{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_75800/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_75800","id":"gutenberg_75800","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75800","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Missionaries -- Vanuatu -- Biography","Paton, John Gibson, 1824-1907"],"text":"TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTE\n\n Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.\n\n Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.\n\n\n\n\nNEW AND CHEAPER EDITION ILLUSTRATED.\n\nJOHN G. PATON,\n\nMISSIONARY TO THE NEW HEBRIDES.\n\nAN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.\n\nEDITED BY HIS BROTHER.\n\nWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.\n\nTwo vols. in box, 12mo, cloth, gilt top net $2.00.\n\n\nMinisterial Commendation.\n\n\u201cI have just laid down the most robust and the most fascinating piece\nof autobiography that I have met with in many a day.... John G. Paton\nwas made of the same stuff with Livingstone.\u201d\u2014_Theodore L. Cuyler, D.D._\n\n\u201cI consider it unsurpassed in missionary biography. In the whole course\nof my extensive reading on these topics, a more stimulating, inspiring,\nand every way first-class book has not fallen into my hands. Everybody\nought to read it.\u201d\u2014_Arthur T. Pierson, D.D._\n\n\nMissionary Praise.\n\n\u201cI have never read a romance that was half so thrilling.\u201d\u2014_Lucius C.\nSmith, Guanajuato, Mexico._\n\n\u201cI have never read a more inspiring biography.\u201d\u2014_Thomas C. Winn,\nYokohama, Japan._\n\n\u201cThe Lord\u2019s work will not go back while there are such men as he in the\nchurch.\u201d\u2014_James A. Heal, Sing Kong, Cheh Kiang, China._\n\n\u201cI think I have never had greater pleasure in reading any book.\u201d\u2014_R.\nThackswell, Dehra, North India._\n\n\nPress Notices.\n\n\u201cPerhaps the most important addition for many years to the library of\nmissionary literature is the autobiography of John G. Paton.\u201d\u2014_The\nChristian Advocate._\n\n\u201cWe commend to all who would advance the cause of Foreign Missions\nthis remarkable autobiography. It stands with such books as those\nDr. Livingstone gave the world, and shows to men that the heroes of\nthe cross are not merely to be sought in past ages.\u201d\u2014_The Christian\nIntelligencer._\n\n\nFleming H. Revell Company,\n\n { NEW YORK, 30 Union Square, E.\n { CHICAGO, 148 & 150 Madison Street.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: MISSION HOUSE AT ANIWA.]\n\n\n\n\n JOHN G. PATON,\n\n MISSIONARY TO THE\n\n NEW HEBRIDES.\n\n An Autobiography.\n\n EDITED BY HIS BROTHER.\n\n _SECOND PART._\n\n New Illustrated Edition.\n\n FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY\n\n PUBLISHERS\n NEW YORK CHICAGO\n 30 UNION SQUARE, EAST. 148-150 MADISON STREET.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY NOTE.\n\nBY ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.\n\n\nThe avidity with which Part I. of Mr. Paton\u2019s remarkable life-story\nwas received by the public in England has been no surprise. Before\nthis second part was issued from the press, three thousand copies were\nalready sold; and the entire edition of five thousand was so soon\nexhausted that it has been impossible to cope with the demand.\n\nWe have no hesitation in pronouncing this second part the most\nfascinating narrative of missionary adventure and heroism and success\nthat we have ever met. This volume abounds in poetry and pathos,\ndramatic incident and thrilling experience, lit up by the golden rays\nof a delicate and unique humor. It reminds one of a varied landscape\nwith bold mountains and modest valleys, where snow-crowned summits look\ndown on summer gardens; where cascades fall into quiet streams, and\nwhere all the marvels of light and shade at once relieve and diversify\nthe scene. The twenty-two miles\u2019 gallop through the Australian Bush\non the back of Garibaldi, which made the inexperienced rider drunk\nwith excitement and fatigue; the Aniwan woman who, judging clothes an\nevidence of a new heart, approved her decided conversion by coming into\nchapel having her person grotesquely adorned with every article of male\nattire which she could beg or borrow, may illustrate the comical side\nof this charming story. The three years of progress among cannibals, in\nlaying foundations of Christian families, schools, churches, and even\nsocial order, may serve as one of the greatest vindications, through\nall history, of that Gospel which is still the power of God and the\nwisdom of God unto salvation.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIt is a true joy to me, that I am enabled to place Part Second of my\nbrother\u2019s Autobiography in the hands of the Public without undue delay.\n\nThe amount of interesting and precious material, entrusted to me to be\nre-written and prepared for the Press, has, by its very abundance and\nvariety, landed me in the greatest perplexity. Amidst all the toil and\nanxiety of producing such a book, my only painful experience has been\nthe necessity of cutting out page after page, every whit as beautiful\nand valuable as any of the pages for which room has been found.\n\nThat observation applies very specially to the \u201cLetters,\u201d which\nconstitute Chapter IX. These I verily regret to publish in mere\nfragments, instead of in their own rounded completeness.\n\nTwo whole Chapters, as outlined by my brother, I am sorrowfully\nnecessitated to omit, so that the Life-Story itself may not be too\nmuch enlarged or overloaded. The one refers to \u201cThe Kanaka, or Labour\nTraffic in the South Seas\u201d; and the other to \u201cAnnexation, and the\nFuture of the New Hebrides.\u201d Both are of vital import among the Public\nQuestions of the day; and, in the discussion of both, his position and\nopportunities have led him to take a not inconsiderable share. But the\nclaims of what may more properly be regarded as the Personal Narrative\nwere paramount; and the allotted space, within the limits of this\nvolume, left me, for the present at least, no other choice.\n\nReaders would think me foolishly uplifted, if I indicated one-hundredth\npart of the chorus of approbation, that has reached me regarding Part\nFirst of this Autobiography. My best wish for the Second Volume is that\nit may be similarly welcomed; and that it may bring a special blessing\nto as many hearts in all quarters of the world. More than that I could\nnot reasonably anticipate.\n\n JAMES PATON,\n _Editor_.\n\n _Glasgow,\n October, 1889._\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n _THE FLOATING OF THE DAYSPRING._\n\n PAGE\n Preliminary Note 1\n Call for a Mission Ship 2\n A Brutal Captain 3\n Sun-Worshippers, or Slaves? 5\n The Lights of Sydney 6\n Thrown upon the Lord 7\n Mr. Foss\u2019s Open Door 8\n Climbing into Pulpits 9\n Shipping Company for Jesus 10\n The Golden Shower 12\n Wanted! More Missionaries 13\n Commissioned to Scotland 14\n Wayside Incidents of Australian Travel 16\n Lost in the Bush 17\n Sinking in the Swamp 21\n Put through my Catechism 23\n \u201cDo for the Parson!\u201d 24\n Crossing the Colony on Novel Conditions 25\n Pay-Day at a Squatter\u2019s 29\n Three Days in a Public House 31\n A Meeting among the Diggers 35\n Camping Out 37\n A Squatter Rescued 39\n John Gilpin\u2019s Ride through the Bush 40\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n _AMONG THE ABORIGINES._\n\n A Fire-Water Festival 47\n At Tea with the Aborigines 48\n \u201cBlack Fellow all Gone!\u201d 50\n The Poison-Gift of Civilization 51\n The \u201cScattering\u201d of the Blacks 52\n The \u201cBrute-in-human-shape\u201d Theory 54\n The Testimony of Nora 55\n Nathaniel Pepper and their \u201cGods\u201d 57\n Smooth Stone Idols 58\n Rites and Ceremonies 59\n \u201cToo Much Devil-Devil\u201d 60\n The Quest for Idols 61\n Visit to Nora in the Camp 63\n Independent Testimonies 65\n Nora\u2019s own Letters 68\n The Aborigines in Settlements 71\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n _TO SCOTLAND AND BACK._\n\n Dr. Inglis on the Mission Crisis 73\n Casting Lots before the Lord 74\n Struck by Lightning 75\n A Peep at London 76\n A Heavenly Welcome 77\n The Moderator\u2019s Chair 78\n Reformed Presbyterian Church and Free Church 80\n Tour through Scotland 82\n A Frosted Foot 83\n The Children\u2019s Holy League 84\n Missionary Volunteers 85\n A God-provided Help-Mate 86\n Farewell to the Old Family Altar 88\n First Peep at the _Dayspring_ 90\n The _Dayspring_ in a Dead-Lock 91\n Tokens of Deliverance 93\n The _John Williams_ and the _Dayspring_ 95\n Australia\u2019s Special Call 98\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n _CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES._\n\n First of Missionary Duties 100\n Mar\u00e9 and Noumea 101\n The French in the Pacific 103\n The _Cura\u00e7oa_ Affair 104\n The \u201cGospel and Gunpowder\u201d Cry 105\n The Missionaries on their Defence 106\n The Mission Synod\u2019s Report 107\n The Shelling of the Tannese Villages 109\n Public Meeting and Presbytery 111\n Fighting at Bay 114\n Federal Union in Missions 115\n A Fiery Furnace at Geelong 116\n Results of Australian Tour 119\n New Hebrides Mission Adopted by Colonies 120\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n _SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA._\n\n The _John Williams_ on the Reef 123\n A Native\u2019s Soliloquy 124\n Nowar Pleading for Tanna 125\n The White Shells of Nowar 126\n The Island of Aniwa 127\n First Landing on Aniwa 129\n The Site of our New Home 130\n \u201cMe no Steal!