving of club and tomahawk. An unprecedented friendliness sprang up\namongst them. They agreed to sink every quarrel, and unite in building\nthe first Church on Aniwa,--one Chief only holding back. Women and\nchildren began to gather and prepare the sugar-cane leaf for thatch. Men\nsearched for and cut down suitable trees.\n\nThe Church measured sixty-two feet by twenty-four. The wall was twelve\nfeet high. The studs were of hard ironwood, and were each by tenon and\nmortise fastened into six ironwood trees forming the upper wall plates.\nAll were not only nailed, but strongly tied together by sinnet-rope, so\nas to resist the hurricanes. The roof was supported by four huge\nironwood trees, and a fifth of equally hard wood, sunk about eight feet\ninto the ground, surrounded by building at the base, and forming massive\npillars. There were two doorways and eight window spaces; the floor was\nlaid with white coral, broken small, and covered with cocoanut tree\nleaf-mats, on which the people sat. I had a small platform, floored and\nsurrounded with reeds; and Mrs. Paton had a seat enclosing the\nharmonium, also made of reeds and in keeping. Great harmony prevailed\nall the time, and no mishap marred the work. One hearty fellow fell from\nthe roof-tree to the ground, and was badly stunned. But, jumping up, he\nshook himself, and saying--\"I was working for Jehovah! He has saved me\nfrom being hurt!\"--he mounted the roof again and went on cheerily with\nhis work.\n\nBut our pride in this New Church soon met with a dreadful blow. That\nvery season a terrific hurricane leveled it with the ground. After much\nwailing, the principal Chief, in a public Assembly, said, \"Let us not\nweep, like boys over their broken bows and arrows! Let us be strong, and\nbuild a yet stronger Church for Jehovah.\"\n\nBy our counsel, ten days were spent first in repairing houses and\nfences, and saving food from the plantations, many of which had been\nswept into utter ruin. Then they assembled on the appointed day. A hymn\nwas sung. God's blessing was invoked, and all the work was dedicated\nafresh to Him. Days were spent in taking the iron wood roof to pieces,\nand saving everything that could be saved. The work was allocated\nequally amongst the villages, and a wholesome emulation was created. One\nChief still held back. After a while, I visited him and personally\ninvited his help,--telling him that it was God's House, and for all the\npeople of Aniwa; and that if he and his people did not do their part,\nthe others would cast it in their teeth that they had no share in the\nHouse of God. He yielded to my appeal, and entered vigorously upon the\nwork.\n\nOne large tree was still needed to complete the couples, and could\nnowhere be found. The work was at a standstill; for, though the size was\nnow reduced to fifty feet by twenty-two, the roof lowered by four feet,\nand there was still plenty of smaller wood on Aniwa, the larger trees\nwere apparently exhausted. One morning, however, we were awakened at\nearly daybreak by the shouting and singing of a company of men, carrying\na great black tree to the Church, with this same Chief dancing before\nthem, leading the singing, and beating time with the flourish of his\ntomahawk. Determined not to be beaten, though late in the field, he had\nlifted the roof-tree out of his own house, as black as soot could make\nit, and was carrying it to complete the couplings. The rest of the\nbuilders shouted against this. All the other wood of the Church was\nwhite and clean, and they would not have this black tree, conspicuous in\nthe very center of all. But I praised the old Chief for what he had\ndone, and hoped he and his people would come and worship Jehovah under\nhis own roof-tree. At this all were delighted! and the work went on\napace, with many songs and shoutings.\n\nWhenever the Church was roofed in, we met in it for Public Worship.\nCoral was being got and burned, and preparations made for plastering the\nwalls. The Natives were sharp enough to notice that I was not putting up\nthe bell; and suspicions arose that I kept it back in order to take it\nwith me when I returned to Tanna. It was a beautiful Church bell, cast\nand sent out by our dear friend, James Taylor, Esq., Birkenhead. The\nAniwans, therefore, gave me no rest till I agreed to have it hung on\ntheir new Church. They found a large ironwood tree near the shore, cut a\nroad for half a mile through the bush, tied poles across it every few\nfeet, and with shouts lifted it bodily on their shoulders--six men or so\nat each pole--and never set it down again till they reached the Church;\nfor as one party got exhausted, others were ready to rush in and relieve\nthem at every stage of the journey. The two old Chiefs, flourishing\ntheir tomahawks, went capering in front of all the rest, and led the\nsong to which they marched, joyfully bearing their load. They dug a deep\nhole, into which to sink it; I squared the top and screwed on the bell;\nthen we raised the tree by ropes, letting it sink into the hole, and\nbuilt it round eight feet deep with coral blocks and lime; and there\nfrom its top swings and rings ever since the Church bell of Aniwa.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXI.\n\"KNOCK THE TEVIL OUT!\"\n\nONE of the last attempts ever made on my life resulted, by God's\nblessing, in great good to us all and to the work of the Lord. It was\nwhen Nourai, one of Nasi's men, struck at me again and again with the\nbarrel of his musket; but I evaded the blows, till rescued by the\nwomen--the men looking on stupefied. After he escaped into the bush I\nassembled our people, and said, \"If you do not now try to stop this bad\nconduct, I shall leave Aniwa, and go to some island where my life will\nbe protected.\"\n\nNext morning at daybreak, about one hundred men arrived at my house, and\nin answer to my query why they came armed they replied, \"We are now\ngoing to that village where the men of wicked conduct are gathered\ntogether. We will find out why they sought your life, and we will rebuke\ntheir Sacred Man for pretending to cause hurricanes and diseases. We\ncannot go unarmed. We will not suffer you to go alone. We are your\nfriends and the friends of the Worship. And we are resolved to stand by\nyou, and you must go at our head to-day!\"\n\nIn great perplexity, yet believing that my presence might prevent\nbloodshed, I allowed myself to be placed at their head. The old Chief\nfollowed next, then a number of fiery young men; then all the rest,\nsingle file, along the narrow path. At a sudden turn, as we neared their\nvillage, Nourai, who had attacked me the Sabbath day before, and his\nbrother were seen lurking with their muskets; but our young men made a\nrush in front, and they disappeared into the bush.\n\nWe took possession of the Village Public Ground; and the Chief, the\nSacred Man, and others soon assembled. A most characteristic Native\nPalaver followed. Speeches, endless speeches, were fired by them at each\nother. My friends declared, in every conceivable form of language and of\ngraphic illustration, that they were resolved at any cost to defend me\nand the Worship of Jehovah, and that they would as one man punish every\nattempt to injure me or take my life. The orator, Taia, exclaimed, \"You\nthink that Missi is here alone, and that you can do with him as you\nplease! No! We are now all Missi's men. We will fight for him and his\nrather than see him injured. Every one that attacks him attacks us. That\nis finished to-day!\"\n\nIn the general scolding, the Sacred Man had special attention for\npretending to cause hurricanes. One pointed out that he had himself a\nstiff knee, and argued, \"If he can make a hurricane, why can't he\nrestore the joint of his own knee? It is surely easier to do the one\nthan the other!\"\n\nThe Natives laughed heartily, and taunted him. Meantime he sat looking\ndown to the earth in sullen silence; and a ludicrous episode ensued. His\nwife, a big, strong woman, scolded him roundly for the trouble he had\nbrought them all into; and then, getting indignant as well as angry, she\nseized a huge cocoanut leaf out of the bush, and with the butt end\nthereof began thrashing his shoulders vigorously as she poured out the\nvials of her wrath in torrents of words, always winding up with the cry,\n\"I'll knock the Tevil out of him! He'll not try hurricanes again!\"\n\nThe woman was a Malay, as all the Aniwans were. Had a Papuan woman on\nTanna or Erromanga dared such a thing, she would have been killed on the\nspot. But even on Aniwa, the unwonted spectacle of a wife beating her\nhusband created uproarious amusement. At length I remonstrated, saying,\n\"You had better stop now! You don't want to kill him, do you? You seem\nto have knocked 'the Tevil' pretty well out of him now! You see how he\nreceives it all in silence, and repents of all his bad talk and bad\nconduct.\"\n\nThey exacted from him a solemn promise as to the making of no more\ndiseases or hurricanes, and that he would live at peace with his\nneighbors. The offending villagers at length presented a large quantity\nof sugar-cane and food to us as a peace-offering; and we returned,\npraising God that the whole day's scolding had ended in talk, not blood.\nThe result was every way most helpful. Our friends knew their strength\nand took courage. Our enemies were disheartened and afraid. We saw the\nbalance growing heavier every day on the side of Jesus; and our souls\nblessed the Lord.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXII.\nTHE CONVERSION OF YOUWILI.\n\nTHESE events suggest to me another incident of those days, full at once\nof trial and of joy. It pertains to the story of our young Chief\nYouwili. From the first, and for long, he was most audacious and\ntroublesome. Observing that for several days no Natives had come near\nthe Mission House, I asked the old Chief if he knew why, and he\nanswered, \"Youwili has _tabooed_ the paths, and threatens death to any\none who breaks through it.\"\n\nI at once replied, \"Then I conclude that you all agree with him, and\nwish me to leave. We are here only to teach you and your people. If he\nhas power to prevent that we shall leave with the _Dayspring_.\"\n\nThe old Chief called the people together, and they came to me, saying,\n\"Our anger is strong against Youwili. Go with us and break down the\n_taboo_. We will assist and protect you.\"\n\nI went at their head and removed it. It consisted simply of reeds stuck\ninto the ground, with twigs and leaves and fiber tied to each in a\npeculiar way, in a circle round the Mission House. The Natives had an\nextraordinary dread of violating the taboo, and believed that it meant\ndeath to the offender or to some one of his family. All present entered\ninto a bond to punish on the spot any man who attempted to replace the\n_taboo_ or to revenge its removal. Thus a mortal blow was publicly\nstruck at this most miserable superstition, which had caused bloodshed\nand misery untold.\n\nOne day, thereafter, I was engaged in clearing away the bush around the\nMission House, having purchased and paid for the land for the very\npurpose of opening it up, when suddenly Youwili appeared and menacingly\nforbade me to proceed. For the sake of peace I for the time desisted.\nBut he went straight to my fence, and with his tomahawk cut down the\nportion in front of our house, also some bananas planted there--the\nusual declaration of war, intimating that he only awaited his\nopportunity similarly to cut down me and mine. We saw the old Chief and\nhis men planting themselves here and there to guard us, and the Natives\nprowling about armed and excited. On calling them, they explained the\nmeaning of what Youwili had done, and that they were determined to\nprotect us. I said. \"This must not continue. Are you to permit one young\nfool to defy us all, and break up the Lord's work on Aniwa? If you\ncannot righteously punish him, I will shut myself up in my house and\nwithdraw from all attempts to teach or help you, till the vessel comes,\nand then I can leave the island.\"\n\nNow that they had begun really to love us, and to be anxious to learn\nmore, this was always my most powerful argument. We retired into the\nMission House. The people surrounded our doors and windows and pleaded\nwith us. After long silence, we replied, \"You know our resolution. It is\nfor you now to decide. Either you must control that foolish young man,\nor we must go!\"\n\nMuch speech-making, as usual, followed. The people resolved to seize and\npunish Youwili; but he fled, and had hid himself in the bush. Coming to\nme, the Chief said, \"It is left to you to say what shall be Youwili's\npunishment. Shall we kill him?\"\n\nI replied firmly, \"Certainly not! Only for murder can life be lawfully\ntaken away.\"\n\n\"What then?\" they continued. \"Shall we burn his houses and destroy his\nplantations?\"\n\nI answered, \"No.\"\n\n\"Shall we bind him and beat him?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Shall we place him in a canoe, thrust him out to sea, and let him drown\nor escape as he may?\"\n\n\"No! by no means.\"\n\n\"Then, Missi,\" said they, \"these are our ways of punishing. What other\npunishment remains that Youwili cares for?\"\n\nI replied, \"Make him with his own hands, and alone, put up a new fence,\nand restore all that he has destroyed; and make him promise publicly\nthat he will cease all evil conduct towards us. That will satisfy me.\"\n\nThis idea of punishment seemed to tickle them greatly. The Chiefs\nreported our words to the Assembly; and the Natives laughed and cheered,\nas if it were a capital joke! They cried aloud, \"It is good! Obey the\nword of the Missi.\"\n\nAfter considerable hunting, the young Chief was found. They brought him\nto the Assembly and scolded him severely and told him their sentence. He\nwas surprised by the nature of the punishment, and cowed by the\ndetermination of the people.\n\n\"To-morrow,\" said he, \"I will fully repair the fence. Never again will I\noppose the Missi. His word is good.\"\n\nBy daybreak next morning Youwili was diligently repairing what he had\nbroken down, and before evening he had everything made right better than\nit was before. While he toiled away, some fellows of his own rank\ntwitted him, saying, \"Youwili, you found it easier to cut down Missi's\nfence than to repair it again. You will not repeat that in a hurry!\"\n\nBut he heard all in silence. Others passed with averted heads, and he\nknew they were laughing at him. He made everything tight and then left\nwithout uttering a single word. My heart yearned after the poor fellow,\nbut I thought it better to let his own mind work away, on its new ideas\nas to punishment and revenge, for a little longer by itself alone. I\ninstinctively felt that Youwili was beginning to turn, that the\nChrist-Spirit had touched his darkly-groping soul. My doors were now\nthrown open, and every good work went on as before. We resolved to leave\nYouwili entirely to Jesus, setting apart a portion of our prayer every\nday for the enlightenment and conversion of the young Chief, on whom all\nother means had been exhausted apparently in vain.\n\nA considerable time elapsed. No sign came, and our prayers seemed to\nfail. But one day, I was toiling between the shafts of a hand-cart,\nassisted by two boys, drawing it along from the shore loaded with coral\nblocks. Youwili came rushing from his house, three hundred yards or so\noff the path, and said, \"Missi, that is too hard for you. Let me be your\nhelper!\"\n\nWithout waiting for a reply, he ordered the two boys to seize one rope,\nwhile he grasped the other, threw it over his shoulder and started off,\npulling with the strength of a horse. My heart rose in gratitude, and I\nwept with joy as I followed him. I knew that that yoke was but a symbol\nof the yoke of Christ, which Youwili with his change of heart was\nbeginning to carry! Truly there is only one way of regeneration, being\nborn again by the power of the Spirit of God, the new heart; but there\nare many ways of conversation, of outwardly turning to the Lord, of\ntaking the actual first step that shows on whose side we are.\n\nLike those of old praying for the deliverance of Peter, and who could\nnot believe their ears and eyes when Peter knocked and walked in amongst\nthem, so we could scarcely believe our eyes and ears when Youwili became\na disciple of Jesus, though we had been praying for his conversion every\nday. His once sullen countenance became literally bright with inner\nlight. His wife came immediately for a book and a dress saying, \"Youwili\nsent me. His opposition to the Worship is over now. I am to attend\nChurch and School. He is coming too. He wants to learn how to be strong,\nlike you, for Jehovah and for Jesus.\"\n\nOh, Jesus! to Thee alone be all the glory. Thou hast the key to unlock\nevery heart that Thou hast created.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXIII.\nFIRST COMMUNION ON ANIWA.\n\nAND this leads me to relate the story of our First Communion on Aniwa.