\u201d 131\n House-Building for God 132\n Native Expectations 135\n _Tafigeitu_ or Sorcery 136\n The Miracle of Speaking Wood 138\n Perils through Superstition 139\n The Mission Premises\u2014a City of God 141\n Builders and their Wages 142\n Great Swimming Feat 144\n Stronger than the \u201cGods\u201d of Aniwa 145\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n _FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM._\n\n Navalak and Nemeyan on Aniwa 149\n Taia the \u201cOrator\u201d 150\n The Two next Aneityumese Teachers 151\n In the Arms of Murderers 152\n Our First Aniwan Converts 153\n Litsi Sor\u00e9 153\n Surrounded by Torches 155\n Traditions of Creation, Fall, and Deluge 156\n Infanticide and Wife-Murder 159\n Last Heathen Dance 162\n Nelwang\u2019s Elopement 163\n Yakin\u2019s Bridal Attire 169\n Christ-Spirit _versus_ War-Spirit 171\n Heathenism in Death Grips 174\n A Great Aniwan Palaver 175\n The Sinking of the Well 176\n Old Chiefs Sermon on \u201cRain from Below\u201d 189\n The Idols Cast Away 192\n The New Social Order 194\n Back of Heathenism Broken 196\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n _THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE._\n\n My First Aniwan Book 198\n The Power of Music 201\n A Pair of Glass Eyes 202\n Church Building for Jesus 203\n The Hanging of the Bell 206\n Patesa and his Bride 207\n An Armed Embassage 210\n Youwili\u2019s Taboo 212\n The Conversion of Youwili 216\n The Tobacco Idol 218\n First Communion on Aniwa 221\n Our Village Day Schools 223\n New Social Laws 225\n A Sabbath Day\u2019s Work on Aniwa 226\n Our Week-Day Life 229\n The Orphans and their Biscuits 231\n The Wreck of the _Dayspring_ 233\n God\u2019s Own Finger Posts 234\n \u201cGod\u2019s Work our Guarantee\u201d 235\n Profane Swearers Rebuked 237\n A Heavenly Vision 238\n On Wing through New Zealand 239\n Our Second _Dayspring_ 240\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n _PEN PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS._\n\n The Gospel in Living Capitals 241\n \u201cA Shower of Spears\u201d 243\n The Tannese Refugees 244\n Pilgrimage and Death of Namakei 245\n The Character of Naswai 250\n Christianity and Cocoa-Nuts 254\n Nerwa the Agnostic 255\n Nerwa\u2019s Beautiful Farewell 258\n The Story of Ruwawa 260\n Waiwai and his Wives 262\n Nelwang and Kalangi 268\n Mungaw and Litsi Sor\u00e9 270\n The Maddening of Mungaw 271\n The Queen of Aniwa a Missionary 275\n Surrender of Nasi to Jesus 277\n Daylight Prayer Meeting on Aniwa 280\n Candidates for Baptism 281\n The Appeal and Testimony of Lamu 282\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n _LETTERS FROM ANIWA._\n\n Editorial Preface 285\n _Letter for 1867_ 286\n Not Tanna but Aniwa 287\n \u201cMissi Paton _versus_ Teapots\u201d 288\n The Humour of Taia 288\n Evening Village Prayers 289\n \u201cMake Him _Bokis_ sing\u201d 289\n My Sewing Class 289\n \u201cThat No Gammon\u201d 290\n \u201cTalk Biritania\u201d 290\n The Marriage of Kahi 291\n _Letter for 1869_ 292\n First Communicants on Aniwa 292\n Mungaw and the Mission Boys 293\n The Blessing of the _Dayspring_ 294\n _Letter for 1874_ 294\n Home to Aniwa 295\n \u201cTaking Possession\u201d 296\n \u201cAnother Soul Committed to our Care\u201d 296\n Hutshi and her Lover 297\n Six Missionaries on Aniwa 298\n _Letter for 1875_ 299\n Missi Paton and \u201cJoseph,\u201d and the Tannese 300\n A Tropical Hurricane 301\n The Disgrace and Sale of Hutshi 303\n Taia Baited by Nalihi 308\n Earthquakes and Tidal Waves 310\n Farewells 311\n _Letter for 1878_ 312\n A Madman at Large 312\n The Passing of Yawaci 324\n Madness and Death of Mungaw 325\n Our Native Elders 334\n Music on the Waters 335\n A Wicked Vow 335\n _Letter for 1879_ 336\n New Year\u2019s Day on Aniwa 336\n A Miserable Slaver 337\n Litsi Married Again 337\n Mission Synod on Erromanga 338\n Tragic and Holy Memories 339\n Daylight at last on Tanna 340\n Pigs in Galore 341\n Arrowroot for Jehovah 341\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n _LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN._\n\n \u201cWanted! A Steam Auxiliary\u201d 342\n Commissioned Home to Britain 343\n English Presbyterian Synod 344\n United Presbyterian Synod 345\n The \u201cVeto\u201d from the Sydney Board 345\n Dr. Hood Wilson 347\n The Free Church Assembly 348\n Neutrality of Foreign Mission Committee 349\n The Church of Scotland 350\n At Holyrood and at Alva House 351\n Irish Presbyterian Assembly 352\n The Pan-Presbyterian Council of 1884 353\n My \u201cPlan of Campaign\u201d 354\n Old Ireland\u2019s Response 355\n Operations in Scotland 356\n Seventy Letters in a Day 358\n Beautiful Type of Merchant 359\n My First \u00a3100 at Dundee 360\n Peculiar Gifts and Offerings 361\n Approach to London 364\n Mildmay\u2019s Open Door 366\n Largest Single Donation 367\n Personal Memories of London 368\n Garden Party at Mr. Spurgeon\u2019s 370\n The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 371\n Three New Missionaries 372\n \u201cRestitution Money\u201d 375\n The Farewell at Mildmay 376\n Welcome to Victoria 377\n The Dream of my Life 378\n The New Mission Ship Delayed 378\n Welcome back to Aniwa 379\n Parting Testimony 380\n Fare-thee-well 382\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n MISSION HOUSE AT ANIWA _Frontispiece_.\n\n \u201cALL THE NATIVES WITHIN REACH ASSEMBLED\u201d _To face p._ 129\n\n I WANT YOU TO TRAIN LITSI FOR JESUS \u201d 153\n\n \u201cOH, MY NEW EYES\u201d \u201d 203\n\n \u201cI\u2019LL KNOCK THE TEVIL OUT OF HIM\u201d \u201d 211\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n_THE FLOATING OF THE \u201cDAYSPRING.\u201d_\n\n Preliminary Note.\u2014Call for a Mission Ship.\u2014A Brutal\n Captain.\u2014Sun-Worshippers or Slaves?\u2014The Lights of Sydney.\u2014Thrown\n upon the Lord.\u2014Mr. Foss\u2019s Open Door.\u2014Climbing into\n Pulpits.\u2014Shipping Company for Jesus.\u2014The Golden Shower.\u2014Wanted\n More Missionaries.\u2014Commissioned to Scotland.\u2014Wayside Incidents of\n Australian Travel.\u2014Lost in the Bush.\u2014Sinking in the Swamp.\u2014Put\n Through My Catechism.\u2014\u201cDo for the Parson!\u201d\u2014Crossing the Colony\n on Novel Conditions.\u2014Pay-Day at a Squatter\u2019s.\u2014Three Days in a\n Public House.\u2014A Meeting among the Diggers.\u2014Camping Out.\u2014A Squatter\n Rescued.\u2014John Gilpin\u2019s Ride through the Bush.\n\n\nStrange yet gratifying news has reached me. Part First of my\nAutobiography has met with a wonderful response from the Public. Within\nthree weeks of its appearance, a second edition has been called for.\n\nAt the Editor\u2019s urgent appeal, therefore, and assured also that the\nfinger of God is guiding me, I take up my pen to write Part Second,\nfeeling that I am bound to do so by my promise at the close of the\nfirst volume, and by loyalty to the Lord, who seems thus to use my\nhumble life-story to promote the glory of His Name both at home and\nabroad.\n\nBut, oh, surely never any man was called upon to write a book amid\nsuch distracting circumstances! Ceaselessly travelling from Church\nto Church and from town to town from one end of Australia to the\nother,\u2014addressing a meeting almost every evening of the week, often\nalso during the afternoons, and several Congregations and Sabbath\nSchools every Lord\u2019s Day,\u2014the following pages are the outpourings of\na heart saturated with the subject, but bereft of all opportunity for\nquiet thought or studious hours.\n\nHaving thus far done my part, I leave all else to the careful\nEditorship of my dear brother, whose loving hand will put everything\ninto shape for the public eyes. This only I can sincerely testify,\u2014The\nLord has called for it, and I lay on His altar the only gift that I\nhave to offer, believing that He will both accept it and use it as He\nsees to be for the best.\n\n * * * * *\n\nRescued from Tanna by the _Blue Bell_ in the Spring of 1862, 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\nthat I had made from it into the Tannese language. The Missionaries\non Aneityum\u2014Messrs. Geddie and Copeland\u2014united, after repeated\ndeliberations, in urging me to go to Australia in the interests of\nour Mission. In this appeal they were joined now by my companions\nin tribulation, Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson. A Mission Ship was sorely\nneeded\u2014was absolutely required, to prevent the needless sacrifice of\ndevoted lives. More Missionaries were called for, and must somehow be\nbrought into the field, unless the hope of claiming these fair Islands\nfor Jesus was to be for ever abandoned.\n\nWith unaffected reluctance, I at last felt constrained to undertake\nthis unwelcome but apparently inevitable task. It meant the leaving of\nmy dear 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 \u00a310. And, as if to make\nme realize how bare the Lord had stripped me in my late trials, the\nfirst thing that occupied me on board was the making with my own hands,\nfrom a piece of cloth obtained on Aneityum, another shirt for the\nvoyage, to change with that which I wore\u2014the only one that had been\nleft to me.\n\nThe Captain proved to be a profane and brutal fellow. He professed\nto be a Roman Catholic, but he was typical of the coarse and godless\nTraders in those Seas. If he had exerted himself to make the voyage\ndisagreeable, and even disgusting, he could scarcely have had better\nsuccess. He frequently fought with the mate and steward, and his\ntyrannical bearing made every one wretched. He and his Native wife\n(a Heathen\u2014but not more so than himself!) occupied the Cabin. I had\nto sleep on boards, without a bed, in a place where they stored the\nsandal-wood; and never could take off my clothes by night or day during\nthat voyage of nearly fourteen hundred miles. The vessel was miserably\nsupplied. Any food I got was scarcely eatable, and was sent to me in a\nplate on deck. There I spent all my time, except at night or in heavy\nrain, when I crept in and lay upon my planks.\n\nThe poor steward often came rushing on deck from the cabin, with blood\nstreaming from his face, struck by the passionate Captain with whatever\ncame to his hand. Yet he appeared to be a smart and obliging lad, and\nI pitied him exceedingly. Seeing no hope for redress, I took careful\nnotes of his shocking treatment, and resolved to bide my time for\nexposing this base and cruel inhumanity.\n\nOn reaching Sydney, the steward was dismissed without wages,\u2014the\nCaptain having accused him to his employers of refusing to work on\nboard. He found me out, and told me, weeping, that he cared more for\nhis poor aged mother than himself, as his pay was all her support. On\nmy advice, he informed the Captain that he would summon him, and that\nI had consented to appear in Court and produce my notes of what I had\nseen, day by day, on the voyage. He was immediately paid in full, and\ncame to me big with gratitude.\n\nOne hesitates to dwell further on this miserable episode. But I must\nrelate how my heart bled for some poor Islanders also, whom that\nCaptain had on board. They knew not a word of English, and no one in\nthe vessel knew a sound of their language. They were made to work, and\nto understand what was expected of them, only by hard knocks and blows,\nbeing pushed and pulled hither and thither. They were kept quite naked\non the voyage up; but, when nearing Sydney, each received two yards\nof calico to be twisted as a kilt around his loins. A most pathetic\nspectacle it was to watch these poor Natives,\u2014when they had leisure to\nsit on deck,\u2014gazing, gazing, intently and imploringly, upon the face\nof the Sun! This they did every day, and at all hours, and I wept much\nto look on them, and not be able to tell them of the Son of God, the\nLight of the world, for I knew no word of their language. Perhaps they\nwere worshippers of the Sun; and perhaps, amid all their misery, oh,\n_perhaps_, some ray of truth from the great Father of Lights may have\nstreamed 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\nCaptain impudently replied that they were \u201cpassengers.\u201d No further\nquestion was put. No other evidence was sought. Yet all who knew\nanything of our South-Sea Island Traders were perfectly aware that\nthe moral certainty was that these Natives were there practically as\nSlaves. They would be privately disposed of by the Captain to the\nhighest bidder; and that, forsooth, is to be called the _Labour_\nTraffic.\n\nAbout midnight we came to anchor in Sydney harbour. The Captain\ncondescended to say, \u201cI will not drive you ashore to-night, but you\nmust be off by daylight.\u201d His orders might have been spared. It was too\ngreat a relief to get away from such coarseness and profanity.\n\nAs we came to anchorage, I anxiously paced the deck, gazing towards the\ngas-lighted city, and pleading with God to open up my way, and give\nsuccess in the work before me, on which the salvation of thousands\nof the Heathen might depend. Still I saw them perishing, still heard\ntheir wailing cry on the Islands behind me. I saw them groaning under\nblinding superstitions, and imbruing their hands in each other\u2019s blood,\nand I felt as if crushed by the awful responsibility of my work and by\nthe thought of all that hung upon its success or failure. But I felt\nalso that there must be many of God\u2019s dear people in Sydney who would\nsympathize with such work and help me, if only I could get access to\nthem. At the same time, I knew not a soul in that great city; though I\nhad a note of introduction to one person, which, as experience proved,\nI would have been better without.\n\nUnfortunately, I had not with me a copy of the Resolution of the\nMissionaries, commissioning me to plead their cause and to raise funds\nfor the new Mission Ship. Again and again I had earnestly requested it,\nbut the Clerk of the meeting, pressed by correspondence, or for some\nother reason, gave me instead that note of introduction, which proved\nmore of a hindrance than a help in launching my work; except that it\nthrew me more exclusively on the guidance of my Lord, and taught me to\ntrust in Him, and in the resources He had given me, rather than in any\nhuman aid, from that day till the present hour.\n\nThat friend, however, did his best. He kindly called with me on a\nnumber of Ministers and others. They heard my story, sympathized\nwith me, shook hands, and wished me success; but, strangely enough,\nsomething \u201cvery special\u201d prevented every one of them from giving\nme access to his pulpit or Sabbath School. At length, I felt so\ndisappointed, so miserable, that I wished I had been in my grave with\nmy dear departed and my brethren on the Islands who had fallen around\nme, in order that the work on which so much now appeared to depend\nmight have been entrusted to some one better fitted to accomplish it.\nThe heart seemed to keep repeating, \u201cAll these things are against thee.\u201d\n\nFinding out at last the Rev. A. Buzacott, then retired, but formerly\nthe successful and honoured representative of the London Missionary\nSociety on Rarotonga, considerable light was let in upon the mysteries\nof my last week\u2019s experiences. He informed me that the highly esteemed\nfriend, who had kindly been introducing me all round, was at that\nmoment immersed in a keen Newspaper war with Presbyterians and\nIndependents. He had published statements and changes of view, which\ncharged them with being unscriptural in belief and practice. They, of\ncourse, were rigorously defending themselves. This made it painfully\nmanifest that, in order to succeed, I must strike out a new course for\nmyself, 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 recompence.\n\nA letter and appeal had been already printed on behalf of our Mission.\nI now re-cast and reprinted it, adding a postscript, and appending my\nown name and new address. This was widely circulated among Ministers\nand others engaged in Christian work; and by this means, and by letters\nin the Newspapers, I did everything in my power to make our Mission\nknown. But one week had passed, and no response came. One Lord\u2019s Day\nhad gone by, and no pulpit had been opened to me. I was perplexed\nbeyond measure, how to get access to Congregations and Sabbath Schools;\nthough a Something deep in my soul assured me, that if once my lips\nwere opened, the Word of 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.\nI followed them\u2014that 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. McSkimming, addressed the children. At the\nclose I went up and pleaded with him to allow me ten minutes to speak\nto them. After a little hesitation, and having consulted together,\nthey gave 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\u2014surely by the hand of the dear Lord, with the help of His\nlittle children.\n\nThe kindly Minister, now very deeply interested, offered to spend the\nnext day in introducing me to his clerical brethren. For his sake, I\nwas most cordially received by them all, but especially by Dr. Dunsmore\nLang, who greatly helped me; and now access was granted me to almost\nevery Church and Sabbath School, both Presbyterian and Independent.\nIn Sabbath Schools, I got a collection in connection with my address,\nand distributed, with the sanction of Superintendents, Collecting\nCards amongst the children, to be returned through the teachers within\na specified date. In Congregations, I received for the Mission the\nsurplus over and above the ordinary collection when I preached on\nSabbaths, and the full collection at all week-night meetings for which\nI 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\nwork. They knew that every penny went direct to the Mission; and they\nsaw that my one object was to promote God\u2019s glory in the conversion\nof the Heathen. Our dear Lord Jesus thus opened up my way, and now I\nhad invitations from more Schools and Congregations than I knew how to\novertake\u2014the response in money being also gratifying beyond almost all\nexpectation.\n\nIt was now that I began a little plan of interesting the children,\nthat attracted them from the first, and has since had an amazing\ndevelopment. I made them shareholders in the new Mission Ship\u2014each\nchild receiving a printed form, in acknowledgment of the number of\nshares, at sixpence each, of which he was the owner. Thousands of\nthese shares were taken out, were shown about amongst families, and\nwere greatly prized. The Ship was to be their very own! They were to\nbe a great Shipping Company for Jesus. In hundreds of homes, these\nreceipt-forms have been preserved; and their owners, now in middle\nyears, are training _their_ children of to-day to give their pennies to\nsupport the white-winged Angel of the Seas, that bears the Gospel and\nthe Missionary to the Heathen Isles.\n\nLet no one think me ungrateful to my good Treasurer and his wife, to\nDr. and Mrs. Moon, and to other dear friends who generously helped me,\nwhen I trace step by step how the Lord opened up my way. The Angel\nof His Presence went before me, and wonderfully moved His people to\ncontribute in answer to my poor appeals. I had indeed to make all\nmy own arrangements, and correspond regarding all engagements and\ndetails,\u2014to me, always a slow and laborious writer, a very burdensome\ntask. But it was all necessary in order to the fulfilment of the Lord\u2019s\npurposes; and, to one who realizes that he is a fellow-labourer with\nJesus, every yoke 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\nat my request formed themselves into a Committee of Advice. Our dear\nfriend, James McBain, Esq., now Sir James, became Honorary Treasurer.\nAll moneys from this Colony, raised by my pleading for the Ship,\nwere entrusted to him; and, ultimately, the acknowledging of every\nindividual sum cost much time and labour. Dr. Cairns, and many others\nnow gone to their rest, along with several honoured Ministers yet\nliving, formed my Committee. The Lord richly reward them all in that\nDay!\n\nAs in New South Wales, I made all my own engagements, and arranged\nfor Churches and Sabbath Schools as best I could. Few in the other\nDenominations of Victoria gave any help, but the Presbyterians rose\nto our appeal as with one heart. God moved them by one impulse; and\nMinisters, Superintendents, Teachers and Children heartily embraced the\nscheme as their own. I addressed three or four meetings every Sabbath,\nand one or more every week-day; and thus travelled over the length and\nbreadth of Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. Wheresoever a few\nof the Lord\u2019s people could be gathered together, thither I gladly went,\nand told the story of our Mission, setting forth its needs and claims.\n\nThe contributions and collections were nearly all in very small sums.\nI recall only one exception,\u2014a gift of \u00a3250 from the late Hon. G.\nF. Angus, South Australia, whose heart the Lord had touched. Yet\ngently and steadily the required money began to come pouring in; and\nmy personal outlays were reduced to a minimum by the hospitality of\nChristian friends and their kindly conveying of me from place to\nplace. For all this I felt deeply grateful; it saved money for the\nLord\u2019s work.