\nIt was Sabbath, 24th October 1869; and surely the Angels of God and the\nChurch of the Redeemed in Glory were amongst the \"great cloud of\nwitnesses\" who eagerly \"peered\" down upon the scene,--when we sat around\nthe Lord's Table and partook the memorials of His body and blood with\nthose few souls rescued out of the Heathen World. My Communicants' Class\nhad occupied me now a considerable time. The conditions of attendance at\nthis early stage were explicit, and had to be made very severe, and only\ntwenty were admitted to the roll. At the final examination only twelve\ngave evidence of understanding what they were doing, and of having given\ntheir hearts to the service of the Lord Jesus. At their own urgent\ndesire, and after every care in examining and instructing, they were\nsolemnly dedicated in prayer to be baptized and admitted to the Holy\nTable. On that Lord's Day, after the usual opening Service, I gave a\nshort and careful exposition of the Ten Commandments and of the Way of\nSalvation according to the Gospel. The twelve Candidates then stood up\nbefore all the inhabitants there assembled; and, after a brief\nexhortation to them as Converts, I put to them the two questions that\nfollow, and each gave an affirmative reply, \"Do you, in accordance with\nyour profession of the Christian Faith, and your promises before God and\nthe people, wish me now to baptize you?\"\n\nAnd--\"Will you live henceforth for Jesus only, hating all sin and trying\nto love and serve your Saviour?\"\n\nThen, beginning with the old Chief, the twelve came forward, and I\nbaptized them one by one according to the Presbyterian usage. Two of\nthem had also little children, and they were at the same time baptized,\nand received as the lambs of the flock. Solemn prayer was then offered,\nand in the name of the Holy Trinity the Church of Christ on Aniwa was\nformally constituted. I addressed them on the words of the Holy\nInstitution--1 Corinthians xi. 23--and then, after the prayer of\nThanksgiving and Consecration, administered the Lord's Supper, the first\ntime since the Island of Aniwa was heaved out of its coral depths! Mrs.\nM'nair, my wife, and myself, along with six Aneityumese Teachers,\ncommunicated with the newly baptized twelve. And I think, if ever in all\nmy Earthly experience, on that day I might truly add the blessed\nwords--\"Jesus in the midst.\"\n\nThe whole Service occupied nearly three hours. The Islanders looked on\nwith a wonder whose unwonted silence was almost painful to bear. Many\nwere led to inquire carefully about everything they saw, so new and\nstrange. For the first time the Dorcas Street Sabbath School Teachers'\ngift from South Melbourne Presbyterian Church was put to use--a new\nCommunion Service of silver. They gave it in faith that we would require\nit, and in such we received it. And now the day had come and gone! For\nthree years we had toiled and prayed and taught for this. At the moment\nwhen I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained with\nthe blood of Cannibalism, but now stretched out to receive and partake\nthe emblems and seals of the Redeemer's love, I had a foretaste of the\njoy of Glory that well-nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall never\ntaste a deeper bliss till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus Himself.\n\nOn the afternoon of that Communion Day an open-air Prayer Meeting was\nheld under the shade of the great banyan tree in front of our Church.\nSeven of the new Church members there led the people in prayer to Jesus,\na hymn being sung after each. My heart was so full of joy that I could\ndo little else but weep. Oh, I wonder, I wonder, when I see so many good\nMinisters at home, crowding each other and treading on each other's\nheels, whether they would not part with all their home privileges, and\ngo out to the Heathen World and reap a joy like this--\"the joy of the\nLord.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXIV.\nTHE NEW SOCIAL ORDER.\n\nTHE new Social Order, referred to already in its dim beginnings, rose\naround us like a sweet-scented flower. I never interfered directly,\nunless expressly called upon or appealed to. The two principal Chiefs\nwere impressed with the idea that there was but one law--the Will of\nGod; and one rule for them and their people as Christians--to please the\nLord Jesus. In every difficulty they consulted me. I explained to them\nand read in their hearing the very words of Holy Scripture, showing what\nappeared to me to be the will of God and what would please the Saviour;\nand then sent them away to talk it over with their people, and to apply\nthese principles of the Word of God as wisely as they could according to\ntheir circumstances. Our own part of the work went on very joyfully,\nnotwithstanding occasional trying and painful incidents. Individual\ncases of greed and selfishness and vice brought us many a bitter pang.\nBut the Lord never lost patience with us, and we durst not therefore\nlose patience with them! We trained the Teachers, we translated and\nprinted and expounded the Scriptures, we ministered to the sick and\ndying; we dispensed medicines every day, we taught them the use of\ntools, we advised them as to laws and penalties; and the New Society\ngrew and developed, and bore amidst all its imperfections some traces of\nthe fair Kingdom of God amongst men.\n\nOur life and work will reveal itself to the reader if I briefly outline\na Sabbath Day on Aniwa. Breakfast is partaken of immediately after\ndaylight. The Church bell then rings, and ere it stops every worshiper\nis seated. The Natives are guided in starting by the sunrise, and are\nforward from farthest corners at this early hour. The first Service is\nover in about an hour; there is an interval of twenty minutes; the bell\nis again rung, and the second Service begins. We follow the ordinary\nPresbyterian ritual; but in every Service I call upon an Elder or a\nChurch Member to lead in one of the prayers, which they do with great\nalacrity and with much benefit to all concerned.\n\nAs the last worshiper leaves, at close of second Service, the bell is\nsounded twice very deliberately, and that is the signal for the opening\nof my Communicants' Class. I carefully expound the Church's Shorter\nCatechism, and show how its teachings are built upon Holy Scripture,\napplying each truth to the conscience and the life. This class is\nconducted all the year round; and from it, step by step, our Church\nMembers are drawn as the Lord opens up their way, the most of them\nattending two full years at least before being admitted to the Lord's\nTable. This discipline accounts for the fact that so very few of our\nbaptized converts have ever fallen away--as few in proportion, I verily\nbelieve, as in Churches at home. Meantime, many of the Church members\nhave been holding a prayer-meeting amongst themselves in the adjoining\nSchool,--a thing started of their own free accord,--in which they invoke\nGod's blessing on all the work and worship of the day.\n\nHaving snatched a brief meal of tea, or a cold dinner cooked on\nSaturday, the bell rings within an hour, and our Sabbath School\nassembles,--in which the whole inhabitants, young and old, take part,\nmyself superintending and giving the address, as well as questioning on\nthe lesson, Mrs. Paton teaching a large class of adult women, and the\nElders and best readers instructing the ordinary classes for about\nhalf-an-hour or so.\n\nAbout one o'clock the School is closed, and we then start off on our\nvillage tours. An experienced Elder, with several Teachers, takes one\nside of the Island this Sabbath, I with another company taking the other\nside, and next Sabbath we reverse the order. A short Service is\nconducted in the open air, or in Schoolrooms, at every village that can\nbe reached and on their return they report to me cases of sickness, or\nany signs of progress in the work of the Lord. The whole Island is thus\nsteadily and methodically evangelized.\n\nAs the sun is setting I am creeping home from my village tour; and when\ndarkness begins to approach, the canoe drum is beat at every village,\nand the people assemble under the banyan tree for evening village\nprayers. The Elder or Teacher presides. Five or six hymns are joyously\nsung, and five or six short prayers offered between, and thus the\nevening hour passes happily in the fellowship of God. On a calm evening,\nafter Christianity had fairly taken hold of the people, and they loved\nto sing over and over again their favorite hymns, these village\nprayer-meetings formed a most blessed close to every day, and set the\nfar-distant bush echoing with the praises of God.\n\nNor is our week-day life less crowded or busy, though in different ways.\nAt gray dawn on Monday, and every morning, the _Tavaka_ (= the canoe\ndrum) is struck in every village on Aniwa. The whole inhabitants turn in\nto the early School, which lasts about an hour and a half, and then the\nNatives are off to their plantations. Having partaken of breakfast, I\nthen spend my forenoon in translating or printing, or visiting the sick,\nor whatever else is most urgent. About two o'clock the Natives return\nfrom their work, bathe in the sea, and dine off cocoanut, breadfruit, or\nanything else that comes handily in the way. At three o'clock the bell\nrings, and the afternoon School for the Teachers and the more advanced\nlearners then occupy my wife and myself for about an hour and a half.\nAfter this, the Natives spend their time in fishing or lounging or\npreparing supper,--which is amongst them always _the_ meal of the day.\nTowards sundown the _Tavaka_ sounds again, and the day closes amid the\nechoes of village prayers from under their several banyan trees.\n\nThus day after day and week after week passed over us on Aniwa; and much\nthe same on all the Islands where the Missionary has found a home. In\nmany respects it is a simple and happy and beautiful life; and the man\nwhose heart is full of things that are dear to Jesus, feels no desire to\nexchange it for the poor frivolities of what calls itself \"Society,\"\nwhich seems to find its life in pleasures that Christ cannot be asked to\nshare, and in which, therefore, Christians should have neither lot nor\npart.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXV.\nTHE ORPHANS AND THEIR BISCUITS.\n\nTHE habits of morning and evening Family Prayer and of Grace at Meat\ntook a very wonderful hold upon the people; and became, as I have shown\nelsewhere, a distinctive badge of Christian versus Heathen. This was\nstrikingly manifested during a time of bitter scarcity that befell us. I\nheard a father, for instance, at his hut door, with his family around\nhim, reverently blessing God for the food provided for them, and for all\nHis mercies in Christ Jesus. Drawing near and conversing with them, I\nfound that their meals consisted of fig leaves which they had gathered\nand cooked--a poor enough dish, but hunger makes a healthy appetite, and\ncontentment is a grateful relish.\n\nDuring the same period of privation, my Orphans suffered badly also.\nOnce they came to me, saying, \"Missi, we are very hungry.\"\n\nI replied, \"So am I, dear children, and we have no more white food till\nthe _Dayspring_ comes.\"\n\nThey continued, \"Missi, you have two beautiful fig-trees. Will you let\nus take one feast of the young and tender leaves? We will not injure\nbranch or fruit.\"\n\nI answered, \"Gladly, my children, take your fill!\"\n\nIn a twinkling each child was perched upon a branch; and they feasted\nthere happy as squirrels. Every night we prayed for the vessel, and in\nthe morning our Orphan boys rushed to the coral rocks and eagerly\nscanned the sea for an answer. Day after day they returned with sad\nfaces, saying, \"Missi, _Tavaka jimra_!\" (= No vessel yet).\n\nBut at gray dawn of a certain day we were awoke by the boys shouting\nfrom the shore and running for the Mission House with the cry,--\"_Tavaka\noa! Tavaka oa!_\"(= The vessel, hurrah!)\n\nWe arose at once, and the boy exclaimed, \"Missi, she is not our own\nvessel, but we think she carries her flag. She has three masts, and our\n_Dayspring_ only two!\"\n\nI looked through my glass, and saw that they were discharging goods into\nthe vessel's boats; and the children, when I told them that boxes and\nbags and casks were being sent on shore, shouted and danced with\ndelight. As the first boat-load was discharged, the Orphans surrounded\nme, saying, \"Missi, here is a cask that rattles like biscuits? Will you\nlet us take it to the Mission House?\"\n\nI told them to do so if they could; and in a moment it was turned into\nthe path, and the boys had it flying before them, some tumbling and\nhurting their knees, but up and at it again, and never pausing till it\nrolled up at the door of our Storehouse. On returning I found them all\naround it, and they said, \"Missi, have you forgotten what you promised\nus?\"\n\nI said, \"What did I promise you?\"\n\nThey looked very disappointed and whispered to each other, \"Missi has\nforgot!\"\n\n\"Forgot what?\" inquired I.\n\n\"Missi,\" they answered, \"you promised that when the vessel came you\nwould give each of us a biscuit.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" I replied, \"I did not forget; I only wanted to see if you\nremembered it?\"\n\nThey laughed, saying, \"No fear of that, Missi! Will you soon open the\ncask? We are dying for biscuits.\"\n\nAt once I got hammer and tools, knocked off the hoops, took out the end,\nand then gave girls and boys a biscuit each. To my surprise, they all\nstood round, biscuit in hand, but not one beginning to eat.\n\n\"What,\" I exclaimed, \"you are dying for biscuits! Why don't you eat? Are\nyou expecting another?\"\n\nOne of the eldest said, \"We will first thank God for sending us food,\nand ask Him to bless it to us all.\"\n\nAnd this was done in their own simple and beautiful childlike way; and\nthen they did eat, and enjoyed their food as a gift from the Heavenly\nFather's hand. (Is there any child reading this, or hearing it read, who\nnever thanks God or asks Him to bless daily bread? Then is that child\nnot a white Heathen?) We ourselves at the Mission House could very\nheartily rejoice with the dear Orphans. For some weeks past our European\nfood had been all exhausted, except a little tea, and the cocoanut had\nbeen our chief support. It was beginning to tell against us. Our souls\nrose in gratitude to the Lord, who had sent us these fresh provisions\nthat we might love Him better and serve Him more.\n\nThe children's sharp eyes had read correctly. It was not the\n_Dayspring_. Our brave little ship, as I afterwards learned, had gone to\nwreck on 6th January 1873; and this vessel was the _Paragon_, chartered\nto bring down our supplies. Alas! the wreck had gone by auction sale to\na French slaving company, who cut a passage through the coral reef, and\nhad the vessel again floating in the Bay,--elated at the prospect of\nemploying our Mission Ship in the blood-stained _Tanaka_-traffic (= a\nmere euphemism for South Sea slavery)! Our souls sank in horror and\nconcern. Many Natives would unwittingly trust themselves to the\n_Dayspring_ and revenge would be taken on us, as was done on noble\nBishop Patteson, when the deception was found out. What could be done?\nNothing but cry to God, which all the friends of our Mission did day and\nnight, not without tears, as we thought of the possible degradation of\nour noble little ship. Listen! The French Slavers, anchoring their prize\nin the Bay, and greatly rejoicing, went ashore to celebrate the event.\nThey drank and feasted and reveled. But that night a mighty storm arose,\nthe old _Dayspring_ dragged her anchor, and at daybreak she was seen\nagain on the reef, but this time with her back broken in two and for\never unfit for service, either fair or foul. Oh, white winged Virgin,\ndaughter of the waves, better for thee, as for thy human sisters, to die\nand pass away than to suffer pollution and live on in disgrace!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXVI.\nTHE FINGER-POSTS OF GOD.\n\nI HAD often said that I would not again leave my beloved work on the\nIslands unless compelled to do so either by the breakdown of health, or\nby the loss of our Mission Ship and my services being required to assist\nin providing another. Very strange, that in this one season both of\nthese events befell us! During the hurricanes, from January to April\n1873, when the _Dayspring_ was wrecked, we lost a darling child by\ndeath, my dear wife had a protracted illness, and I was brought very low\nwith severe rheumatic fever. I was reduced so far that I could not\nspeak, and was reported as dying. The Captain of a vessel, having seen\nme, called at Tanna, and spoke of me as in all probability dead by that\ntime. Our unfailing and ever-beloved friends and fellow-Missionaries,\nMr. and Mrs. Watt, at once started from Kwamera, in their open boat, and\nrowed and sailed thirty miles to visit us. But a few days before they\narrived I had fallen into a long and sound sleep, out of which, when I\nawoke, consciousness had again returned to me. I had got the turn; there\nwas no further relapse; but when I did regain a little strength, my\nweakness was so great that I had to travel about on crutches for many a\nday.\n\nIn the circumstances of our baby Lena's death, every form of\nheartrending tenderness seemed to meet. On Friday, 28th March, at 3 A.M.\nshe came from God, and seemed to both of us the Angel-child of all our\nflock. Alas, on Saturday I was seized with sciatica, so dreadful and\nagonizing, that I had to be borne to my bed, and could not stir a limb\nany more than if my back had been broken. My dear wife struggled to\nattend to the baby, with such help as Native girls could give; and I\ndirected the Teachers about the Services in Church next Sunday, the\nfirst time as yet that I had been unable to appear and lead them. From\nthe beds where we lay, my wife and I could hear each other's voices, and\ntried to console one another in our sorrowful and helpless state. On\nTuesday, 1st April, the child was bright and vigorous; but the mother's\nstrength had been overtaxed, and she fell back, fainting in her bed,\nwhen helping to dress the baby. Next morning, to our dismay, there were\nsymptoms of wheezing and feverishness in the little darling. All due\nmeasures were at once taken to check these; and Williag, an experienced\nNative, now having charge, kept everything warm and cozy. Before tea,\nwhen receiving a little food, Lena opened her dark blue eyes, and gazed\nup peacefully and gladly in her mother's face. But, immediately after\ntea, within less than an hour, when the nurse brought her and placed her\nin the mother's arms, the Angel-Soul fled away. Poor Williag, seeing the\nmother's pathetic look, and as if she herself had been guilty, fell on\nher knees and cried,--\"I knew it, Missi, I knew it! She gave two big\nsighs, and went! Awai, Missi, Awai!\" When the mother called to me\nsomething about the child having \"fainted,\" I was talking with Koris,\nbut my heart guessed the worst. Alas, all means were seen to be vain! I\ncould not rise, could not move, nor could the mother, but we prayed, in\neach other's hearing, and in the hearing of our blessed Lord, and He did\nnot leave us without consolation. In such cases, the Heathen usually fly\naway in terror, but our Teachers were faithful and obedient; and our\nlittle boys, Bob and Fred, six and four respectively, followed all our\ntearful directions. One of their small toy-boxes was readily given up to\nmake the baby's coffin. Yawaci brought calico, and dressed the precious\nbody at the mother's instructions. I then offered a prayer to the clear\nLord, whilst the mother clasped the coffin in her arms. The little\ngrave, dug by the Teachers in the Mission plot, was within earshot of\nwhere we lay, and there Bob and Fred, kneeling in their snow-white\ndresses, sang \"There is a Happy Land,\" as their sister's dust was laid\nin the Earth and in the arms of Jesus who is the Resurrection and the\nLife. God only can ever know how our hearts were torn by the pathos of\nthat event, as we lay helpless, almost dying, and listened to our\nchildren's trembling voices! Johna, the Teacher, then prayed; while the\nHeathen, in groups of wonder, but holding far aloof, had many strange\nideas wakened in their puzzled brains. The mother and I gave ourselves\nonce more away to God, and to the Service of our dear Lord Jesus, as we\nparted with our darling Lena; and when, by and by, we were raised up\nagain, and able to move about, often, often, did we find ourselves\nmeeting together at that precious grave.\n\nBeing ordered to seek health by change and by higher medical aid, and if\npossible in the cooler air of New Zealand, we took the first opportunity\nand arrived at Sydney, anxious to start the new movement to secure the\n_Paragon_ there, and then to go on to the sister Colony. Being scarcely\nable to walk without the crutches, we called privately a preliminary\nmeeting of friends for consultation and advice. The conditions were laid\nbefore them and discussed. The Insurance Company had paid L2000 on the\nfirst _Dayspring_. Of that sum L1000 had been spent on chartering and\nmaintaining the _Paragon;_ so that we required an additional L2000 to\npurchase her, according to Dr. Steel's bargain with the owners, besides\na large sum for alterations and equipment for the Mission. The late Mr.\nLearmouth looked across to Mr. Goodlet, and said, \"If you'll join me, we\nwill at once secure this vessel for the Missionaries, that God's work\nmay not suffer from the wreck of the _Dayspring_.\"\n\nThose two servants of God, excellent Elders of the Presbyterian Church,\nconsulted together, and the vessel was purchased next day. How I did\npraise God, and pray Him to bless them and theirs! The late Dr.\nFullarton, our dear friend, said to them, \"But what guarantee do you ask\nfrom the Missionaries for your money?\"\n\nMr. Learmouth's noble reply was, and the other heartily re-echoed\nit--\"God's work is our guarantee! From them we will ask none. What\nguarantee have they to give us, except their faith in God? That\nguarantee is ours already.\"\n\nI answered, \"You take God and His work for your guarantee. Rest assured\nthat He will soon repay you, and you will lose nothing by this noble\nservice.\"\n\nHaving secured St. Andrew's Church for a public meeting, I advertised it\nin all the papers. Ministers, Sabbath School Teachers, and other friends\ncame in great numbers. The scheme was fairly launched, and Collecting\nCards largely distributed. Committees carried everything out into\ndetail, and all worked for the fund with great goodwill.\n\nI then sailed from Sydney to Victoria, and addressed the General\nAssembly of the Presbyterian Church in session at Melbourne. The work\nwas easily set agoing there, and willing workers fully and rapidly\norganized it through Congregations and Sabbath Schools. Under medical\nadvice, I next sailed for New Zealand in the S. S. _Hero_, Captain\nLogan. Reaching Auckland, I was in time to address the General Assembly\nof the Church there also. They gave me cordial welcome, and every\nCongregation and Sabbath School might be visited as far as I possibly\ncould. The Ministers promoted the movement with hearty zeal. The Sabbath\nScholars took Collecting Cards for \"shares\" in the New Mission Ship. A\nmeeting was held every day, and three every Sabbath. Auckland, Nelson,\nWellington, Dunedin, and all towns and churches within reach of these\nwere rapidly visited; and I never had greater joy or heartiness in any\nof my tours than in this happy intercourse with the Ministers and people\nof the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand.\n\nI arrived in Sydney about the end of March. My health was wonderfully\nrestored, and New Zealand had given me about L1700 for the new ship.\nWith the L1000 of insurance money, and about L700 from New South Wales,\nand L400 from Victoria, besides the L500 for her support also from.\nVictoria, we were able to pay back the L3000 of purchase money, and\nabout L800 for alterations and repairs, as well as equip and provision\nher to sail for her next year's work amongst the Islands free of debt. I\nsaid to our two good friends at Sydney:\n\n\"You took God and His work for your guarantee. He has soon relieved you\nfrom all responsibility. You have suffered no loss, and you have had the\nhonor and privilege of serving your Lord. I envy you the joy you must\nfeel in so using your wealth, and I pray God's double blessing on all\nyour store.\"\n\nOur agent. Dr. Steel, had applied to the Home authorities for power to\nchange the vessel's name from _Paragon_ to _Dayspring_, so that the old\nassociations might not be broken. This was cordially granted. And so our\nsecond _Dayspring_, owing no man anything, sailed on her annual trip to\nthe New Hebrides, and we returned with her, praising the Lord and\nreinvigorated alike in spirit and in body.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXVII.\nTHE GOSPEL IN LIVING CAPITALS.\n\nIN Heathendom every true convert becomes at once a Missionary. The\nchanged life, shining out amid the surrounding darkness, is a Gospel in\nlargest Capitals which all can read. Our Islanders, especially, having\nlittle to engage or otherwise distract attention, become intense and\ndevoted workers for the Lord Jesus, if once the Divine Passion for souls\nstirs within them.\n\nA Heathen has been all his days groping after peace of soul in dark\nsuperstition and degrading rites. You pour into his soul the light of\nRevelation. He learns that God is love, that God sent His Son to die for\nhim, and that he is the heir of Life Eternal in and through Jesus\nChrist. By the blessed enlightenment of the Spirit of the Lord he\nbelieves all this. He passes into a third heaven of joy, and he burns to\ntell every one of this Glad Tidings. Others see the change in his\ndisposition in his character in his whole life and actions; and amid\nsuch surroundings, every Convert is a burning and a shining light. Even\nwhole populations are thus brought into the Outer Court of the Temple;\nand Islands, still Heathen and Cannibal, are positively eager for the\nMissionary to live amongst them, and would guard his life and property\nnow in complete security, where a very few years ago everything would\nhave been instantly sacrificed on touching their shores! They are not\nChristianized, neither are they Civilized, but the light has been\nkindled all round them, and though still only shining afar, they cannot\nbut rejoice in its beams.\n\nBut even where the path is not so smooth, nor any welcome awaiting them,\nNative Converts show amazing zeal. For instance, one of our Chiefs, full\nof the Christ-kindled desire to seek and to save, sent a message to an\ninland Chief, that he and four attendants would come on Sabbath and tell\nthem the Gospel of Jehovah God. The reply came back sternly forbidding\ntheir Visit, and threatening with death any Christian that approached\ntheir village. Our Chief sent in response a loving message, telling them\nthat Jehovah had taught the Christians to return good for evil, and that\nthey would come unarmed to tell them the story of how the Son of God\ncame into the world and died in order to bless and save His enemies. The\nHeathen Chief sent back a stern and prompt reply once more, \"If you\ncome, you will be killed.\"\n\nOn Sabbath morning, the Christian Chief and his four companions were met\noutside the village by the Heathen Chief, who implored and threatened\nthem once more. But the former said, \"We come to you without weapons of\nwar! We come only to tell you about Jesus. We believe that He will\nprotect us to-day.\"\n\nAs they steadily pressed forward towards the village, spears began to be\nthrown at them. Some they evaded, being all except one most dexterous\nwarriors; and others they literally received with their bare hands,\nstriking them and turning them aside in an incredible manner. The\nHeathen, apparently thunderstruck at these men thus approaching them\nwithout weapons of war, and not even flinging back their own spears\nwhich they had turned aside, desisted from mere surprise, after having\nthrown what the old Chief called \"a shower of spears.\" Our Christian\nChief called out, as he and his companions drew up in the midst of them\non the village Public Ground:\n\n\"Jehovah thus protects us. He has given us all your spears! Once we\nwould have thrown them back at you and killed you. But now we come not\nto fight, but to tell you about Jesus. He has changed our dark hearts.\nHe asks you now to lay down all these your other weapons of war, and to\nhear what we can tell you about the love of God, our great Father, the\nonly living God.\"\n\nThe Heathen were perfectly overawed. They manifestly looked upon these\nChristians as protected by some Invisible One! They listened for the\nfirst time to the story of the Gospel and of the Cross. We lived to see\nthat Chief and all his tribe sitting in the School of Christ. And there\nis perhaps not an Island in these Southern Seas, amongst all those won\nfor Christ, where similar acts of heroism on the part of Converts cannot\nbe recited by every Missionary to the honor of our poor Natives and to\nthe glory of their Saviour.\n\nLarger and harder tests were sometimes laid upon their new faith. Once\nthe war on Tanna drove about one hundred of them to seek refuge on\nAniwa. Not so many years before, their lives would never have been thus\nintrusted to the inhabitants of another Cannibal Island. But the\nChrist-Spirit was abroad upon Aniwa. The refugees were kindly cared for,\nand in process of time were restored to their own lands, by our\nMissionary ship the _Dayspring_. The Chiefs, however, and the Elders of\nthe Church laid the new laws before them very clearly and decidedly.\nThey would be helped and sheltered, but Aniwa was now under law to\nChrist, and if any of the Tannese broke the public rules as to moral\nconduct, or in any way disturbed the Worship of Jehovah, they would at\nonce be expelled from the Island and sent back to Tanna. In all this,\nthe Chief of the Tanna party, my old friend Nowar, strongly supported\nour Christian Chiefs. The Tannese behaved well, and many of them wore\nclothing and began to attend Church; and the heavy drain upon the poor\nresources of Aniwa was borne with a noble and Christian spirit, which\ngreatly impressed the Tannese and commended the Gospel of Christ.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXVIII.\nTHE DEATH OF NAMAKEI.\n\nIN claiming Aniwa for Christ, and winning it as a small jewel for His\ncrown, we had the experience which has ever marked God's path through\nhistory,--He raised up around us and wonderfully endowed men to carry\nforward His own blessed work. Among these must be specially commemorated\nNamakei, the old Chief of Aniwa. Slowly, but very steadily, the light\nbroke in upon his soul, and he was ever very eager to communicate to his\npeople all that he learned. In Heathen days he was a Cannibal and a\ngreat warrior; but from the first, as shown in the preceding chapter he\ntook a warm interest in us and our work,--a little selfish, no doubt, at\nthe beginning, but soon becoming purified, as his eyes and heart were\nopened to the Gospel of Jesus.\n\nOn the birth of a son to us on the Island, the old Chief was in\necstasies. He claimed the child as his heir, his own son being dead, and\nbrought nearly the whole inhabitants in relays to see the _white_ Chief\nof Aniwa! He would have him called Namakei the Younger, an honor which I\nfear we did not too highly appreciate. As the child grew, he took his\nhand and walked about with him freely amongst the people, learning to\nspeak their language like a Native, and not only greatly interesting\nthem in himself, but even in us and in the work of the Lord. This, too,\nwas one of the bonds, however purely human, that drew them all nearer\nand nearer to Jesus.\n\nIt was this same child, who, in the moment of our greatest peril, when\nthe Mission House was once surrounded by savages who had resolved to\nmurder us, managed in some incredible way to escape, and appeared, to\nour horror and amazement, dancing with glee amongst the armed warriors.\nHe threw his arms around the neck of one after another, and kissed them,\nto their great surprise,--at last, he settled down like a bird upon the\nringleader's knee, and therefrom prattled to them all, while we from\nwithin gazed on in speechless and helpless terror! He roundly scolded\nthem for being \"Naughty! Naughty!\" The frowning faces began to relax\ninto broad grins, another spirit came over them, and, one after another,\nthey rapidly slipt away. The Council of Death was broken up; and we had\na new illustration of the Lord's precious work,--\"A little Child shall\nlead them.\"\n\nThe death of Namakei had in it many streaks of Christian romance. He had\nheard about the Missionaries annually meeting on one or other of the\nIslands, and consulting about the work of Jehovah. What ideas he had\nformed of a Mission Synod one cannot easily imagine; but in his old age,\nand when very frail, he formed an impassioned desire to attend our next\nmeeting on Aneityum, and see and hear all the Missionaries of Jesus\ngathered together from the New Hebrides. Terrified that he would die\naway from home, and that that might bring great reverses to the good\nwork on Aniwa, where he was truly beloved, I opposed his going with all\nmy might. But he and his relations and his people were all set upon it,\nand I had at length to give way. His few booklets were then gathered\ntogether, his meager wardrobe was made up, and a small Native basket\ncarried all his belongings. He assembled his people and took an\naffectionate farewell, pleading with them to be \"strong for Jesus,\"\nwhether they ever saw him again or not, and to be loyal and kind to\nMissi. The people wailed aloud, and many wept bitterly. Those on board\nthe _Dayspring_ were amazed to see how his people loved him. The old\nChief stood the voyage well. He went in and out to our meeting of Synod,\nand was vastly pleased with the respect paid to him on Aneityum. When he\nheard of the prosperity of the Lord's work, and how Island after Island\nwas learning to sing the praises of Jesus, his heart glowed, and he\nsaid, \"Missi, I am lifting up my head like a tree. I am growing tall\nwith joy!\"\n\nOn the fourth or fifth day, however, he sent for me out of the Synod,\nand when I came to him, he said, eagerly, \"Missi, I am near to die! I\nhave asked you to come and say farewell. Tell my daughter, my brother,\nand my people to go on pleasing Jesus, and I will meet them again in the\nfair World.\"\n\nI tried to encourage him, saying that God might raise him up again and\nrestore him to his people; but he faintly whispered, \"O Missi, death is\nalready touching me! I feel my feet going away from under me. Help me to\nlie down under the shade of that banyan tree.\"\n\nSo saying, he seized my arm, we staggered near to the tree, and he lay\ndown under its cool shade. He whispered again, \"I am going! O Missi, let\nme hear your words raising up in prayer, and then my Soul will be strong\nto go.\"\n\nAmidst many choking sobs, I tried to pray. At last he took my hand,\npressed it to his heart, and said in a stronger and clearer tone, \"O my\nMissi, my dear Missi, I go before you, but I will meet you again in the\nHome of Jesus. Farewell!