\n\nEach of my Treasurers, to whom all contributions were sent direct, kept\nme duly posted as to sums received from time to time. The progress made\nsoon led on to the resolution to aim at a Ship three times the size of\nthat originally proposed. We set apart the sum of \u00a33,000 as necessary\nfor it; and I vowed, in my solitude, that if God sent an additional\n\u00a3800 within a given time, that would be my Gideon\u2019s fleece, and would\nwarrant me in going home to Scotland to secure more Missionaries\nfor the Islands. By this time, I had heard of the death of my dear\nfellow-labourers, Mrs. Mathieson on Aneityum, and shortly thereafter\nMr. Mathieson on Mar\u00e9. I alone was now left to tell the story of the\nplanting of the Standard on Tanna,\u2014our Mission numbered then only four\nagents in the field,\u2014and the thought arose, Why keep a Mission Vessel\nfor so few? The resolution was, therefore, taken in God\u2019s Name to get\nmore Missionaries too. But this, as yet, was betwixt my own soul and\nthe Lord.\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\nmy tour, the fund had risen to \u00a35,000, including special Donations of\n\u00a3300 for the support of Native Teachers. Many Sabbath Schools, and many\nladies and gentlemen, had individually promised the sum of \u00a35 yearly\nto keep a Native Teacher on one or other of the New Hebrides Islands.\nThis happy custom prevails still, and is largely developed; the sum\nrequired being now \u00a36 per annum at least\u2014for which you may have your\nown personal representative toiling among the Heathen and telling them\nof Jesus.\n\nReturning to Melbourne, the whole matter was laid before my Committee.\nI reported how God had blessed the undertaking, and what sums were now\nin the hands of the several Treasurers, indicating also what larger\nhopes and plans had been put into my soul. Dear Dr. Cairns rose and\nsaid, \u201cSir, it is of the Lord. This whole enterprise is of God, and\nnot of us. Go home, and He will give you more Missionaries for the\nIslands.\u201d My ever-honoured friends, Dr. and Mrs. Inglis, had just\nreturned to Melbourne from Britain, where they had been carrying the\ncomplete New Testament in Aneityumese through the press. Dr. Inglis was\npresent at that meeting, and approved warmly of my going home for more\nMissionaries, especially as from want of time and opportunity he had\nnot himself succeeded in getting any additions to our Missionary staff.\n\nMelbourne held a Farewell meeting. The Governor, Sir Henry Barkley,\ntook the chair. The Hall was crowded; and the Governor\u2019s sympathetic\nutterances arrested public attention and deepened the interest in\nour Mission. The fact was emphasized that this work, lying at their\nvery doors in the Pacific Seas, had peculiar claims on the heart and\nconscience of Australia.\n\nThence I hasted to Sydney, and reported myself also there. The New\nSouth Wales Committee gave their cordial approval to our larger plans.\nA Farewell was held there too; and the Governor, Sir John Young, took\nthe chair. The meeting was a great success. His presence, and his\nexcellent speech, again helped to fix the eyes of all Australians on\nthe peculiar claims of the New Hebrides. This was _their_ work, more\nthan that of any other people on the face of the Earth. The awakening\nof this consciousness, and intensifying it into a practical and burning\nfaith, was a great and far-reaching achievement for Australia and for\nthe Islanders. It is one of the purest joys of my life, that in this\nwork I was honoured to have some share, along with many other dear\nservants of the Lord.\n\nOf the money which I had raised, \u00a33,000 were sent to Nova Scotia, to\npay for the building of our new Mission Ship, the _Dayspring_. The\nChurch which began the Mission on the New Hebrides was granted the\nhonour of building its first Mission Ship. The remainder was set apart\nto pay for the outfit and passage of additional Missionaries for the\nfield, and I was commissioned to return home to Scotland in quest of\nthem. Dr. Inglis wrote, in vindication of this enterprise, to the\nfriends whom he had just left, \u201cFrom first to last, Mr. Paton\u2019s mission\nhere has been a great success; and it has been followed up with such\nenergy and promptitude in Nova Scotia, both in regard to the Ship and\nthe Missionaries, that Mr. Paton\u2019s pledge to the Australian Churches\nhas been fully redeemed. The hand of the Lord has been very visible in\nthe whole movement from beginning to end, and we trust He has yet great\nblessing in store for the long and deeply degraded Islanders.\u201d\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\nin connection with the Floating of the _Dayspring_. Travelling in the\nColonies in 1862-63 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\nthis Autobiography, namely, to show that the Finger of God is as\nvisible still, to those who have eyes to see, as when the fire-cloud\nPillar led His People through the wilderness.\n\nTwenty-six years ago, the roads of Australia, except those in and\naround the principal towns, were mere tracks over unfenced plains and\nhills, and on many of them packhorses only could be used in slushy\nweather. During long journeys through the bush, the traveller could\nfind his road only by following the deep notches, gashed by friendly\nprecursors into the larger trees, and all pointing in one direction.\nIf he lost his way, he had to struggle back to the last indented tree,\nand try to interpret more correctly its pilgrim notch. Experienced\nbush-travellers seldom miss the path; yet many others, losing the\ntrack, have wandered round and round till they sank and died. For then,\nit was easy to walk thirty or forty miles, and see neither a person nor\na house. The more intelligent do sometimes guide their steps by sun,\nmoon, and stars, or by glimpses of mountain peaks or natural features\non the far and high horizon, or by the needle of the compass; but the\nperils are not illusory, and occasionally the most experienced have\nmiscalculated 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\ndrive me 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cI know this road well; and we must drive steadily, as we have not a\nmoment to lose.\u201d\n\nOur conversation became absorbingly interesting. After we had driven\nabout three hours, he remarked,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe must soon emerge into the open plain.\u201d\n\nI doubtfully replied, \u201cSurely we cannot have turned back! These trees\nand bushes are wonderfully like those we passed at starting.\u201d\n\nHe laughed, and made me feel rather vexed that I had spoken, when he\nsaid, \u201cI am too old a hand in the bush for that! I have gone this road\nmany a time before.\u201d\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, \u201cI am certain we have wheeled, and are back at\nthe beginning of our journey; but there comes a Chinaman; let us wait\nand inquire.\u201d\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, \u201cWell, this beats all reckoning! I\ncould have staked my life that this was impossible.\u201d\n\nTurning to me, he said, with manifest grief, \u201cOur meeting is done for!\nIt will be midnight before we can arrive.\u201d\n\nThe sun was beginning to set, as we reached the thinly timbered ground.\nEre dusk fell, he took his bearings 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.\nAt last we struck upon the wire fence that bounded his property. The\nhorses were now getting badly fagged; and, in order to save them a\nlong round-about drive, he lifted and laid low a portion of the fence,\nled his horses cautiously over it, and, leaving it to be re-erected\nby a servant next day, he started direct for the Station. That\nseemed a long journey too; but it was for him familiar ground; and\nthrough amongst great patriarchal trees here and there, and safely\npast dangerous water-holes, we swung steadily on, reached his home in\nsafety, and had a joyous welcome. The household had by this time got\ninto great excitement over our non-appearance. The expected meeting\nhad, of course, been abandoned hours ago; and the people were all gone,\nwondering in their hearts \u201cwhereto this would grow!\u201d\n\nAt that time, in the depth of winter, the roads were often wrought\ninto rivers 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\nevery place where a horse could be hired; but the owners positively\nrefused\u2014they 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 \u201ccurios,\u201d\nand a heavy bundle of clubs, arrows, dresses, etc., from the Islands,\nwherewith to illustrate my lectures and enforce my appeals. No one\ncould be hired to carry my luggage, nor could I get it sent after me by\ncoach on that particular way. Therefore, seeing no alternative opening\nin my path, I committed myself once more to the Lord, as in harder\ntrials before, shouldered my bundle of clubs, lifted my heavy bag, and\nstarted off on foot. They urged me fervently to desist; but I heard a\nvoice repeating, \u201cAs thy days, so shall thy strength be.\u201d There came\nback to me also the old adage that had in youthful difficulties spurred\nme on, \u201cWhere there\u2019s a will, there\u2019s a way.\u201d And I thought that, with\nthese two in his heart, a Scotchman would not be easily beaten.\n\nWhen I found the road wrought into mire, and dangerous, or impassable,\nI climbed the fence, and waded along in the ploughed fields\u2014though they\nwere nearly as bad. My bundle was changed from shoulder to shoulder,\nand my bag from hand to hand, till I became thoroughly tired of both.\nPressing on, however, I arrived at a wayside Public House, where\nseveral roads met, and there I inquired the way to Learmouth, and how\nfar it was. The Innkeeper, pointing, answered,\u2014\n\n\u201cThis 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.\u201d\n\nI said, \u201cI am walking. How many English miles is it to Mr. Baird\u2019s\nfarm?\u201d\n\nHe laughingly replied, \u201cYou 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.\u201d\n\nI passed on, leaving my Job\u2019s comforter; but a surly watch-dog 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,\u2014they\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\na poor bullock, which by this time had almost disappeared, sinking in\nthe mire on the public highway! They kindly pointed me to a light,\nvisible through the dusk. That was the farm at which I was to stay, and\nthey advised me to clear the fence, and make straight for that light,\nas the way was good.\n\nWith thankful heart, I did so. The light was soon lost to me, but\nI walked steadily on in the direction thereof, to the best of my\njudgment. Immediately I began to feel the ground all floating under\nme. Then at every step I took, or tried to take, I sank deeper and\ndeeper, till at last I durst not move either backward or forward. I\nwas floundering in a deadly swamp. I called out again and again, and\n\u201ccoo-ee-d\u201d with all my strength, but there came no reply. It grew\nextremely dark, while I kept praying to God for deliverance. About\nmidnight, I heard two men conversing, apparently at no very great\ndistance. I began \u201ccoo-ee-ing\u201d again, but my strength was failing.