\"\n\nThat was the last effort of dissolving strength; he immediately became\nunconscious, and fell asleep. My heart felt like to break over him. He\nwas my first Aniwan Convert--the first who ever on that Island, of love\nand tears opened his heart to Jesus; and as he lay there on the leaves\nand grass, my soul soared upward after his, and all the harps of God\nseemed to thrill with song as Jesus presented to the Father this trophy\nof redeeming love. He had been our true and devoted friend and\nfellow-helper in the Gospel; and next morning all the members of our\nSynod followed his remains to the grave. There we stood, the white\nMissionaries of the Cross from far distant lands, mingling our tears\nwith Christian Natives of Aneityum, and letting them fall over one who\nonly a few years before was a blood-stained Cannibal, and whom now we\nmourned as a brother, a saint, an Apostle amongst his people. Ye ask an\nexplanation? The Christ entered into his heart, and Namakei became a new\nCreature. \"Behold, I make all things new.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXIX.\nCHRISTIANITY AND COCOANUTS.\n\nNASWAI, the friend and companion of Namakei, was an inland Chief. He\nhad, as his followers, by far the largest number of men in any village\non Aniwa. He had certainly a dignified bearing, and his wife Katua was\nquite a lady in look and manner as compared with all around her. She was\nthe first woman on the Island that adopted the clothes of civilization,\nand she showed considerable instinctive taste in the way she dressed\nherself in these. Her example was a kind of Gospel in its good influence\non all the women; she was a real companion to her husband, and went with\nhim almost everywhere.\n\nNaswai was younger and more intelligent than Namakei, and in everything,\nexcept in translating the Scriptures, he was much more of a\nfellow-helper in the work of the Lord. For many years it was Naswai's\nspecial delight to carry my pulpit Bible from the Mission House to the\nChurch every Sabbath morning, and to see that everything was in perfect\norder before the Service began. He was also the Teacher in his own\nvillage School, as well as an Elder in the Church. His addresses were\nwonderfully happy in graphic illustrations, and his prayers were fervid\nand uplifting. Yet his people were the worst to manage on all the\nIsland, and the very last to embrace the Gospel.\n\nHe died when we were in the Colonies on furlough in 1875; and his wife\nKatua very shortly pre-deceased him. His last counsels to his people\nmade a great impression on them. They told us how he pleaded with them\nto love and serve the Lord Jesus, and how he assured them with his dying\nbreath that he had been \"a new creature\" since he gave his heart to\nChrist, and that he was perfectly happy in going to be with his Saviour.\n\nI must here recall one memorable example of Naswai's power and skill as\na preacher. On one occasion the _Dayspring_ brought a large deputation\nfrom Fotuna to see for themselves the change which the Gospel had\nproduced on Aniwa. On Sabbath, after the Missionaries had conducted the\nusual Public Worship, some of the leading Aniwans addressed the\nFotunese; and amongst others, Naswai spoke to the following effect: \"Men\nof Fotuna, you come to see what the Gospel has done for Aniwa. It is\nJehovah the living God that has made all this change. As Heathens, we\nquarreled, killed, and ate each other. We had no peace and no joy in\nheart or house, in villages or in lands; but we now live as brethren and\nhave happiness in all these things. When you go back to Fotuna, they\nwill ask you, 'What is Christianity?' And you will have to reply, 'It is\nthat which has changed the people of Aniwa.' But they will still say,\n'What is it?' And you will answer, 'It is that which has given them\nclothing and blankets, knives and axes, fish-hooks and many other useful\nthings; it is that which has led them to give up fighting, and to live\ntogether as friends.' But they will ask you, 'What is it like?' And you\nwill have to tell them, alas, that you cannot explain it that you have\nonly seen its workings, not itself, and that no one can tell what\nChristianity is but the man that loves Jesus, the Invisible Master, and\nwalks with Him and tries to please Him. Now, you people of Fotuna, you\nthink that if you don't dance and sing and pray to your gods, you will\nhave no crops. We once did so too, sacrificing and doing much\nabomination to our gods for weeks before our planting season every year.\nBut we saw our Missi only praying to the Invisible Jehovah, and planting\nhis yams, and they grew fairer than ours. You are weak every year before\nyour hard work begins in the fields, with your wild and bad conduct to\nplease your gods. But we are strong for our work, for we pray to\nJehovah, and He gives quiet rest instead of wild dancing, and makes us\nhappy in our toils. Since we followed Missi's example, Jehovah has given\nus large and beautiful crops, and we now know that He gives us all our\nblessings.\"\n\nTurning to me, he exclaimed, \"Missi, have you the large yam we presented\nto you? Would you not think it well to send it back with these men of\nFotuna, to let their people see the yams which Jehovah grows for us in\nanswer to prayer? Jehovah is the only God who can grow yams like that!\"\n\nThen, after a pause, he proceeded, \"When you go back to Fotuna, and they\nask you, 'What is Christianity?' you will be like an inland Chief of\nErromanga, who once came down and saw a great feast on the shore. When\nhe saw so much food and so many different kinds of it, he asked, 'What\nis this made of?' and was answered, 'Cocoanuts and yams.' 'And this?'\n'Cocoanuts and bananas.' 'And this?' 'Cocoanuts and taro.' 'And this?'\n'Cocoanuts and chestnuts,' etc. etc. The Chief was immensely astonished\nat the host of dishes that could be prepared from the cocoanuts. On\nreturning, he carried home a great load of them to his people, that they\nmight see and taste the excellent food of the shore-people. One day, all\nbeing assembled, he told them the wonders of that feast; and, having\nroasted the cocoanuts, he took out the kernels, all charred and spoiled,\nand distributed them, amongst his people. They tasted the cocoanut, they\nbegan to chew it, and then spat it out, crying, 'Our own food is better\nthan that!' The Chief was confused, and only got laughed at for all his\ntrouble. Was the fault in the cocoanuts? No; but they were spoiled in\nthe cooking! So your attempts to explain Christianity will only spoil\nit. Tell them that a man must live as a Christian, before he can show\nothers what Christianity is.\"\n\nOn their return to Fotuna they exhibited Jehovah's yam, given in answer\nto prayer and labor; they told what Christianity had done for Aniwa; but\ndid not fail to qualify all their accounts with the story of the\nErromangan Chief and the cocoanuts.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXX.\nNERWA'S BEAUTIFUL FAREWELL.\n\nTHE Chief of next importance on Aniwa was Nerwa, a keen debater, all\nwhose thoughts ran in the channels of logic. When I could speak a little\nof their language I visited and preached at his village; but the moment\nhe discovered that the teaching about Jehovah was opposed to their\nHeathen customs, he sternly forbade us. One day, during my address, he\nblossomed out into a full-fledged and pronounced Agnostic (with as much\nreason at his back as the European type!), and angrily interrupted me:\n\n\"It's all lies you come here to teach us, and you call it worship! You\nsay your Jehovah God dwells in Heaven. Who ever went up there to hear\nHim or see Him? You talk of Jehovah as if you had visited His Heaven.\nWhy, you cannot climb even to the top of one of our cocoanut trees,\nthough we can and that with ease! In going up to the roof of your own\nMission House you require the help of a ladder to carry you. And even if\nyou could make your ladder higher than our highest cocoanut tree, on\nwhat would you lean its top? And when you get to its top, you can only\nclimb down the other side and end where you began! The thing is\nimpossible. You never saw that God; you never heard Him speak; don't\ncome here with any of your white lies, or I'll send my spear through\nyou.\"\n\nHe drove us from his village, and furiously threatened murder, if we\never dared to return. But very shortly thereafter the Lord sent us a\nlittle orphan girl from Nerwa's village. She was very clever, and could\nsoon both read and write, and told over all that we taught her. Her\nvisits home, or at least amongst the villagers where her home had been,\nher changed appearance and her childish talk, produced a very deep\ninterest in us and in our work.\n\nAn orphan boy next was sent from that village to be kept and trained at\nthe Mission House, and he too took back his little stories of how kind\nand good to him were Missi the man and Missi the woman. By this time\nChief and people alike were taking a lively interest in all that was\ntranspiring. One day the Chief's wife, a quiet and gentle woman, came to\nthe Worship and said, \"Nerwa's opposition dies fast. The story of the\nOrphans did it! He has allowed me to attend the Church, and to get the\nChristian's book.\"\n\nWe gave her a book and a bit of clothing. She went home and told\neverything. Woman after woman followed her from that same village, and\nsome of the men began to accompany them. The only thing in which they\nshowed a real interest was the children singing the little hymns which I\nhad translated into their own Aniwan tongue, and which my wife had\ntaught them to sing very sweetly and joyfully. Nerwa at last got so\ninterested that he came himself, and sat within earshot, and drank in\nthe joyful sound. In a short time he drew so near that he could hear the\npreaching, and then began openly and regularly to attend the Church. His\nkeen reasoning faculty was constantly at work. He weighed and compared\neverything he heard, and soon out-distanced nearly all of them in his\ngrasp of the ideas of the Gospel. He put on clothing, joined our School,\nand professed himself a follower of the Lord Jesus. He eagerly set\nhimself, with all his power, to bring in a neighboring Chief and his\npeople, and constituted himself at once an energetic and very pronounced\nhelper to the Missionary.\n\nOn the death of Naswai, Nerwa at once took his place in carrying my\nBible to the Church, and seeing that all the people were seated before\nthe stopping of the bell. I have seen him clasping the Bible like a\nliving thing to his breast, as if he would cry, \"Oh, to have this\ntreasure in my own words of Aniwa!\"\n\nWhen the Gospels of Matthew and Mark were at last printed in Aniwan, he\nstudied them incessantly, and soon could read them freely. He became the\nTeacher in his own village School, and delighted in instructing others.\nHe was assisted by Ruwawa, whom he himself had drawn into the circle of\nGospel influence; and at our next election these two friends were\nappointed Elders of the Church, and greatly sustained our hands in every\ngood work on Aniwa.\n\nAfter years of happy useful service, the time came for Nerwa to die. He\nwas then so greatly beloved that most of the inhabitants visited him\nduring his long illness. He read a bit of the Gospels in his own Aniwan,\nand prayed with and for every visitor. He sang beautifully, and scarcely\nallowed any one to leave his bedside without having a verse of one or\nother of his favorite hymns, \"Happy Land,\" and \"Nearer, my God, to\nThee.\"\n\nOn my last visit to Nerwa, his strength had gone very low, but he drew\nme near his face, and whispered, \"Missi, my Missi, I am glad to see you.\nYou see that group of young men? They came to sympathize with me; but\nthey have never once spoken the name of Jesus, though they have spoken\nabout everything else! They could not have weakened me so, if they had\nspoken about Jesus! Read me the story of Jesus; pray for me to Jesus.\nNo! stop, let us call them, and let me speak with them before I go.\"\n\nI called them all around him, and he strained his dying strength, and\nsaid, \"After I am gone, let there be no bad talk, no Heathen ways. Sing\nJehovah's songs, and pray to Jesus, and bury me as a Christian. Take\ngood care of my Missi, and help him all you can. I am dying happy and\ngoing to be with Jesus, and it was Missi that showed me this way. And\nwho among you will take my place in the village School and in the\nChurch? Who amongst you all will stand up for Jesus?\"\n\nMany were shedding tears, but there was no reply; after which the dying\nChief proceeded, \"Now let my last work on Earth be this--We will read a\nchapter of the Book, verse about, and then I will pray for you all, and\nthe Missi will pray for me, and God will let me go while the song is\nstill sounding in my heart!\"\n\nAt the close of this most touching exercise, we gathered the Christians\nwho were near by close around, and sang very softly in Aniwan, \"There is\na Happy Land.\" As they sang, the old man grasped my hand, and tried hard\nto speak, but in vain. His head fell to one side, \"the silver cord was\nloosed, and the golden bowl was broken.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXXI.\nRUWAWA.\n\nHis great friend, Ruwawa the Chief, had waited by Nerwa like a brother\ntill within a few days of the latter's death, when he also was smitten\ndown apparently by the same disease. He was thought to be dying, and he\nresigned himself calmly into the hands of Christ, One Sabbath afternoon,\nsorely distressed for lack of air, he instructed his people to carry him\nfrom the village to a rising ground on one of his plantations. It was\nfallow; the fresh air would reach him; and all his friends could sit\naround him. They extemporized a rest--two posts stuck into the ground,\nslanting, sticks tied across them, then dried banana leaves spread on\nthese and also as a cushion on the ground--and there sat Ruwawa, leaning\nback and breathing heavily. After the Church Services, I visited him,\nand found half the people of that side of the Island sitting round him,\nin silence, in the open air. Ruwawa beckoned me, and I sat down before\nhim. Though suffering sorely, his eye and face had the look of ecstasy.\n\n\"Missi,\" he said, \"I could not breathe in my village; so I got them to\ncarry me here, where there is room for all. They are silent and they\nweep, because they think I am dying. If it were God's will, I would like\nto live and to help you in His work. I am in the hands of our dear Lord,\nIf he takes me, it is good; if He spares me, it is good! Pray, and tell\nour Saviour all about it.\"\n\nI explained to the people that we would tell our Heavenly Father how\nanxious we all were to see Ruwawa given back to us strong and well to\nwork for Jesus, and then leave all to His wise and holy disposal. I\nprayed, and the place became a very Bochim. When I left him, Ruwawa\nexclaimed, \"Farewell, Missi; if I go first, I will welcome you to Glory;\nif I am spared, I will work with you for Jesus; so all is well!\"\n\nOne of the young Christians followed me and said, \"Missi, our hearts are\nvery sore! If Ruwawa dies, we have no Chief to take his place in the\nChurch, and it will be a heavy blow against Jehovah's Worship on Aniwa.\"\n\nI answered, \"Let us each tell our God and Father all that we feel and\nall that we fear; and leave Ruwawa and our work in His holy hands.\"\n\nWe did so with earnest and unceasing cry. And when all hope had died out\nof every heart, the Lord began to answer us; the disease began to relax\nits hold, and the beloved Chief was restored to health. As soon as he\nwas able, though still needing help, he found his way back to the\nChurch, and we all offered special thanksgiving to God. He indicated a\ndesire to say a few words; and although still very weak, spoke with\ngreat pathos thus:\n\n\"Dear Friends, God has given me back to you all. I rejoice thus to come\nhere and praise the great Father, who made us all, and who knows how to\nmake and keep us well. I want you all to work hard for Jesus, and to\nlose no opportunity of trying to do good and so to please Him. In my\ndeep journey away near to the grave, it was the memory of what I had\ndone in love to Jesus that made my heart sing. I am not afraid of\npain,--my dear Lord Jesus suffered far more for me, and teaches me how\nto bear it. I am not afraid of war or famine or death, or of the present\nor of the future; my dear Lord Jesus died for me, and in dying I shall\nlive with him in Glory. I fear and love my dear Lord Jesus, because He\nloved me and gave Himself for me.\"\n\nThen he raised his right hand, and cried in a soft, full-hearted voice:\n\"My own, my dear Lord Jesus!\" and stood for a moment looking joyfully\nupward, as if gazing into his Saviour's face. When he sat down, there\nwas a long hush, broken here and there by a smothered sob, and Ruwawa's\nwords produced an impression that is remembered to this day.\n\nIn 1888, when I visited the Islands, Ruwawa was still devoting himself\nheart and soul to the work of the Lord on Aniwa. Assisted by Koris, a\nTeacher from Aneityum, and visited annually by our ever dear and\nfaithful friends, Mr. and Mrs. Watt, from Tanna, the good Ruwawa carried\nforward all the work of God on Aniwa, along with others, in our absence\nas in our presence. The meetings, the Communicants' Class, the Schools,\nand the Church Services are all regularly conducted and faithfully\nattended. \"Bless the Lord, O my soul!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXXII.\nLITSI SORE AND MUNGAW.\n\nLITSI, the only daughter of Namakei, had both in her own career and in\nher connection with poor dear Mungaw, an almost unparalleled experience.\nShe was entrusted to us when very young, and became a bright, clever,\nand attractive Christian girl. Many sought her hand, but she\ndisdainfully replied, \"I am Queen of my own Island, and when I like I\nwill ask a husband in marriage, as your great Queen Victoria did!