\nFortunately, the night was perfectly calm. The conversation ceased for\na while; but I kept on crying for help. At length, I heard one voice\nremark to the other,\u2014\u201cSome one is in the swamp.\u201d And then a question\ncame, \u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d\n\nI answered, \u201cA stranger. Oh, do help me!\u201d\n\nAgain a voice came through the darkness, \u201cHow did you get in there?\u201d\n\nAnd I feebly replied, \u201cI have lost my way.\u201d\n\nI heard the one say to the other: \u201cI will go and get him out, whoever\nhe may be. We must not leave him there; he\u2019ll be dead before the\nmorning. As you pass by our door, tell my wife that I\u2019m helping some\npoor creature out of the swamp, and will be home immediately.\u201d\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\nhis shoulder, and in a very short time landed me at the farm, dripping\nand dirty 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 heartily welcomed me and kindly ministered to all my needs.\nThough not yet gone to rest, they had given up all hope of seeing me. I\nheard the kind servant say to his mistress,\u2014\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know where he came from, or how far he has carried his\nbundles; but I got him stuck fast in the swamp, and my shoulder is\nalready sore from carrying his clubs!\u201d\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\nOne day, after this, I was driving a long distance on the outside of\na crowded coach. A grave and sensible-looking Scotchman sat next me.\nHe had inquiringly marked me reading in silence, while all around were\nconversing on matters of common interest. At last, he queried,\u2014\u201cAre you\na Minister?\u201d I answered, \u201cYes.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is your Church?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have no Church.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are you placed?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not placed in any charge now.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is your home?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have no home.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere have you come from?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe South Sea Islands.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing in Australia?\u201d\n\n\u201cPleading the cause of the Mission.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you a Presbyterian?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am.\u201d\n\nHaving gone through this Catechism to his satisfaction, a most\ninteresting and profitable conversation followed. When the time came\nfor the payment of fares, nothing would please but that I must allow\nhim to pay for me\u2014some twenty-two shillings\u2014which he did with all his\nheart, protesting,\u2014\n\n\u201cA joy to me, Sir, a great joy; I honour you for your work\u2019s sake!\u201d\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\na taste of what Australian life really was, when the land was being\nbroken in. A company of wild and reckless men were carousing there at\nthe time, and our arrival was the signal for an outbreak of malicious\nmischief. A powerful fellow, who turned out to be a young Medical,\nrushed upon me as I left the conveyance, seized me by the throat, and\nshook me roughly, shouting,\u2014\n\n\u201cA parson, a parson! I will do for the parson!\u201d\n\nOthers with great difficulty relieved me from his grips, and dragged\nhim away, cursing as if at his mortal enemy.\n\nAfter tea, we got into the only bedroom in the house, available for\ntwo. The Teacher and I locked ourselves in and barricaded the door,\nhearing in the next room a large party of drunken men gambling and\nroaring over their cards. By-and-by they quarrelled and fought; they\nsmashed in and out of their room, and seemed to be murdering each\nother; every moment we expected our door to come crashing in, as they\nwere thrown or lurched against it. Their very language made us tremble.\nOne man in particular seemed to be badly abused; he shouted that they\nwere robbing him of his money; and he groaned and cried for protection,\nall in vain. We spent a sleepless and most miserable night. At four in\nthe morning I arose, and was glad to get away by the early coach. My\nfriend also left in his own conveyance, and reached his home in safety.\nAt that period, it was not only painful but dangerous for any decent\ntraveller to stay at many of these wayside Inns, in the new and rough\ncountry. Every man lived and acted just as he pleased, doing that which\nwas right in his own eyes; and Might was Right.\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\nall Sunday 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\nsome Church or Hall, and, failing that, to fix on some suitable spot in\nthe open air. Then, I was always able to hire some one to go round with\nthe bell, and announce the meeting. Few will believe how large were\nthe audiences in this way gathered together, and how very substantial\nwas the help that thereby came to the Mission fund. Besides, I know\nthat much good was done to many of those addressed; for I have always,\nto this hour, combined the Evangelist\u2019s appeal with the Missionary\u2019s\nstory, in all public addresses, whether on Sabbath or other days. I\ntried to bring every soul to feel personal duty and responsibility to\nthe Lord Jesus, for I knew that then they would rightly understand the\nclaims of the Heathen.\n\nWheresoever 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\na certain place, from which my way lay for many miles across the\ncountry where there was no public conveyance, I walked to the nearest\nsquatter\u2019s Station and frankly informed the owner how I was situated;\nthat I could not hire, and that I would like to stay at his house all\nnight, if he would kindly send me on in the morning by any sort of trap\nto the next Station on my list. He happened to be a good Christian\nand a Presbyterian, and gave me a right cordial welcome. A meeting of\nhis servants was called, which I had the pleasure of addressing. Next\nmorning, he gave me \u00a320, and sent me forward with his own conveyance,\ntelling me to retain it all day, if necessary.\n\nOn reaching the next squatter\u2019s Station, I found the master also at\nhome, and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cI am a Missionary from the South Sea Islands. I am crossing Victoria\nto plead the cause of the Mission. I would like to rest here for an\nhour or two. Could you kindly send me on to the next Station by your\nconveyance? If not, I am to keep the last squatter\u2019s buggy, until I\nreach it.\u201d\n\nLooking with a queer smile at me, he replied,\u2014\u201cYou 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.\u201d\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 deeply\ninteresting conversation, which finally led up, of course, to the story\nof our Mission.\n\nThe gentleman, by this time, had so far been won, that he slipped out\nand sent my conveyance and horses back to their owner, and ordered his\nown to be ready to take me to the next Station, or, if need be, to the\nnext again. At parting, the lady said to her husband,\u2014\n\n\u201cThe Missionary has asked no money, though he sees we have been deeply\ninterested; yet clearly that is the object of his tour. He is the first\nMissionary from the Heathen that ever visited us here; and you must\ncontribute something to his Mission fund.\u201d\n\nI thanked her, explaining, \u201cI never ask money directly from any\nperson for the Lord\u2019s work. My part is done when I have told my story\nand shown the needs of the Heathen and the claims of Christ; but I\ngratefully receive all that the Lord moves His people to give for the\nMission.\u201d\n\nHer husband replied, rather sharply, \u201cYou know I don\u2019t keep money here.\u201d\n\nTo which she retorted with ready tact and with a resistless smile, \u201cBut\nyou keep a cheque book; and your cheque is as good as gold! This is the\nfirst donation we ever gave to such a cause, and let it be a good one.\u201d\n\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, \u201cGo on! I don\u2019t want to be troubled with the loikes o\u2019\nyou here.\u201d\n\nI answered, \u201cI am sorry if my coming troubles you; but I wish you every\nblessing in Christ Jesus. Good-bye!\u201d\n\nAs we drove off, he shouted curses after us. On leaving his door, I\nheard a lady calling to him from the window: \u201cDon\u2019t let that Missionary\ngo away! Make haste and call him back. I want the children to see the\nidols and the South Sea curios.\u201d\n\nAt first he drowned her appeal in his own shoutings. But she must\nhave persisted effectually; for shortly we heard him \u201ccoo-ee-ing,\u201d and\nstopped. When he came up to us, he explained: \u201cThat 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?\u201d\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 cheque for \u00a35, and wished me great success!\n\nThe next Station at which we arrived was one of the largest of all.\nIt happened to be a sort of pay day, and men were assembled from all\nparts of the run, and were to remain there over night. The squatter and\nhis family 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\u2019s hut, and promised to set me forward\non my journey next day. The meeting was very enthusiastic; and they\nsubscribed \u00a320 to the Mission\u2014every 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 faraway Stations, most attentive and\nperfectly respectful.\n\nTo the honour of Australia I must here record, that anything like\nuncivil treatment was a rare exception in all my travels. Sometimes,\nindeed, I have suspected that people were acting as if to say, Let\nus treat him kindly, do as little for his cause as we can, and get\nrid of him as quickly as possible! But, as a rule, almost without an\nexception, I have met with remarkable kindness, hospitality, and help\nfrom all the Ministers and people of Australia. Scarcely ever, at any\nplace visited, was I without one or more invitations to be guest of\nsome of the Lord\u2019s people; and I was there treated as a dear friend\nof the family, rather than a passing stranger. Colonials, indeed, are\nproverbial for the open door and the generous hand to pilgrims by the\nway. May the Divine Master grant them evermore of His own Spirit, with\nHis ever-enriching blessings on their Souls and in their homes!\n\nDisappointments and successes were strangely intermingled. Once I\ntravelled a very long way to conduct a meeting at a certain township.\nI had written pleading with the Minister to make due intimation; but\nhe had informed no person of my intended visit, neither had he written\nto me, which he could easily have done. When I arrived, he met me on\nhorseback, said, \u201cI have arranged no meeting here,\u201d and instantly rode\naway. Only two coaches weekly passed that way, so I had to remain\nthere at a Public House for the next three days. Drinking and noise,\nof course, abounded; but they kindly gave me a small back room, as far\naway as possible, and looking out into a quiet garden. It was to cost\nme thirteen shillings and sixpence per day; and there I sat patiently\nand somewhat sadly working up my heavy correspondence. The district was\nrich, and I knew that there were pious as well as wealthy people there,\nwho could have been interested in our Mission and would have helped\nme,\u2014hence my keen disappointment.\n\nOn the afternoon of the second day, I saw a beautiful garden from my\nbedroom window, wherein a considerable party of ladies, gentlemen,\nand handsomely dressed children were disporting in happy amusements.\nThinking that they were growing tired, and might not object to a little\nvariety, I summoned courage to walk up and ask for the gentleman of\nthe house. I told him that I was a Missionary from the South Sea\nIslands and had come here to address a meeting, and how I had been\ndisappointed; that I was staying at the Public House till the next Mail\npassed inland, and that I had there some Heathen idols, clubs, dresses,\nand \u201ccurios,\u201d which perhaps the ladies and children would like to see,\nand to hear a little about the Lord\u2019s work on the Islands. I explained\nalso that I asked no money and received no reward, but only wished an\nopportunity of interesting them in this work of God. He consulted the\ncompany. They were eager to see what I had got, and to hear what I had\nto say.\n\nOn returning with my bundle of \u201ccurios,\u201d I found them all arranged\nunder the verandah, and a chair placed in front for me and my articles\nof mystery. They eagerly examined everything, and listened to my\ndescription of its uses. I gave them a short account of the Islanders\nand of our efforts to carry to them the Gospel of Jesus. I pressed on\nthem the blessings and the advantages of the great Redemption, and the\npeace and joy of living for and walking daily with God here, in the\nassured hope of eternal glory with Him hereafter; and I urged one and\nall to love and serve the Lord Jesus. Having stated how I came to be\nthere, and how I had been disappointed, knowing that many would have\nsympathized with and helped my Mission if only I could have addressed\nthem, I intimated that I would not ask any contributions, but I would\nleave a few of the Collecting Cards for the new Mission Ship; and if,\nafter what they had heard, they chose to do anything, all money was to\nbe sent to the Treasurer at Melbourne.\n\nSome offered me donations, but I declined, saying, \u201cI am a stranger to\nyou all. The Minister has cast suspicion on me by refusing to intimate\nany meeting. In the circumstances, I can in this case receive nothing.\nBut I will rejoice if you all do whatever you can for the precious\nwork of our Lord Jesus among the Heathen, and send it on to Melbourne,\nwhence every penny will be acknowledged in due time.\u201d\n\nMany took cards and became eager collectors for the Mission; and I\nknew, ere I returned to the Public House that day, that the Lord\u2019s\nfinger was here also, and that the trial of disappointment through the\nMinister was being already over-ruled for good.\n\nThis was even more remarkably manifested on the evening of that same\nday, and within the said Public House itself. A very large number of\nmen were assembled there, some at tea, and others drinking noisily,\non their return from a great cattle market and show. I tried to get\ninto conversation with some of the quieter spirits, and produced and\nexplained to them the idols, clubs, and dresses, till nearly all\ncrowded eagerly around me. Then I told them the story of our Mission,\nin process of which I managed to urge the Gospel message on their own\nhearts also; and invited them to ask questions at the close. The rough\nfellows became wonderfully interested. Several took Collecting Cards\nfor the _Dayspring_ fund. And the publican and his wife were thereafter\nvery kind, declining to take anything from me either for bed or\nmeals\u2014another gleam out of the darkness!\n\nIt is my conviction that in these ways the Lord helped me to gain as\nmuch, if not, more for the Mission than all that was lost through\nlack of a meeting; and it is certain that I thus had opportunity of\nspeaking of sin and salvation, and of setting forth the claims of\nJesus before many souls that never could have been reached through\nany ordinary Congregation. Again I learned to praise the Lord in all\ncircumstances\u2014\u201cBless the Lord _at all times_, O my soul.\u201d\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\nthe people from all the surrounding Stations, as well as his own\nnumerous servants, to hear the story of our Mission. Next day he\nvolunteered to drive me a long distance over the plains of St. Arnaud,\nhis dear wife accompanying us. At that time there were few fences in\nsuch districts in Australia. The drive was long, but the day had been\nlovely, and the fellowship was so sweet that it still shines a sunny\nspot in the fields of memory.\n\nHaving reached our destination about seven o\u2019clock, 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\u2019clock. I then hired a man to go through the township\nwith a bell, announcing the same; while I myself went up one side of\nthe main street, and my friend up the other, inviting all who would\nlisten to us to attend the Mission meeting, where South Sea Island\nidols, weapons, and dresses would be exhibited, and stories of the\nNatives told.\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, \u201cWhere\u2019s the Missionary?\u201d \u201cAnother\nhoax!\u201d\u2014indicating 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,\nand said, \u201cGentlemen, I am the Missionary. If you will now be silent,\nthe lecture will proceed. According to my usual custom, let us open the\nmeeting with prayer.\u201d\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,\nin perfect silence and with ever-increasing interest. At the close\nI intimated that I asked no collection; but if, after what they had\nheard, they would take a Collecting Card for the new Mission Ship,\nand send any contributions to the Treasurer at Melbourne, I would\npraise God for sending me amongst them. Many were heartily taken, and\ndoubtless some souls felt the \u201cconstraining love,\u201d who had till then\nbeen living without God. Next morning, I mounted the Mail Coach, and\nstarted on a three days\u2019 run, while my dear friend returned safely to\nhis home.\n\nIt was really very seldom, however, that I found myself thus driven to\nextemporize my meetings. Some Christian friend, if not the Minister of\nthe place, arranged all, and advertised my coming. And the Lord greatly\nhelped me in carrying on the burdensome correspondence thereanent, and\nkeeping it always three weeks ahead.\n\nI travelled thus over the length and breadth of New South Wales,\nVictoria, Tasmania, and South Australia, telling the story of our\nMission, and delivering the Lord\u2019s message, not only in great centres\nof population, but in almost every smaller township; and not only\nthereby Floating the _Dayspring_, but sowing, by God\u2019s help, seeds of\nfar-reaching blessing, whose fruits will ripen through the years to\ncome. Blessed be His holy Name!\n\nAnd here let me recall what happened at Penola, a border town between\nVictoria and South Australia. In the flooded, swampy country and bad\nbush-track between it and Mount Gambier the roads were impassable,\nand the coach broke down. The Mail was sent forward on horseback. I\nhad waited for nearly a week, in the hope of getting to the Mount for\nthe Sabbath Services that had been arranged. At length I succeeded in\nengaging a man, with a pair of horses and a light spring cart, to drive\nme there for \u00a34 10_s._ He declared the horses to be fresh, and able\nfor the journey. We started about mid-day; but, ere many miles had\nbeen covered, he began to whip them severely. The horses looked utterly\nexhausted, and the truth at once flashed on me. I was pleading with him\nnot to flog them so, when, on reaching a higher piece of ground, he\npulled up, and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cI am ashamed to tell you that my horses are done! They had just come\noff a journey of forty miles when we started. I have told you a lie;\nbut I hope you will forgive me. I was sorely in need of the hire, and\nI deceived you. There is no help for it now. We must camp out for the\nnight on this dry ground. I do hope you won\u2019t catch cold. You shall\nsleep in the cart; I can rest under it. I will set fire to this large\nfallen tree to keep us warm. I have brought a loaf of bread, and a\nbilly (= a bushman\u2019s can for boiling water). We can have some tea; and,\nrest assured, I shall land you there in time for the Sabbath Morning\nService.\u201d\n\nSo saying, while I listened dumbfounded, he turned aside, unyoked the\nhorses, \u201chobbled\u201d them, and let them go upon the grass. He made the\nblack tea which bushmen drink, and appeared to enjoy it. The conveyance\nwas drawn near to that burning tree, and I got located into it, and\nwas expected to rest. I sat there wide-awake during weary hours! Time\npassed at a dreadfully slow pace, and sleep refused to come near me.