\"\n\nHer first husband, however won, was undoubtedly the tallest and most\nhandsome man on Aniwa; but he was a giddy fool, and, on his early death,\nshe again returned to live with us at the Mission House. Her second\nmarriage had everything to commend it, but it resulted in indescribable\ndisaster. Mungaw, heir to a Chief, had been trained with us, and gave\nevery evidence of decided Christianity. They were married in the Church,\nand lived in the greatest happiness. He was able and eloquent, and was\nfirst chosen as a deacon, then as an Elder of the Church, and finally as\nHigh Chief of one half of the Island. He showed the finest Christian\nspirit under many trying circumstances. Once, when working at the lime\nfor the building of our Church, two bad men, armed with muskets, sought\nhis life for blowing the conch to assemble the workers. Hearing of the\nquarrel, I rushed to the scene, and heard him saying, \"Don't call me\ncoward, or think me afraid to die. If I died now, I would go to be with\nJesus. But I am no longer a Heathen; I am a Christian, and wish to treat\nyou as a Christian should.\"\n\nTwo loaded muskets were leveled at him. I seized one in each of my\nhands, and held their muzzles aloft in air, so that, if discharged, the\nballs might pass over his head and mine; and thus I stood for some\nminutes pleading with them.\n\nOthers soon coming to the rescue, the men were disarmed; and, after much\ntalk, they professed themselves ashamed, and promised better conduct for\nthe future. Next day they sent a large present as a peace-offering to\nme, but I refused to receive it till they should first of all make peace\nwith the young Chief. They sent a larger present to him, praying him to\nreceive it, and to forgive them. Mungaw brought a still larger present\nin exchange, laid it down at their feet in the Public Ground, shook\nhands with them graciously, and forgave them in presence of all the\npeople. His constant saying was, \"I am a Christian, and I must do the\nconduct of a Christian.\"\n\nIn one of my furloughs to Australia I took the young Chief with me, in\nthe hope of interesting the Sabbath Schools and Congregations by his\neloquent addresses and noble personality. The late Dr. Cameron of\nMelbourne, having heard him, as translated by me, publicly declared that\nMungaw's appearance and speech in his Church did more to show him the\ngrand results of the Gospel amongst the Heathen than all the Missionary\naddresses he ever listened to or read.\n\nOur lodging was in St. Kilda. My dear wife was suddenly seized with a\ndangerous illness on a visit to Taradale, and I was telegraphed for.\nFinding that I must remain with her, I got Mungaw booked for Melbourne,\non the road for St. Kilda, in charge of a railway guard. Some white\nwretches, in the guise of gentlemen, offered to see him to the St. Kilda\nStation, assuring the guard that they were friends of mine, and\ninterested in our Mission. They took him, instead, to some den of infamy\nin Melbourne. On refusing to drink with them, he said they threw him\ndown on a sofa, and poured drink or drugs into him till he was nearly\ndead. Having taken all his money (he had only two or three pounds, made\nup of little presents from various friends), they thrust him out to the\nstreet, with only one penny in his pocket.\n\nOn becoming conscious, he applied to a policeman, who either did not\nunderstand or would not interfere. Hearing an engine whistle, he\nfollowed the sound, and found his way to Spencer Street Station, where\nhe proffered his penny for a ticket, all in vain. At last a sailor took\npity on him, got him some food, and led him to the St. Kilda Station.\nThere he stood for a whole day, offering his penny for a ticket by every\ntrain, only to meet with refusal after refusal, till he broke down, and\ncried aloud in such English as desperation gave him:\n\n\"If me savvy road, me go. Me no savvy road, and stop here me die. My\nMissi Paton live at Kilda. Me want go Kilda. Me no money. Bad fellow\ntook all! Send me Kilda.\"\n\nSome gentle Samaritan gave him a ticket, and he reached our house at St.\nKilda at last. There for above three weeks the poor creature lay in a\nsort of stupid doze. Food he could scarcely be induced to taste, and he\nonly rose now and again for a drink of water. When my wife was able to\nbe removed thither also, we found dear Mungaw dreadfully changed in\nappearance and in conduct. Twice thereafter I took him with me on\nMission work; but, on medical advice, preparations were made for his\nimmediate return to the Islands. I intrusted him to the kind care of\nCaptain Logan, who undertook to see him safely on board the _Dayspring_,\nthen lying at Auckland. Mungaw was delighted, and we hoped everything\nfrom his return to his own land and people. After some little trouble,\nhe was landed safely home on Aniwa. But his malady developed dangerous\nand violent symptoms, characterized by long periods of quiet and sleep,\nand then sudden paroxysms, in which he destroyed property, burned\nhouses, and was a terror to all.\n\nOn our return he was greatly delighted; but he complained bitterly that\nthe white men \"had spoiled his head,\" and that when it \"burned hot\" he\ndid all these bad things for which he was extremely sorry. He\ndeliberately attempted my life, and most cruelly abused his dear and\ngentle wife; and then, when the frenzy was over, he wept and lamented\nover it. Many a time he marched round and round our house with loaded\nmusket and spear and tomahawk, while we had to keep doors and windows\nlocked and barricaded; then the paroxysm passed off, and he slept, long\nand deep, like a child. When he came to himself, he wept and said, \"The\nwhite men spoiled my head! I know not what I do. My head burns hot, and\nI am driven.\"\n\nOne day, in the Church, he leaped up during Worship with a loud yelling\nwar-cry, rushed off through the Imrai to his own house, set fire to it,\nand danced around till everything he possessed was burned to ashes.\nNasi, a bad Tannese Chief living on Aniwa, had a quarrel with Mungaw\nabout a cask found at the shore, and threatened to shoot him. Others\nencouraged him to do so, as Mungaw was growing every day more and more\ndestructive and violent. When any person became outrageous or insane on\nAniwa, as they had neither asylum nor prison, they first of all held him\nfast and discharged a musket close to his ear; and then, if the shock\ndid not bring him back to his senses, they tied him up for two days or\nso; and finally, if that did not restore him, they shot him dead. Thus\nthe plan of Nasi was favored by their own customs. One night, after\nFamily Worship--for amidst all his madness, when clear moments came, he\npoured out his soul in faith and love to the Lord--he said, \"Litsi, I am\nmelting! My head burns. Let us go out and get cooled in the open air.\"\n\nShe warned him not to go, as she heard voices whispering under the\nverandah. He answered a little wildly, \"I am not afraid to die. Life is\na curse and burden. The white men spoiled my head. If there is a hope of\ndying, let me go quickly and die!\"\n\nAs he crossed the door, a ball crashed through him, and he fell dead. We\ngot the mother and her children away to the Mission House; and next\nmorning they buried the remains of poor Mungaw under the floor of his\nown hut, and enclosed the whole place with a fence. It was a sorrowful\nclose to so noble a career. I shed many a tear that I ever took him to\nAustralia. What will God have to say to those white fiends who poisoned\nand maddened poor dear Mungaw?\n\nAfter a while the good Queen Litsi was happily married again. She became\npossessed with a great desire to go as a Missionary to the people and\ntribe of Nasi, the very man who had murdered her husband. She used to\nsay, \"Is there no Missionary to go and teach Nasi's people? I weep and\npray for them, that they too may come to know and love Jesus.\"\n\nI answered, \"Litsi, if I had only wept and prayed for you, but stayed at\nhome in Scotland, would that have brought you to know and love Jesus as\nyou do?\"\n\n\"Certainly not,\" she replied.\n\n\"Now then,\" I proceeded, \"would it not please Jesus, and be a grand and\nholy revenge, if you, the Christians of Aniwa, could carry the Gospel to\nthe very people whose Chief murdered Mungaw?\"\n\nThe idea took possession of her soul. She was never wearied talking and\npraying over it. When at length a Missionary was got for Nasi's people,\nLitsi and her new husband offered themselves as the head of a band of\nsix or eight Aniwan Christians and were engaged there to open up the way\nand assist, as Teachers and Helpers, the Missionary and his wife. There\nshe and they have labored ever since. They are \"strong\" for the Worship.\nHer son is being trained up by his cousin, an Elder of the Church, to be\n\"the good Chief of Aniwa\"; so she calls him in her prayers, as she cries\non God to bless and watch over him, while she is serving the Lord in at\nonce serving the Mission family and ministering to the Natives in that\nforeign field.\n\nMany years have now passed; and when lately I visited that part of\nTanna, Litsi ran to me, clasped my hand, kissed it with many sobs, and\ncried, \"O my father! God has blessed me to see you again. Is my mother,\nyour dear wife, well? And your children, my brothers and sisters? My\nlove to them all! Oh my heart clings to you!\"\n\nWe had sweet conversation, and then she said more calmly, \"My days here\nare hard. I might be happy and independent as Queen of my own Aniwa. But\nthe Heathen here are beginning to listen. The Missi sees them coming\nnearer to Jesus. And oh, what a reward when we shall hear them sing and\npray to our dear Saviour! The hope of that makes me strong for\nanything.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXXIII.\nTHE CONVERSION OF NASI.\n\nNASI, the Tanna-man, was a bad and dangerous character, though some\nreaders may condone his putting an end to Mungaw in the terrible\ncircumstances of our case. During a great illness that befell him, I\nministered to him regularly, but no kindness seemed to move him. When\nabout to leave Aniwa, I went specially to visit him. On parting I said,\n\"Nasi, are you happy? Have you ever been happy?\"\n\nHe answered gloomily, \"No! Never.\"\n\nI said, \"Would you like this dear little boy of yours to grow up like\nyourself, and lead the life you have lived?\"\n\n\"No!\" he replied warmly! \"I certainly would not.\"\n\n\"Then,\" I continued, \"you must become a Christian, and give up all your\nHeathen conduct, or he will just grow up to quarrel and fight and murder\nas you have done; and, O Nasi, he will curse you through all Eternity\nfor leading him to such a life and to such a doom!\"\n\nHe was very much impressed, but made no response. After we had sailed, a\nband of our young Native Christians held a consultation over the case of\nNasi. They said, \"We know the burden and terror that Nasi has been to\nour dear Missi. We know that he has murdered several persons with his\nown hands, and has taken part in the murder of others. Let us unite in\ndaily prayer that the Lord would open his heart and change his conduct,\nand teach him to love and follow what is good, and let us set ourselves\nto win Nasi for Christ, just as Missi tried to win us.\"\n\nSo they began to show him every possible kindness, and one after another\nhelped him in his daily tasks, embracing every opportunity of pleading\nwith him to yield to Jesus and take the new path of life. At first he\nrepelled them, and sullenly held aloof. But their prayers never ceased,\nand their patient affection continued to grow. At last, after long\nwaiting, Nasi broke down, and cried to one of the Teachers, \"I can\noppose your Jesus no longer. If He can make you treat me like that, I\nyield myself to Him and to you. I want Him to change me too. I want a\nheart like that of Jesus.\"\n\nHe rubbed off the ugly thick-daubed paint from his face; he cut off his\nlong heathen hair; he went to the sea and bathed, washing himself clean;\nand then he came to the Christians and dressed himself in a shirt and a\nkilt. The next step was to get a book,--his was the translation of the\nGospel according to St. John. He eagerly listened to every one that\nwould read bits of it aloud to him, and his soul seemed to drink in the\nnew ideas at every pore. He attended the Church and the School most\nregularly, and could in a very short time read the Gospel for himself.\nThe Elders of the Church took special pains in instructing him, and\nafter due preparation he was admitted to the Lord's Table--my brother\nMissionary from Tanna baptizing and receiving him. Imagine my joy on\nlearning all this regarding one who had sullenly resisted my appeals for\nmany years, and how my soul praised the Lord who is \"Mighty to save!\"\n\nDuring a recent visit to Aniwa, in 1886, God's almighty compassion was\nfurther revealed to me, when I found that Nasi the murderer was now a\nScripture Reader, and able to comment in a wonderful and interesting\nmanner on what he read to the people! On arriving at the Island, after\nmy tour in Great Britain (1884-85), all the inhabitants of Aniwa seemed\nto be assembled at the boat-landing to welcome me, except Nasi. He was\naway fishing at a distance, and had been sent for, but had not yet\narrived. On the way to the Mission House, he came rushing to meet me. He\ngrasped my hand, and kissed it, and burst into tears. I said, \"Nasi, do\nI now at last meet you as a Christian?\"\n\nHe warmly answered, \"Yes, Missi; I now worship and serve the only Lord\nand Saviour Jesus Christ. Bless God, I am a Christian at last!\"\n\nMy soul went out with a silent cry, \"Oh, that the men at home who\ndiscuss and doubt about conversion, and the new heart, and the power of\nJesus to change and save, could but look on Nasi, and spell out the\nsimple lesson,--He that created us at first by His power can create us\nanew by His love!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXXIV.\nTHE APPEAL OF LAMU.\n\nMY first Sabbath on Aniwa, after this tour in Great Britain and the\nColonies, gave me a blessed surprise. Before daybreak I lay awake\nthinking of all my experiences on that Island, and wondering whether the\nChurch had fallen off in my four years' absence, when suddenly the voice\nof song broke on my ears! It was scarcely full dawn, yet I jumped up and\ncalled to a man that was passing, \"Have I slept in? Is it already\nChurch-time? Or why are the people met so early?\"\n\nHe was one of their leaders, and gravely replied, \"Missi, since you\nleft, we have found it very hard to live near to God! So the Chief and\nthe Teachers and a few others meet when daylight comes in every Sabbath\nmorning, and spend the first hour of every Lord's Day in prayer and\npraise. They are met to pray for you now, that God may help you in your\npreaching, and that all hearts may bear fruit to the glory of Jesus this\nday.\"\n\nI returned to my room, and felt wonderfully \"prepared\" myself. It would\nbe an easy and a blessed thing to lead such a Congregation into the\npresence of the Lord! They were there already.\n\nOn that day every person on Aniwa seemed to be at Church, except the\nbedridden and the sick. At the close of the Services, the Elders\ninformed me that they had kept up all the Meetings during my absence,\nand had also conducted the Communicants' Class, and they presented to me\na considerable number of Candidates for membership. After careful\nexamination, I set apart nine boys and girls, about twelve or thirteen\nyears of age and advised them to wait for at least another year or so,\nthat their knowledge and habits might be matured. They had answered\nevery question, indeed, and were eager to be baptized and admitted; but\nI feared for their youth, lest they should fall away and bring disgrace\non the Church. One of them with very, earnest eyes, looked at me and\nsaid, \"We have been taught that whosoever believeth is to be baptized.\nWe do most heartily believe in Jesus, and try to please Jesus.\"\n\nI answered, \"Hold on for another year, and then our way will be clear.\"\n\nBut he persisted, \"Some of us may not be living then; and you may not be\nhere. We long to be baptized by you, our own Missi, and to take our\nplace among the servants of Jesus.\"\n\nAfter much conversation I agreed to baptize them, and they agreed to\nrefrain from going to the Lord's Table for a year, that all the Church\nmight by that time have knowledge and proof of their consistent\nChristian life, though so young in years. This discipline, I thought,\nwould be good for them; and the Lord might use it as a precedent for\nguidance in future days.\n\nOf other ten adults at this time admitted, one was specially noteworthy.\nShe was about twenty-five, and the Elders objected because her marriage\nhad not been according to the Christian usage on Aniwa. She left us\nweeping deeply. I was writing late at night in the cool evening air, as\nwas my wont in that oppressive tropical clime, and a knock was heard at\nmy door. I called out, \"_Akai era_?\" (= Who is there?)\n\nA voice softly answered, \"Missi, it is Lamu. Oh, do speak with me!\"\n\nThis was the rejected candidate, and I at once opened the door.\n\n\"Oh, Missi,\" she began, \"I cannot sleep, I cannot eat; my soul is in\npain. Am I to be shut out from Jesus? Some of those at the Lord's Table\ncommitted murder. They repented, and have been saved. My heart is very\nbad; yet I never did any of those crimes of Heathenism; and I know that\nit is my joy to try and please my Saviour Jesus. How is it that I only\nam to be shut out from Jesus?