\nKangaroos, wallabies, with other nameless wild creatures and screaming\nbirds, kept loud festival all around; and mosquitoes tortured me,\napparently in thousands. Towards midnight I saw a light in the distant\nbush, and, awaking my companion, inquired if he could say what it might\nbe. He had heard that a Wesleyan farmer from near Adelaide had come\ninto that region to take up a sheep and cattle Station there, as in\nthat swampy country the grass was excellent. It might be their light,\nor it might be that of some benighted party camping out like ourselves.\nHe assured me that he could find our way to that light, and back again\nto our burning tree, and, partly to pass the time, I resolved to try.\n\nWe found the Wesleyan farmer there, living in a large bush-shed,\nsurrounded by a still larger enclosure wherein horses, cattle, and\nsheep were kept for the night all together upon the dry ground,\nawaiting the erection of houses and fencing, with which they were\nbusily engaged. Unseemly as was our hour of call, the dogs had\nloudly announced our approach, and we got a cordial greeting, being\nimmediately surrounded by all the family. They eagerly listened to\neverything about the Mission. We had worship together. They gave us a\nhearty tea, besides a loaf of bread and a jug of milk for our breakfast\nnext morning\u2014the jug to be left by us beside the burning tree, whither\nthey could send for it after we departed. Their regrets were genuine\nand profuse that their circumstances prevented them from offering us\na bed, but we exceedingly enjoyed our intercourse with them, and felt\nthem to be dear Christian friends. How delightful and responsive is\nthe communion of those who love the Lord Jesus, wherever they meet;\nand oh, what will it be in Glory, when, made like unto the Saviour, we\nshall \u201csee Him as He is!\u201d At daybreak we were off again on our weary\njourney, and reached the destination safely and in good time. A hearty\nwelcome awaited us from dear Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell, who had long since\ndespaired of my appearing. All the Services were largely attended, and\nthe Lord led the people to take a deep interest in our Mission, many\ngenerous and devoted friends to it arising there, where the Minister\nand his wife struck the right key-note, and were so highly and justly\nesteemed.\n\nReturning to Penola, we found that the Mail coach would not try to run\nfor some time. I had to reconcile myself to wait there for several\ndays. Every day I beheld a man staggering about at all hours under\nthe influence of drink. I learned that he had been a wealthy and\nopen-handed squatter, had lost everything, had recently laid his wife\nin the grave, and now, followed about by his three little girls, was\ntrying to drown his sorrows in whisky. Overcome with irresistible pity,\nI followed him day after day, and again and again remonstrated with\nhim on the madness of his conduct, especially appealing to him for his\nchildren\u2019s sake. At last he turned upon me, with an earnest gaze, and\nsaid, \u201cIf you take the pledge with me, God helping me, I will keep it\nfor life.\u201d\n\nWe entered the house together, signed a pledge, and solemnly invoked\nGod in prayer to enable us to keep it till death. For his sake, I\nrenewed the vow of my youthful days; and he, by my sympathy, took this\nvow for the first time, and, by God\u2019s help, he kept it. He left Penola\nnext day, shaking off old associates, and started a humble business\nwhere he had once owned much of the land. He became a Christian out and\nout, and has been an Elder of the Church for many years. I have often\nbeen laughed at by whisky drinkers, and also by so-called \u201ctemperance\u201d\nmen, for being a Total Abstainer; but even one case like that (and,\nthank God, there are many) is an eternal reward, and can sustain us to\nsmile down all ridicule.\n\nDear reader, can you measure the effect of the example which you are\nsetting? Are you to-day amongst the ranks of the moderate drinkers?\nRemember that from that class all drunkards have come; and ask yourself\nwhether you would not act more nobly and unselfishly to abstain, for\nthe interests of our common Humanity, for loyalty to our Lord Jesus\nChrist, and for the hope of leading a pure and unstained life yourself,\nas well as helping others to do so, whom Jesus died to save?\n\nThe crowning adventure of my tour came about in the following manner:\nI was advertised to conduct Services at Narracoort on Sabbath, and at\na Station on the way on Saturday evening. But how to get from Penola\nwas a terrible perplexity. On Saturday morning, however, a young lady\noffered me, out of gratitude for blessings received, the use of her\nriding horse for the journey. \u201cGaribaldi\u201d was his name; and, though\nbred for a race-horse, I was assured that if I kept him firmly in hand,\nhe would easily carry me over the two-and-twenty miles. He was to be\nleft at the journey\u2019s end, and the lady herself would fetch him back. I\nshrank from the undertaking, knowing little of horses, and having vague\nrecollections of being dreadfully punished for more than a week after\nmy last and almost only ride. But every one in that country is quite at\nease on the back of a horse. They saw no risk; and, as there appeared\nno other way of getting there to fulfil my engagements, I, for my part,\nbegan to think that God had unexpectedly provided the means, and that\nHe would carry me safely through.\n\nI accepted the lady\u2019s kind offer, and started on my pilgrimage. A\nfriend showed me the road, and gave me ample directions. In the bush,\nI was to keep my eye on the notches in the trees, and follow them.\nHe agreed kindly to bring my luggage to the Station, and leave it\nthere for me by-and-bye. After I had walked very quietly for some\ndistance, three gentlemen on horseback overtook me. We entered into\nconversation. They inquired how far I was going, and advised me to\nsit a little \u201cfreer\u201d in the saddle, as it would be so much easier for\nme. They seemed greatly amused at my awkward riding! Dark clouds were\nnow gathering ahead, and the atmosphere prophesied a severe storm;\ntherefore they urged that I should ride a little faster, as they, for\na considerable distance, could guide me on the right way. I explained\nto them my plight through inexperience, said that I could only creep\non slowly with safety, and bade them Good-bye. As the sky was getting\ndarker every minute, they consented, wishing me a safe journey, and\nstarted 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 honour was at stake; and in less time than I take to\nwrite it, the three friends cleared a way for us, and he tore past\nthem all at an appalling speed. They tried for a time to keep within\nreach of us, but that sound only put fire into his blood; and in an\nincredibly short time I heard them not; nor, from the moment that he\nbore me swinging past them, durst I turn my head by one inch to look\nfor them again. In vain I tried to hold him in; he tore on, with what\nappeared to me the speed of the wind. Then the thunderstorm broke\naround us, with flash of lightning and flood of rain, and at every\nfresh peal my \u201cGaribaldi\u201d dashed 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\nturn I expected that he would dash himself and me against the great\nforest trees; but instinct rather than my hand guided him miraculously.\nSometimes I had a glimpse of the road, but as for the \u201cnotches,\u201d I\nnever saw one of them; we passed them with lightning speed. Indeed, I\ndurst not lift my eyes for one moment from watching the horse\u2019s head\nand the trees on our track. My high-crowned hat was now drenched, and\nbattered out of shape; for whenever we came to a rather clear space, I\nseized the chance and gave it another knock down over my head. I was\nspattered and covered with mud and mire.\n\nCrash, crash, went the thunder, and on, on, went \u201cGaribaldi\u201d through\nthe gloom of the forest, emerging at length upon a clearer ground with\na more visible pathway. Reaching the top of the slope, a large house\nstood out 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\nskirted along the hill, and took the track as his own familiar ground,\nall my effort to hold him in or guide him having no more effect than\nthat of a child. By this time, I suspect, I really had lost all power.\n\u201cGaribaldi\u201d had been at that house, probably frequently before; he knew\nthose stables; and my fate seemed to be instant death against door or\nwall.\n\nSome members of the family, on the outlook for the Missionary, saw\nus come tearing along as if mad or drunk; and now all rushed to the\nverandah, expecting some dread-catastrophe. A tall and stout young\ngroom, amazed at our wild career, throwing wide open the gate,\nseized the bridle at great risk to himself, and ran full speed, yet\nholding back with all his might, and shouting at me to do the same.\nWe succeeded,\u2014\u201cGaribaldi\u201d having probably attained his purpose,\u2014in\nbringing him to a halt within a few paces of the door. Staring at me\nwith open mouth, the man exclaimed, \u201cI have saved your life. What\nmadness to ride like that!\u201d Thanking him, though I could scarcely by\nthis time articulate a word, I told him that the horse had run away,\nand that I had lost all control.\n\nTruly I was in a sorry plight, drenched, covered with mud, and my\nhat battered down over my eyes; little wonder they thought me drunk\nor mad! Finally, as if to confirm every suspicion, and amuse them\nall,\u2014for master, mistress, governess, and children now looked on from\nthe verandah,\u2014when I was helped off the horse, I could not stand on my\nfeet! My head still went rushing on in the race; I staggered, and down\nI tumbled into the mud, feeling chagrin and mortification; yet there\nI had to sit for some time before I recovered myself, so as either to\nrise or to speak a word. When I did get to my feet, I had to stand\nholding by the verandah for some time, my head still rushing on in the\nrace. At length the master said, \u201cWill you not come in?\u201d\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-bye he remarked, \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be worth\nwhile to change your clothes?\u201d\n\nSpeech was now returning to me. I replied, \u201cYes, but my bag is coming\non in the cart, and may not be here to-night.\u201d\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,\nmy new dress, though greatly adding to my comfort, enhanced the\nsingularity of my appearance.