\"\n\nI tried all I could to guide and console her, and she listened to all\nvery eagerly. Then she looked up at me and said, \"Missi, you and the\nElders may think it right to keep me back from showing my love to Jesus\nat the Lord's Table; but I know here in my heart that Jesus has received\nme; and if I were dying now, I know that Jesus would take me to Glory\nand present me to the Father.\"\n\nHer look and manner thrilled me. I promised to see the Elders and submit\nher appeal. But Lamu appeared and pled her own cause before them with\nconvincing effect. She was baptized and admitted along with other nine.\nAnd that Communion Day will be long remembered by many souls on Aniwa.\n\nIt has often struck me, when relating these events, to press this\nquestion on the many young people, the highly privileged white brothers\nand sisters of Lamu, Did you ever lose one hour of sleep or a single\nmeal in thinking of your Soul, your God, the claims of Jesus, and your\nEternal Destiny?\n\nAnd when I saw the diligence and fidelity of these poor Aniwan Elders,\nteaching and ministering during all those years, my soul has cried aloud\nto God, Oh, what could not the Church accomplish if the educated and\ngifted Elders and others in Christian lands would set themselves thus to\nwork for Jesus, to teach the ignorant, to protect the tempted, and to\nrescue the fallen!\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXXV.\nWANTED! A STEAM AUXILIARY.\n\nIN December 1883 I brought a pressing and vital matter before the\nGeneral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. It pertained to\nthe New Hebrides Mission, to the vastly increased requirements of the\nMissionaries and their families there, and to the fact that the\n_Dayspring_ was no longer capable of meeting the necessities of the\ncase,--thereby incurring loss of time, loss of property, and risk and\neven loss of precious lives. The Missionaries on the spot had long felt\nthis, and had loudly and earnestly pled for a new and larger Vessel, or\na Vessel with Steam Auxiliary power, or some arrangement whereby the\nwork of God on these Islands might be overtaken, without unnecessary\nexposure of life, and without the dreaded perils that accrue to a small\nsailing Vessel such as the _Dayspring_ alike from deadly calms and from\ntreacherous gales.\n\nThe Victorian General Assembly, heartily at one with the Missionaries,\ncommissioned me to go home to Britain in 1884, making me at the same\ntime their Missionary delegate to the Pan-Presbyterian Council at\nBelfast, and also their representative to the General Assemblies of the\nseveral Presbyterian Churches in Great Britain and Ireland. And they\nempowered and authorized me to lay our proposals about a new Steam\nAuxiliary Mission Ship before all these Churches, and to ask and receive\nfrom God's people whatever contributions they felt disposed to give\ntowards the sum of L6000, without which this great undertaking could not\nbe faced.\n\nA few days after my arrival I was called upon to appear before the\nSupreme Court of the English Presbyterian Church, then assembled at\nLiverpool. While a hymn was being sung, I took my seat in the pulpit\nunder great depression. But light broke around, when my dear friend and\nfellow-student, Dr. Oswald Dykes, came up from the body of the Church,\nshook me warmly by the hand, whispered a few encouraging words in my\near, and, returned to his seat. God helped me to tell my story, and the\naudience were manifestly interested.\n\nNext, by kind invitation, I visited and addressed the United\nPresbyterian Synod of Scotland, assembled in Edinburgh. My reception\nthere was not only cordial,--it was enthusiastic. Though as a Church\nthey had no denominational interest in our Mission, the Moderator,\namidst the cheers of all the Ministers and Elders, recommended that I\nshould have free access to every Congregation and Sabbath School which I\nfound it possible to visit, and hoped that their generous-hearted people\nwould contribute freely to so needful and noble a cause. My soul rose in\npraise; and I may here say, in passing, that every Minister of that\nChurch whom I wrote to or visited treated me in the same spirit\nthroughout all my tour.\n\nHaving been invited by Mr. Dickson, an Elder of the Free Church, to\naddress a midday meeting of children in the Free Assembly Hall, I was\nable by all appearances, greatly to interest and impress them. At the\nclose, my dear and noble friend, Principal Cairns, warmly welcomed and\ncheered me, and that counted for much amid all anxieties; for I had\nlearned that very day, at headquarters, that the Free Church authorities\nwere resolved, in view of a difference of opinion betwixt the\n_Dayspring_ Board at Sydney and the Victorian Assembly as to the new\nSteam Auxiliary, to hold themselves absolutely neutral.\n\nHaving letters from Andrew Scott, Esq., Carrugal, my very dear friend\nand helper in Australia, to Dr. J. Hood Wilson, Barclay Free Church,\nEdinburgh, I resolved to deliver them that evening; and I prayed the\nLord to open up all my path, as I was thus thrown solely on Him for\nguidance and bereft of the aid of man. Dr. Wilson and his lady, neither\nof whom I had ever seen before, received me as kindly as if I had been\nan old friend. He read my letters of introduction, conversed with me as\nto plans and wishes (chiefly through Mrs. Wilson, for he was suffering\nfrom sore throat) and then he said with great warmth and kindliness:\n\n\"God has surely sent you here to-night! I feel myself unable to preach\nto-morrow. Occupy my pulpit in the forenoon and address my Sabbath\nSchool, and you shall have a collection for your Ship.\"\n\nThereafter, I was with equal kindness received by Mr. Balfour, having a\nletter of introduction from his brother, and he offered me his pulpit\nfor the evening of that day. I lay down blessing and praising Him, the\nAngel of whose Presence was thus going before me and opening up my way.\nThat Lord's Day I had great blessing and joy; there was an extraordinary\nresponse financially to my appeals and my proposal was thus fairly\nlaunched in the Metropolis of our Scottish Church life. I remembered an\nold saying, Difficulties are made only to be vanquished. And I thought\nin my deeper soul,--Thus our God throws us back upon Himself; and if\nthese L6000 ever come to me, to the Lord God alone, and not to man,\nshall be all the glory!\n\nOn the Monday following, after a long conversation and every possible\nexplanation, Colonel Young, of the Free Church Foreign Missions\nCommittee, said, \"We must have you to address the Assembly on the\nevening devoted to Missions.\" Thus I had the pleasure and honor of\naddressing that great Assembly; and though no notice was taken of my\nproposals in any \"finding\" of the Court, yet many were thereby\ninterested deeply in our work, and requests now poured in upon me from\nevery quarter to occupy pulpits and receive collections for the new\nShip.\n\nAt the meeting in the Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, which\nalong with others, I was cordially invited to address, the good and\nnoble Lord Polwarth occupied the chair. That was the beginning of a\nfriendship in Christ which will last and deepen as long as we live. From\nthat night he took the warmest personal interest, not only by generously\ncontributing to my fund, but by organizing meetings at his own Mansion\nHouse, and introducing me to a wide circle of influential friends.\n\nNor, whilst the pen leads on my mind to recall these Border memories,\nmust I fail to record how John Scott Dudgeon, Esq., Longnewton, a\ngreatly esteemed Elder of the Church went from town to town in all that\nregion, and from Minister to Minister, arranging for me a series of\nhappy meetings. I shared also the hospitality of his beautiful home, and\nadded himself and his much-beloved wife to the precious roll of those\nwho are dear for the Gospel's sake and for their own. Her Majesty's\nCommissioner to the General Assembly for the year was that distinguished\nChristian as well as nobleman, the Earl of Aberdeen. He graciously\ninvited me to meet the Countess and himself at ancient Holyrood. After\ndinner he withdrew himself for a lengthened time from the general\ncompany, and entered into a close and interested conversation about our\nMission, and especially about the threatened annexation of the New\nHebrides by the French.\n\nThere also I had the memorable pleasure of meeting, and for a long while\nconversing with that truly noble and large-hearted lady, his mother, the\nmuch-beloved Dowager-Countess well known for her life-long devotion to\nso many schemes of Christian philanthropy. At her own home, Alva House,\nshe afterwards arranged meetings for me, as well as in Halls and\nChurches in the immediately surrounding district; and her letters of\ninterest in the work, of sympathy, and of helpfulness, from time to time\nreceived, were amongst the sustaining forces of my spiritual life.\n\nWhen one sees men and women of noble rank thus consecrating themselves\nin humble and faithful service to Jesus, there dawns upon the mind a\nglimpse of what the prophet means, and of what the world will be like,\nwhen it can be said regarding the Church of God on Earth,--\"Kings have\nbecome thy nursing fathers, and their Queens thy nursing mothers.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXXVI.\nMY CAMPAIGN IN IRELAND.\n\nMY steps were next directed towards Ireland, immediately after the\nChurch meetings at Edinburgh; first to 'Derry, where the Presbyterian\nAssembly was met in annual conclave, and thereafter to Belfast, where\nthe Pan-Presbyterian Council was shortly to sit. The eloquent fervor of\nthe Brethren at 'Derry was like a refreshing breeze to my spirit; I\nnever met Ministers anywhere, in all my travels, who seemed more\nwholehearted in their devotion to the work which the Lord had given them\nto do.\n\nI addressed the Assembly at 'Derry and also the Council at Belfast. The\nmemory of seeing all those great and learned and famous men--for many of\nthe leaders were eminently such--so deeply interested in the work of\nGod, and particularly in the Evangelizing of the Heathen World and\nbringing thereto the knowledge of Jesus, was to me, so long exiled from\nall such influences, one of the great inspirations of my life. I\nlistened with humble thankfulness, and blessed the Lord who had brought\nme to sit at their feet.\n\nOn the rising of the Council, I entered upon a tour of six weeks among\nthe Presbyterian Congregations and Sabbath Schools of Ireland. It had\noften been said to me, after my addresses in the Assemblies and\nelsewhere, \"How do you ever expect to raise L6000? It can never be\naccomplished, unless you call upon the rich individually, and get their\nlarger subscriptions. Our ordinary Church people have more than enough\nto do with themselves. Trade is dull,\" etc.\n\nI explained to them, and also announced publicly, that in all similar\nefforts I had never called on or solicited any one privately, and that I\nwould not do so now. I would make my appeal, but leave everything else\nto be settled betwixt the individual conscience and the Saviour--I\ngladly receiving whatsoever was given or sent, acknowledging it by\nletter, and duly forwarding it to my own Church in Victoria. Again and\nagain did generous souls offer to go with me, introduce me, and give me\nopportunity of soliciting subscriptions; but I steadily refused--going,\nindeed, wherever an occasion was afforded me of telling my story and\nsetting forth the claims of the Missions, but asking no one personally\nfor anything, having fixed my soul in the conviction that one part of\nthe work was laid upon me, but that the other lay betwixt the Master and\nHis servants exclusively.\n\n\"On what then do you really rely, looking at it from a business point of\nview?\" they would somewhat appealingly ask me.\n\nI answered, \"I will tell my story; I will set forth the claims of the\nLord Jesus on the people; I will expect the surplus collection, or a\nretiring collection, on Sabbath; I will ask the whole collection, less\nexpenses, at week-night meetings; I will issue Collecting Cards for\nSabbath Scholars; I will make known my Home-Address, to which everything\nmay be forwarded, either from Congregations or from private donors; and\nI will go on, to my utmost strength, in the faith that the Lord will\nsend me the L6000 required. If He does not so send it, then I shall\nexpect He will send me grace to be reconciled to the disappointment, and\nI shall go back to my work without the Ship.\"\n\nThis, in substance, I had to repeat hundreds of times; and as often had\nI to witness the half-pitying or incredulous smile with which it was\nreceived, or to hear the blunt and emphatic retort, \"You'll never\nsucceed! Money cannot be got in that unbusiness-like way.\"\n\nI generally added nothing further to such conversation; but a Voice,\ndeep, sweet, and clear, kept sounding through my soul--\"The silver and\nthe gold are Mine.\"\n\nDuring the year 1884, as is well known, Ireland was the scene of many\ncommotions and of great distress. Yet at the end of my little tour\namongst the Presbyterian people of the North principally, though not\nexclusively, a sum of more than L600 had been contributed to our Mission\nFund. And there was not, so far as my knowledge went, one single large\nsubscription; there were, of course, many bits of gold from those\nwell-to-do, but the ordinary collection was made up of the shillings and\npence of the masses of the people. Nor had I ever in all my travels a\nwarmer response, nor ever mingled with any Ministers more earnestly\ndevoted to their Congregations or more generally and deservedly beloved.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXXVII.\nSCOTLAND'S FREE-WILL OFFERINGS.\n\nRETURNING to Scotland, I settled down at my headquarters, the house of\nmy brother James in Glasgow; and thence began to open up the main line\nof my operations, as the Lord day by day guided me. Having the aid of no\nCommittee, I cast myself on Minister after Minister and Church after\nChurch, calling here, writing there, and arranging for three meetings\nevery Sabbath, and one, if possible, every week-day, and drawing-room\nmeetings, wherever practicable, in the afternoons. My correspondence\ngrew to oppressive proportions, and kept me toiling at it every spare\nmoment from early morn till bedtime. Indeed, I never could have\novertaken it, had not my brother devoted many days and hours of precious\ntime, answering letters regarding arrangements issuing the \"Share\"\nreceipts for all moneys the moment they arrived, managing all my\ntransactions through the bank, and generally tackling and reducing the\nheap of communications, and preventing me falling into hopeless arrears.\n\nI printed, and circulated by post and otherwise, ten thousand copies of\na booklet, \"Statement and Appeal,\"--containing, besides my Victorian\nCommission and my Glasgow address, a condensed epitome of the results of\nthe New Hebrides Mission and of the reasons for asking a new Steam\nAuxiliary Ship. To this chiefly is due the fact, as well as to my\nrefusing to call for subscriptions, that the far greater portion of all\nthe money came to me by letter. On one day, though no doubt a little\nexceptional, as many as seventy communications reached me by post; and\nevery one of these contained something for our fund-ranging from \"a few\nstamps,\" and \"the widow's mite,\" through every variety of figure up to\nthe wealthy man's fifty or hundred pounds. I was particularly struck\nwith the number of times that I received L1, with such a note as, \"From\na servant-girl that loves the Lord Jesus;\" or \"From a servant-girl that\nprays for the conversion of the Heathen.\" Again and again I received\nsums of five and ten shillings, with notes such as--\"From a working-man\nwho loves his Bible;\" or \"From a working-man who prays for God's\nblessing on you and work like yours every day in Family Worship.\" I\nsometimes regret that the graphic, varied, and intensely interesting\nnotes and letters were not preserved; for by the close of my tour they\nwould have formed a wonderful volume of leaves from the human heart.\n\nI also addressed every Religious Convention to which I was invited, or\nto which I could secure access. The Perth Conference was made memorable\nto me by my receiving the first large subscription for our Ship, and by\nmy making the acquaintance of a beautiful type of Christian merchant. At\nthe close of the meeting, at which I had the privilege of speaking, an\nAmerican gentleman introduced himself to me. We at once entered into\neach other's confidence, as brothers in the Lord's service. I afterwards\nlearned that he had made a competency for himself and his family, though\nonly in the prime of life; and he still carried on a large and\nflourishing business--but why? to devote _the whole profits_, year after\nyear, to the direct service of God and His cause among men? He gave me a\ncheque for the largest single contribution with which the Lord had yet\ncheered me. God, who knows me, sees that I have never coveted money for\nmyself or my family; but I did envy that Christian merchant the joy that\nhe had in having money, and having the heart to use it as a steward of\nthe Lord Jesus!\n\nThereafter I was invited to the annual Christian Conference at Dundee. A\nmost peculiar experience befell me there. Being asked to close the\nforenoon meeting with prayer and the benediction, I offered prayer, and\nthen began, \"May the love of God the Father--\" but not another word\nwould come in English; everything was blank except the words in Aniwan,\nfor I had long begun to _think_ in the Native tongue, and after a dead\npause, and a painful silence, I had to wind up with a simple \"Amen!\" I\nsat down wet with perspiration. It might have been wiser, as the\nChairman afterwards suggested, to have given them the blessing in\nAniwan, but I feared to set them alaughing by so strange a manifestation\nof the \"tongues.\" Worst of all, it had been announced that I was to\naddress them in the afternoon; but who would come to hear a Missionary\nthat stuck in the benediction? The event had its semi-comical aspect,\nbut it sent me to my knees during the interval in a very fever of\nprayerful anxiety. A vast audience assembled, and if the Lord ever\nmanifestly used me in interesting His people in Missions, it was\ncertainly then and there. As I sat down, a devoted Free Church Elder\nfrom Glasgow handed me his card, with \"I. O. U. L100.\" This was my first\ndonation of a hundred pounds, and my heart was greatly cheered. I\npraised the Lord, and warmly thanked His servant. A Something kept\nsounding these words in my ears, \"My thoughts are not as your thoughts;\"\nand also, \"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain thee.\"\n\nDuring my address at that meeting three colored girls, not unlike our\nIsland girls, sat near the platform, and eagerly listened to me. At the\nclose, the youngest, apparently about twelve years of age, rose,\nsalaamed to me in Indian fashion, took four silver bangles from her arm,\nand presented them to me, saying, \"Padre, I want to take shares in your\nMission Ship by these bangles, for I have no money, and may the Lord\never bless you!\"\n\nI replied, \"Thank you, my dear child; I will not take your bangles, but\nJesus will accept your offering, and bless and reward you all the same.\"\n\nAs she still held them up to me, saying, \"Padre, do receive them from\nme, and may God ever bless you!\" a lady, who had been seated beside her,\ncame up to me, and said, \"Please, do take them, or the dear girl will\nbreak her heart. She has offered them up to Jesus for your Mission\nShip.\"\n\nI afterwards learned that the girls were orphans, whose parents died in\nthe famine; that the lady and her sister, daughters of a Missionary, had\nadopted them to be trained as Zenana Missionaries, and that they\nintended to return with them, and live and die to aid them in that\nblessed work amongst the daughters of India. Oh, what a reward and joy\nmight many a lady who reads this page easily reap for herself in Time\nand Eternity by a similar simple yet far-reaching service! Take action\nwhen and where God points the way; wait for no one's guidance.\n\nThe most amazing variety characterize the gifts and the givers. One\ndonor sent me an anonymous note to this effect, \"I have been curtailing\nmy expenses. The first L5 saved I enclose that you may invest it for me\nin the Bank of Jesus. I am sure He gives the best interest, and the most\ncertain returns.\"\n\nIn Glasgow a lady called at my brother's house, saying, \"Is the\nMissionary at home? Can I see him alone? If not, I will call again.\"\nBeing asked into my room, she declined to be seated, but said, \"I heard\nyou tell the story of your Mission in the City Hall, and I have been\npraying for you ever since. I have called to give you my mite, but not\nmy name. God bless you. We shall meet in Heaven!\" She handed me an\nenvelope, and was off almost before I could thank her. It was L49 in\nbank-notes.\n\nAnother dear Christian friend carne to see me, and at the close of a\ndelightful conversation, said: \"I have been thinking much about you\nsince I heard you in the Clark Hall, Paisley. I have come to give a\nlittle bit of dirty paper for your Ship. God sent it to me, and I return\nit to God through you with great pleasure.\" I thanked her warmly,\nthinking it a pound, or five at the most; on opening it, after she was\ngone, it turned out to be L100. I felt bowed down in humble\nthankfulness, and pressed forward in the service of the Lord.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXXVIII.\nENGLAND'S OPEN BOOK.\n\nTHE time now arrived for my attempting something amongst the\nPresbyterians of England. But my heart sank within me; I was a stranger\nto all except Dr. Dykes, and the New Hebrides Mission had no special\nclaims on them. Casting myself upon the Lord, I wrote to all the\nPresbyterian Ministers in and around London, enclosing my \"Statement and\nAppeal,\" and asking a Service, with a retiring collection, or the\nsurplus above the usual collection, on behalf of our Mission Ship. All\ndeclined, except two. I learned afterwards that the London Presbytery\nhad resolved that no claim beyond their own Church was to be admitted\ninto any of its pulpits for a period of months, under some special\nfinancial emergency. My dear friend, Dr. J. Hood Wilson, kindly wrote\nalso to a number of them, on my behalf, but with a similar result;\nthough at last other two Services were arranged for with a collection,\nand one without. Being required at London, in any case, in connection\nwith the threatened Annexation of the New Hebrides by the French, I\nresolved to take these five Services by the way, and immediately return\nto Scotland, where engagements and opportunities were now pressed upon\nme, far more than I could overtake. But the Lord Himself opened before\nme a larger door, and more effectual, than any that I had tried in vain\nto open up for myself.\n\nThe Churches to which I had access did nobly indeed, and the Ministers\ntreated me as a very brother. Dr. Dykes most affectionately supported my\nAppeal, and made himself recipient of donations that might be sent for\nour Mission Ship. Dr. Donald Fraser, and Messrs. Taylor and Mathieson,\nwith their Congregations, generously contributed to the Fund. And so did\nthe Mission Church in Drury Lane--the excellent and consecrated Rev. W.\nB. Alexander, the pastor thereof, and his wife, becoming my devoted\npersonal friends and continuing to remember in their work-parties ever\nsince the needs of the Natives on the New Hebrides. Others also, whom I\ncannot wait to specify, showed a warm interest in us and in our\ndepartment of the Lord's work. But my heart had been foolishly set upon\nadding a large sum to the fund for the Mission Ship, and when only about\nL150 came from all the Churches in London to which I could get access,\nno doubt I was sensible of cherishing a little guilty disappointment.\nThat was very unworthy in me, considering all my previous experiences;\nand God deserved to be trusted by me far differently, as the sequel will\nimmediately show.\n\nThat widely-known and deeply-beloved servant of God, Mr. J. E.\nMathieson, of the Mildmay Conference Hall, had invited me to address one\nof their annual meetings on behalf of Foreign Missions, and also to be\nhis guest while the Conference lasted. Thereby I met and heard many\ngodly and noble disciples of the Lord, whom I could not otherwise have\nreached though every Church I had asked in London had been freely opened\nto me. These devout and faithful and generous people, belonging to every\nbranch of the Church of Christ, and drawn from every rank and class in\nsociety, from the humblest to the highest, were certainly amongst the\nmost open-hearted and the most responsive of all whom I ever had the\nprivilege to address. One felt there, in a higher degree than almost\nanywhere else, that every soul was on fire with love to Jesus and with\ngenuine devotion to His Cause in every corner of the Earth. There it was\na privilege and a gladness to speak; and though no collection was asked,\nor could be expected, my heart was uplifted and strengthened by these\nhappy meetings, and by all that Heavenly intercourse.\n\nBut see how the Lord leads us by a way we know not! Next morning after\nmy address, a gentleman who had heard me, the Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer,\nhanded me a cheque from his father-in-law for L300, by far the largest\nsingle donation at that time towards our Mission Ship; and immediately\nthereafter I received from one of the Mildmay lady Missionaries L50,\nfrom a venerable friend of the founder L20, from \"Friends at Mildmay\"\nL30; and through my dear friend and brother, Mr. Mathieson, many other\ndonations were in due course forwarded to me.\n\nMy introduction, however, to the Conference at Mildmay did far more for\nme than even this; it opened up a series of drawing-room meetings in and\naround London, where I told the story of our Mission and preached, the\nGospel to many in the higher walks of life, and received most liberal\nsupport for the Mission Ship. It also brought me invitations from many\nquarters of England, to Churches, to Halls, and to County Houses and\nMansions.\n\nLord Radstock got up a special meeting, inviting by private card a large\nnumber of his most influential friends; and there I met for the first\ntime one whom I have since learned to regard as a very precious personal\nfriend. Rev. Sholto D. C. Douglas, clergyman, of the Church of England,\nwho then, and afterwards at Douglas-Support in Scotland, not only most\nliberally supported our fund, but took me by the hand as a brother, and\npromoted my work by every means in his power.\n\nThe Earl and Countess of Tankerville also invited me to Chillingham\nCastle, and gave me an opportunity of addressing a great assembly there,\nthen gathered together from all parts of the County. The British and\nForeign Bible Society received me in a special meeting of the Directors;\nand I was able to tell them how all we, the Missionaries of these\nIslands whose language had never before been reduced to writing, looked\nto them, and leant upon them, and prayed for them and their\nwork--without whom our Native Bibles never could have been published.\nAfter the meeting the Chairman gave me L5, and one of the Directors a\ncheck for L25 for our Mission Ship.\n\nI was also invited to Leicester, and made the acquaintanceship of a\ngodly and gifted servant of the Lord Jesus, the Rev. F. B. Meyer, B. A.\n(now of London), whose books and booklets on the higher aspects of the\nChristian Life are read by tens of thousands, and have been fruitful of\nblessing. There I addressed great meetings of devoted workers in the\nLord's vineyard; and the dear friend who was my host on that occasion, a\nChristian merchant, has since contributed L10 per annum for the support\nof a Native Teacher on the New Hebrides.\n\nIt was my privilege also to visit and address the Mueller Orphanages at\nBristol, and to see that saintly man of faith and prayer moving about as\na wise and loving father amongst the hundreds, even thousands, that look\nto him for their daily bread and for the bread of Life Eternal. At the\nclose of my address, the venerable founder thanked me warmly and said,\n\"Here are L50, which God has sent to me for your Mission.\" I replied\nsaying, \"Dear friend, how can I take it? I would rather give you L500\nfor your Orphans if I could, for I am sure you need it all!\"\n\nHe replied, with sweetness and great dignity, \"God provides for His own\nOrphans. This money cannot be used for them. I must send it after you by\nletter. It is the Lord's gift.\"\n\nOften, as I have looked at the doings of men and Churches, and tried to\nbring all to the test as if in Christ's very presence, it has appeared\nto me that such work as Mueller's and Barnardo's, and that of my own\nfellow-countryman, William Quarrier, must be peculiarly dear to the\nheart of our blessed Lord. And were He to visit this world again, and\nseek a place where His very Spirit had most fully wrought itself out\ninto deeds, I fear that many of our so-called Churches would deserve to\nbe passed by, and that His holy, tender, helpful, divinely-human love\nwould find its most perfect reflex in these Orphan Homes. Still and\nforever, amidst all changes of creed and of climate, this, this is \"pure\nand undefiled Religion\" before God and the Father!\n\nBut in this connection I must not omit to mention that the noble and\nworld-famous servant of God, the Minister of the Tabernacle, invited me\nto a garden-party at his home, and asked me to address his students and\nother Christian workers. When I arrived I found a goodly company\nassembled under the shade of lovely trees, and felt the touch of that\ngenial humor, so mighty a gift when sanctified, which has so often given\nwings to C. H. Spurgeon's words, when he saluted me as \"The King of the\nCannibals!\" On my leaving, Mrs. Spurgeon presented me with her husband's\n_Treasury of David_, and also \"L5 from the Lord's cows\"--which I\nafterwards learned was part of the profits from certain cows kept by the\ngood lady, and that everything produced thereby was dedicated to the\nwork of the Lord. I praised God that He had privileged me to meet this\nextraordinarily endowed man, to whom the whole Christian World had been\nso specially indebted, and who had consecrated all his gifts and\nopportunities to the proclamation of the pure and precious Gospel.\n\nOf all my London associations, however, the deepest and the most\nimperishable is that which weaves itself around the Honorable Ion\nKeith-Falconer, who has already passed to what may truly be called a\nMartyr's crown. At that time I met him at his father-in-law's house at\nTrent; and on another occasion spent a whole day with him at the house\nof his noble mother, the Countess-Dowager of Kintore. His soul was then\nfull of his projected Mission to the Arabs, being himself one of the\nmost distinguished Orientalists of the day; and as we talked together,\nand exchanged experiences, I felt that never before had I visibly marked\nthe fire of God, the holy passion to seek and to save the lost, burning\nmore steadily or brightly on the altar of any human heart. The heroic\nfounding of the Mission at Aden is already one of the precious annals of\nthe Church of Christ. His young and devoted wife survives, to mourn\nindeed, but also to cherish his noble memory; and, with the aid of\nothers, and the banner of the Free Church of Scotland, to see the\n\"Keith-Falconer Mission\" rising up amidst the darkness of blood-stained\nAfrica, as at once a harbor of refuge for the slave, and a beacon-light\nto those who are without God and without hope The servant does his day's\nwork, and passes on through the gates of sleep to the Happy Dawn; but\nthe Divine Master lives and works and reigns, and by our death, as\nsurely as by our life, His holy purposes shall be fulfilled.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER LXXXIX.\nFAREWELL SCENES.\n\nON returning to Scotland, every day was crowded with engagements for the\nweeks that remained, and almost every mail brought me contributions from\nall conceivable corners of the land. My heart was set upon taking out\ntwo or three Missionaries with me to claim more and still more of the\nIslands for Christ; and with that view I had addressed Divinity Students\nat Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Again and again, by conversation\nand correspondence, consecrated young men were just on the point of\nvolunteering; but again and again the larger and better known fields of\nlabor turned the scale, and they finally decided for China or Africa or\nIndia. Deeply disappointed at this, and thinking that God directed us to\nlook to our own Australia alone for Missionaries for the New Hebrides, I\nresolved to return, and took steps towards securing a passage by the\nOrient Line to Melbourne. But just then two able and devoted students,\nMessrs. Morton and Leggatt, offered themselves as Missionaries for our\nIslands; and shortly thereafter a third, Mr. Landells, also an excellent\nman; and all, being on the eve of their License as preachers, were\napproved of, accepted, and set to special preparations for the Mission\nfield, particularly in acquiring practical medical knowledge.\n\nOn this turn of affairs I managed to have my passage delayed for six\nweeks, and resolved to cast myself on the Lord that He might enable me\nin that time to raise at least L500, in order to furnish the necessary\noutfit and equipment for three new Mission Stations, and to pay the\npassage money of the Missionaries and their wives, that there might be\nno difficulty on this score amongst the Foreign Mission Committees on\nthe other side. And then the idea came forcibly, and for a little\nunmanned me, that it was wrong in me to speak of these limits as to time\nand money in my prayers to God. But I reflected, again, how it was for\nthe Lord's own glory alone in the salvation of the Heathen, and for no\npersonal aims of mine; and so I fell back on His promise, \"Whatsoever ye\nshall ask in My Name,\" and believingly asked it in His Name, and for His\npraise and service alone. I think it due to my Lord, and for the\nencouragement of all His servants, that I should briefly outline what\noccurred in answer to these prayers.\n\nHaving gone to the center of one of the great shipbuilding districts of\nScotland, and held a series of meetings, and raised a sum of about L55\nonly after nine services and many Sabbath School collecting cards, my\nheart was beginning to sink, as I did not think my health would stand\nanother six weeks of incessant strain; when, at the close of my last\nmeeting in a Free Church, an Elder and his wife entered the vestry and\nsaid, \"We are deeply interested in you and in all your work and plans.\nYou say that you have asked L500 more. We gave you the first L100 at the\nDundee Conference; and it is a joy to us to give you this L100 too,\ntowards the making up of your final sum. We pray that you may speedily\nrealize your wish, and that God's richest blessing may ever rest upon\nyour head.\"\n\nAnother week passed by, and at the close of it a lady called upon me,\nand, after delightful conversation about the Mission, said, \"How near\nare you to the sum required?\" I explained to her what is recorded above,\nand she continued, \"I gave you one little piece of paper at the\nbeginning of your efforts. I have prayed for you every day since. God\nhas prospered me, and this is one of the happiest moments of my life,\nwhen I am now able to give you another little bit of paper.\"\n\nSo saying, she put into my hand L100. I protested, \"You are surely too\ngenerous. Can you afford a second L100?\"\n\nShe replied to this effect, and very joyfully, as one who had genuine\ngladness in the deed, \"My Lord has been very kind to me, in my business.\nMy wants are simple, and are safe in His hands. I wait not till death\nforces me, but give back whatever I am able to the Lord now, and hope to\nlive to see much blessing thereby through you in the conversion of the\nHeathen.\"\n\nMy last week had come, and I was in the midst of preparations for\ndeparture, when amongst the letters delivered to me was one to this\neffect:\n\n\"Restitution money which never now can be returned to its owner. Since\nmy Conversion I have labored hard to save it. I now make my only\npossible amends by returning it to God through you. Pray for me and\nmine, and may God bless you in your work!\" I rather startled my brother\nand his wife at our breakfast table by shouting out in unwontedly\nexcited tones,--\"Hallelujah! The Lord has done it! Hallelujah!\" But my\ntones softened down into intense reverence, and my words broke at last\ninto tears, when I found that this, the second largest subscription ever\nreceived by me (L1000, by one friend, have since been given to the \"John\nG. Paton Mission Fund\"), came from a converted tradesman who had\nconsecrated his all to the Lord Jesus, and whose whole leisure was now\ncentered upon seeking to bless and save those of his own rank and class,\namongst whom he had spent his early and unconverted days. Jesus said\nunto him, \"Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the\nLord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.\"\n\nBidding farewell to dear old Glasgow, so closely intertwined with all my\nearlier and later experiences, I started for London, accompanied by my\nbrother James. We were sitting at breakfast at Mrs. Mathieson's table,\nMildmay, when a telegram was put into my hands announcing a\n\"thank-offering\" from Lord and Lady Polwarth, received since our\ndeparture from Glasgow. The Lord had now literally exceeded my prayers.\nWith other gifts, repeated again by friends at Mildmay, the special fund\nfor outfit and traveling expenses for new Missionaries had risen above\nthe L500, and now approached L650.\n\nIn a Farewell Meeting at Mildmay the Lord's servants, being assembled in\ngreat numbers from all quarters of London, dedicated me and my work very\nsolemnly to God, amid songs of praise and many prayers and touching\n\"last words.\" And when at length Mr. Mathieson, intimating that I must\ngo, as another company of Christian workers were elsewhere waiting also\nto say Good-by, suggested that the whole audience should stand up, and,\ninstead of hand-shaking, quietly breathe their benedictory Farewell as I\npassed from the platform down through their great Hall, a perfect flood\nof emotion overwhelmed me. I never felt a humbler man, nor more anxious\nto hide my head in the dust, than when all these noble, gifted, and\nbeloved followers of Jesus Christ, and consecrated workers in His\nservice, stood up and with one heart said, \"God speed\" and \"God bless\nyou,\" as I passed on through the Hall. To one who had striven and\nsuffered less, or who less appreciated how little we can do for others\ncompared with what Jesus had done for us, this scene might have\nministered to spiritual pride; but long ere I reached the door of that\nHall, my soul was already prostrated at the feet of my Lord in sorrow\nand in shame that I had done so little for Him, and I bowed my head and\ncould have gladly bowed my knees to cry, \"Not unto us; Lord, not unto\nus!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XC.\nWELCOME TO VICTORIA AND ANIWA.\n\nON the 28th October, 1885, I sailed for Melbourne, and in due course\nsafely arrived there by the goodness of God. The Church and people of my\nown beloved Victoria gave me a right joyful welcome, and in public\nassembly presented me with a testimonial, which I shrank from receiving,\nbut which all the same was the highly-prized expression of their\nconfidence and esteem.\n\nDuring my absence at the Islands, to which I immediately proceeded, they\nunanimously elected me Moderator of their Supreme Court, and called me\nback to fill that highest Chair of honor in the Presbyterian Church. God\nis my witness how very little any or all of these things in themselves\never have been coveted by me; but how, when they have come in my way, I\nhave embraced them with a single desire thereby to promote the Church's\ninterest in that Cause to which my whole life and all my opportunities\nare consecrated--the Conversion of the Heathen World.\n\nMy Mission to Britain was to raise L6000, in order to enable the\nAustralian Churches to provide a Steam Auxiliary Mission Ship, for the\nenlarged and constantly enlarging requirements of the New Hebrides. I\nspent exactly eighteen months at home; and when I returned, I was\nenabled to hand over to the Church that had commissioned and authorized\nme no less a sum than L9000. And all this had been forwarded to me, as\nthe freewill offerings of the Lord's stewards, in the manner illustrated\nby the preceding pages. \"Behold! What God hath wrought!\"\n\nOf this sum L6000 are set apart to build or acquire the new Mission\nShip. The remainder is added to what we call our Number II. Fund, for\nthe maintenance and equipment of additional Missionaries. It has been\nthe dream of my life to see one Missionary at least, with trained Native\nTeachers, planted on every Island of the New Hebrides, and then I could\nlie down and whisper gladly, \"Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart\nin peace!\"\n\nAs to the new Mission Ship, unexpected delay has arisen. There are\ndifferences of opinion about the best way of carrying out the proposal.\nThere must be an understanding betwixt New South Wales and Victoria and\nthe other Colonies, as to the additional annual expenditure. And the\nperplexity as to the wisest course has deepened, since the Colonial\nGovernment began to run Mail Ships regularly from Australia to Fiji,\nwilling on certain terms of subsidy, to call at one or other harbor in\nthe New Hebrides. Meantime, let all friends who are interested in us and\nour work understand--that the money so generously intrusted to me has\nbeen safely handed over to my own Victorian Church, and is deposited at\ngood interest in the bank, to be spent at their discretion in due time,\nwhen all details are settled, and, as nearly as possible in the altered\ncircumstances, exclusively for the purposes for which it was asked and\nbestowed.\n\nTo me personally, this delay is confessedly a keen and deep\ndisappointment. But the special work laid upon me has, however, been\naccomplished. The Colonial Churches have now all the responsibility of\nthe further steps. In this, as in many a harder trouble of my checkered\nlife, I calmly roll all my burden upon the Lord. I await with quietness\nand confidence His wise disposal of events. His hand is on the helm; and\nwhither He steers us, all shall be well.\n\nBut let me not close this chapter, till I have struck another and a\nDiviner note. I have been to the Islands again, since my return from\nBritain. The whole inhabitants of Aniwa were there to welcome me, and my\nprocession to the old Mission House was more like the triumphal march of\na Conqueror than that of a humble Missionary. Everything was kept in\nbeautiful and perfect order. Every Service of the Church, as previously\ndescribed in this book, was fully sustained by the Native Teachers, the\nElders, and the occasional visit, once or twice a year, of an ordained\nMissionary from one of the other Islands. Aniwa, like Aneityum, is a\nChristian land. Jesus has taken possession, never again to quit those\nshores. GLORY, GLORY TO HIS BLESSED NAME!\n\nMy Home has since been at Melbourne. My life-work now (1892), and\nprobably during the remainder of my active days, will be to visit and\naddress the Congregations and Sabbath Schools of the Presbyterian\nChurches of Australasia, telling them, as in this book, the story of my\nexperiences, and inspiring the Christian people of these Colonies to\nsupport the New Hebrides Mission, and to claim all these Islands for the\nLord Jesus Christ.\n\nReader, in your life, as in mine, one last Chapter still awaits us. By\nHis grace, who has sustained me from childhood till now, I would work\nout that Chapter, and live through these closing scenes. With this book\nstill open before you, I implore you to go alone before your blessed\nSaviour, and pledge yourself so to live, and so to die, in the service\nand fellowship of the Lord Jesus, that you and I, who have companied\nwith each other through these pages, may meet again and renew our happy\nintercourse in our FATHER'S HOUSE.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XCI.\nGOOD NEWS FROM TANNA, 1891. (By the Editor.)\n\nWHILST this page of manuscript passes through my hands, there is laid\nbefore me a brilliant letter from Mrs. Watt of Tanna, which, I am sure,\nshe will pardon me for utilizing thus. It is written from Port\nResolution, in the closing days of 1891. Its main theme is the building\nof the SCOTCH CHURCH, in the very heart of the district where my\nbrother's years of anguish and toil were endured. Friends in Scotland\ngave Mr. and Mrs. Watt the money wherewith to purchase materials, and\nSt. Paul's Parish Church, Glasgow, provided the Bell. But let us hear\nhow she paints the scene, and unveils to us the Island life,--alike\nPagan and Christian.\n\nWhen they returned from Scotland and found their way to Kwamera, after\ngalling delays among the Islands, one of their first duties was the\nmaking of \"the annual contribution of arrow-root,\" the proceeds \"to go\nto line the roof of the Kwamera Church,--the Church itself having been\nbuilt in the same way,\" that is, by the sacred arrow-root! Then they\nwent round to Port Resolution for the erection of the SCOTCH CHURCH,--\"A\nMemorial of Workers and Work on Tanna.\" She tells how they \"improvized a\nderrick by lashing together the masts of the two boats, and, with the\naid of these and blocks and tackle, got the principals into their proper\nposition. And though carpenters or builders may laugh at it,\" she adds,\n\"we heaved a sigh of relief when the last one was secured.\" Listen to\nthis: \"Mr. Gray (neighbor Missionary) and Mr. Watt were the only skilled\nworkmen. The others were all inexperienced, being Natives. We had them\nall divided into two relays, and they came turn about, each alternate\nday; and I can assure you there are no Natives in the Group, or indeed\nin any land, who would have come more faithfully, or worked more\nheartily, than these much-abused Tannese! The work went on every day,\nSabbaths excepted, from 6 A.M. till 6 P.M., for forty days. On ten of\nthese days Mr. Gray gave very valuable assistance; in truth, I do not\nsee how we could have done without him. Day by day the women prepared\nfood; the boys pulled drinking cocoanuts; and every one worked\nwillingly, while crowds came and gazed on in wonder as the edifice\narose.\" And if there be any shallow arm-chair critic of Missions ready\nto sneer at such toils, let him first digest what this devoted lady\nMissionary says: \"Church Building may not be considered by some as\nMission work; yet we believe this Church erection has been the means of\nmuch good to this people. We have had better attendances, both on\nweek-days and on Sabbaths, than ever before. And we managed to keep up\nthe daily morning and evening meetings during all the building\ntime,--as, after the devotional part was over, the builders went out,\nbut the rest remained for lessons.\" What more blessed than thus to work\nand pray! To teach their hands to work, and their hearts to sing praises\nto the Lord!\n\nNow let us pass on, and look in upon them at the opening and dedication\nof this SCOTCH CHURCH ON TANKA to the Lord God. \"On a fixed day,\nWednesday 28th October, exactly twelvemonths to a day from our leaving\nLiverpool, Natives from far and near assembled for the occasion. Mr. and\nMrs. Gray, with their two children, a Mr. Voullaire, a German who has\ncome to Tanna as a Trader, and our neighbor Mr. Bramwell, joined us. So\nthat, when we all met for the Opening Services, we were a somewhat mixed\ncompany, speaking a medley of languages,--English, Scotch, German,\nFijian, Aneityumese, Aniwan, and at least two of the Tannese languages!\nThe building was well filled; but the bigger crowd was gathered outside;\nfor our Heathen onlookers were afraid to enter the sacred edifice. The\nService was beautiful. All seemed very happy. After it, there was an\nexchange of gifts, we giving fifty fathoms of prints and calicoes, some\nhandkerchiefs, two pots full of cooked rice, a pile of raw yams and\ntaro, and two pieces of salt beef. Our neighbor gave some print, some\ntins of luncheon beef, and some uncooked rice. The Natives gave two\ncooked pigs, and native puddings _ad libitum_. These things being\ndivided to the satisfaction of all, we had speeches, when doubtless some\ngood impressions were made. On the Sabbath following we had a good\nattendance, Mr. Gray addressing the people. On the Sabbath following\nthat we made our first money collection on Tanna.\" I again ask to my\nreaders to listen, and to lay to heart what the lady Missionary tells us\nof these once cruel and cannibal souls. \"We asked the people to give it\nas a thank-offering for the remarkable exemption from accident during\nthe building of the Church though at times the work was rather\ndangerous. The collection was L3: 5s. We were much pleased with the\nhearty way the people responded to this, the first call to give a free\ngift to the Lord. One man, whose whole purse was 17s., gave 1s. himself,\nand gave 1s. to each of his three sons, so that they too might have\nsomething to give. Knowing how meanly the Tannese treated the Spirits\nwhom they worshiped in Heathenism,--giving them the scraggiest fish, the\npoorest bananas, and the smallest yams,--we rejoiced in this Christian\nliberality!!\"\n\nReferring to exaggerated Newspaper rumors she says: \"Tanna bulks largely\nin some minds, though it is only a small Island, a little larger than\nArran! We had noticed that our Civil War was telegraphed not only to the\nAustralian papers, but to San Francisco, and even to the _London\nStandard_. We have been receiving letters of condolence from friends,\nwho think our lives in danger!\" Now, mark what the presence of the\nGospel and the Missionary has brought about, as compared with former\ndays: \"Personally, the said Civil War has not affected us in the\nslightest. The Grays, who were in the center of the scene of action, and\nwho more than once had the bullets whizzing over and around their house,\nwere so assured of their complete safety that Mrs. Gray stayed there\nbravely alone with their children, while Mr. Gray came up here to assist\nat our Church building!\"\n\nBut she does not pretend that all is Christlike: \"The list of killed and\nwounded has been unusually large for Tanna, while the atrocities\ncommitted have been worse than we ever heard of before. Indignities were\noffered to the dead of both sexes. And, in one case at least, a\nmutilated woman was left unburied to be eaten by dogs,--and would have\nbeen completely devoured, had not one of our Teachers come on the scene\nnext day, and, unaided, dug a grave and buried her.\" And then the writer\nlets in the lurid light of the Nether Pit in this closing picture: \"One\ninstance of the disgusting depravity of the people shocked me much. A\nman, who even attends Service in the district where the above dreadful\naffair took place, on seeing the poor mutilated form of the woman,\naddressed it thus--'If only the Gospel had not reached my Village, how I\nwould have enjoyed a feast off you!' I cannot tell you how much this has\npreyed upon my mind; or how glad I feel at realizing that Jesus is an\nAlmighty Saviour, and can save to the uttermost, else I would despair of\nthese People!\"\n\nThis may be commended to the attention of those who still affect to\nbelieve that the Cannibalism of my brother's book is overdrawn. That\nhalf-civilized Tanna man, smacking his lips at the thought of what might\nhave been his but for the Gospel, outweighs all cavils, and is tenfold\nstronger than arguments. Also let us ask all readers to ponder the dear\nlady's parting shot at unsympathetic and disparaging critics: \"Some have\nsaid that the backwardness of the Gospel on Tanna is due to the want of\nfaith on the part of her Missionaries; but I agree with our\nfellow-laborer, Mr. Gray, who declares that it is only gigantic Faith\nthat could have toiled so many years amongst such a People!\" Dear sister\nin the Lord, courageous, much-enduring, free of all mock-modesty,\nconscious of thy Cross, I thank thee for that word--it is the right\none--\"Gigantic faith!\"","title":"The Story of John G. Paton; Or, Thirty Years Among South Sea Cannibals","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":116705}