\n\nReturning to him, washed and dressed, I inquired if he had arranged\nfor a meeting? My tongue, I fear, was still unsteady, for the squatter\nlooked at me rather reproachfully, and said, \u201cDo you really consider\nyourself fit to appear before a meeting to-night?\u201d\n\nI assured him that 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 the runaway horse. He smiled rather suggestively, and\nsaid we 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\u2019s clothes; and the lady and other friends\nhad infinite difficulty in keeping their amusement within decent\nbounds. I again took speech in hand, but I suspect my words had still\nthe thickness of the tippler\u2019s utterance, for they seemed not to carry\nmuch conviction,\u2014\u201cDear friends, I quite understand your feelings;\nappearances are so strangely against me. But I am not drunken, as ye\nsuppose. I have tasted no intoxicating drink, I am a life-long Total\nAbstainer!\u201d\n\nThis fairly broke down their reserve. They laughed aloud, looking at\neach other and at me, as if to say, \u201cMan, you\u2019re drunk at this very\nmoment.\u201d\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 ascendancy. 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 further on to the\nChurch. A groom rode the race-horse, who took no scathe from his\nthundering gallop of the day before. It left deeper traces upon me.\nI got through the Services, however, and with good returns for the\nMission. Twice since, on my Mission tours, I have found myself at\nthat same memorable house; and on each occasion a large company of\nfriends were being regaled by the good lady there with very comical\ndescriptions of my first arrival at her door.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nAMONG THE ABORIGINES.\n\n A Fire-Water Festival.\u2014At Tea with the Aborigines.\u2014\u201cBlack Fellow\n all Gone!\u201d\u2014The Poison-Gift and Civilization.\u2014The \u201cScattering\u201d of\n the Blacks.\u2014The \u201cBrute-in-human-shape\u201d Theory.\u2014The Testimony of\n Nora.\u2014Nathaniel Pepper and their \u201cGods.\u201d\u2014Smooth Stone Idols.\u2014Rites\n and Ceremonies.\u2014\u201cToo much Devil-Devil.\u201d\u2014The Quest for Idols.\u2014Visit to\n Nora in the Camp.\u2014Independent Testimonies.\u2014Nora\u2019s own Letters.\u2014The\n Aborigines in Settlements.\n\n\nDetained for nearly a week at Balmoral by the break-down of the coach\non these dreadful roads, I telegraphed to Hamilton for a conveyance;\nand the Superintendent of the Sunday School, dear Mr. Laidlaw,\nvolunteered, in order to reduce expenses, to spend one day of his\nprecious time coming for me, and another driving me down. While\nawaiting him, I came into painful and memorable contact with the\nAborigines of Australia. The Publicans had organized a day of sports,\nhorse-racing, and circus exhibitions. Immense crowds assembled, and,\namongst the rest, tribe after tribe of the Aborigines from all the\nsurrounding country. Despite the law prohibiting the giving of strong\ndrinks to these poor creatures, foolish and unprincipled dealers\nsupplied them with the same, and the very blankets which the Government\nhad given them, were freely exchanged for the fire-water which kindled\nthem to madness.\n\nNext day was 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\u2019clock, 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cI love you black fellows. I go Missionary black fellows far away. I\nlove you, want you rest, get food. Come all of you, rest, sit round me,\nand we will talk, till the _jins_ (= women) get ready tea. They boil\nwater, I take tea with you, and then you will be strong!\u201d\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\u2019s\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 \u201cdamper\u201d was broken into lumps, and I asked the blessing\nof God 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cNow, before I leave, I will ask of you to do one thing for my sake,\nwhich you can all easily do.\u201d\n\nWith one voice they replied,\u2014\n\n\u201cYes, we all do whatever you say.\u201d I got their leaders to promise to me\none by one. I then said,\u2014\n\n\u201cNow you have got your tea, and I ask every man and boy among you to\nlie down in the bush and take a sleep, and your wives will sit by and\nwatch over your safety!\u201d\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 them,\u2014\n\n\u201cYou all promised to do what I asked. If you break your promise, these\nwhite men will laugh at me, and say that black fellows only lie and\ndeceive. Let them see that you can be trusted. I wait here till I see\nyou all asleep.\u201d\n\nOne said that his head was cut, and he must have revenge before he\ncould lie down. Others filed past showing their wounds, and declaring\nthat it was too bad to request them to go to sleep. I praised them as\nfar as I could, but urged them for once to be men and to keep their\nword. Finally they all agreed to lie down, I waiting till the last man\nhad disappeared; 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\nto us, \u201cBlack fellow all gone! No more fight. You too much like black\nfellow!\u201d\n\nFor three days afterwards I had still to linger there; and if their\ndogs ran or barked at me, the women chased them with sticks and stones,\nand protected me. One little touch of kindness and sympathy had\nunlocked their darkened hearts.\n\nThe Aborigines of Australia have been regarded as perhaps the\nmost degraded portion of the human race, at least in the Southern\nHemisphere. Like the Papuans of our Islands, they rank betwixt Malay\nand Negro in colour and appearance. Their hair, coarse, black, curly,\nbut not woolly; eyes, dark and yellowish, with very heavy eyebrows;\nnose flat, with hole bored through septum, in which ornament is hung;\nsmall chin, thick lips, large mouth, and lustrous teeth; high cheek\nbones, with sunken eyes and well-developed brow. Like all Savages\nin their natural state, they were nearly nude, filthy, and wretched;\nespecially in winter, when covered with kangaroo and opossum skins,\nwhich they hung around themselves loosely by day, and under which\nthey slept at night. They sometimes daubed their bodies all over with\npaint, mud, charcoal, or ashes. Their women are generally of a slender\nbuild. All these features and notes are true of many of our South Sea\nIslanders too; but they, again, are decidedly of a higher type. On many\nof the Islands, faces, though dark, are as pleasant and as well formed\nas amongst Europeans. Besides, the Islanders are not nomadic; they live\nin settled villages, and cultivate the land for their support.\n\nHaving read very strong statements for and against the Aborigines, in\nmy many journeys twenty-four years ago I resolved to embrace every\nopportunity of learning their customs and beliefs directly from\nthemselves. I have also seen their disgusting \u201cCorrobbarees,\u201d and know\nby facts how demoralizing these Heathen dances are. I know also what\nstrong drink has done amongst them.\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\u2019s own poison-gift an\nexcuse is found for sweeping the poor creatures off the face of the\nearth. Marsden\u2019s 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\u2019s\npitiful cry in the bush. On tracing it, she found a little girl weeping\nover her younger brother. She said,\u2014\n\n\u201cThe white men poisoned our father and mother. They threaten to shoot\nme, so that I dare not go near them. I am here, weeping over my brother\ntill we die!\u201d\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\nIn Queensland itself, the Native Police, armed and mounted\u2014accompanied\nby only _one_ white officer, that no tales might be told\u2014were reported\nto be regularly sent out to \u201cscatter\u201d the blacks! That meant, in many a\ncase, wholesale murder. But in 1887, the humane Sir Samuel Griffiths,\npremier, had these blood-stained forces disbanded for ever. The _Sydney\nMorning Herald_, 21st March, 1883, contains stronger things than were\never penned or uttered by me as to the wholesale destruction of the\nAborigines. The watchword of the white settlers, practically if not\ntheoretically, has been, \u201cClear them out of the way, and give us the\nsoil!\u201d\n\nThough amongst the lower types of the human race, the Aborigines have\nmade excellent stock riders, bullock drivers, fencers, and servants in\nevery department. And they have proved honest and faithful, especially\nwhen kindly treated. Australians are sometimes bitter against them, for\na reason that ought rather to awaken sympathy. They take Aboriginal\nboys or girls into their service, they train them just till they are\nbeginning to be useful, and lo! they go back to their own people. But\nin almost every case of that kind, the reason is perfectly clear. They\nare only taught so far as to make them useful tools. Their minds were\nnot instructed, nor their hearts enlightened in the fear of God and\nthe love of Jesus. They were not on an equality in any way either with\nchildren or with servants. They grew up without equals and without\nassociates. They saw their parents and tribesmen treated with contempt\nand abuse. They instinctively felt that the moment they were unable to\nserve the self-interest of their employers, they themselves would be\nthrust out. They had not the spirit of the slave, though kept in the\nrank of a slave; and they yearned for satisfaction of these instincts,\nwhich the supply of their mere animal necessities could not assuage.\nAmong the whites, they felt degraded and outcast; amongst their own\npeople, they had the honour and esteem that were within reach of their\nkindred, and they might weave around their poor lot the mysterious and\never-blessed ties of family and home. And here and there, doubtless,\nflashed in the heart of some Native boy a gleam of that patriotism\nthat led Moses to escape from Pharaoh\u2019s court, and refuse to be\nidentified with the despisers and oppressors of his own enslaved\nrace,\u2014divine in the Aboriginal as in the Hebrew, though each might give\na very different account of its origin!\n\nA book once fell into my hands, entitled,\u2014\u201cSermons on Public Subjects,\u201d\nby Charles Kingsley. I knew him to be a man greatly gifted and greatly\nbeloved; and hence my positive distress on reading from the eighth\nsermon, page 234, \u201cOn the Fall,\u201d the following awful words:\u2014[1]\u201cThe\nBlack people of Australia, exactly the same race as the African Negro,\ncannot take in the Gospel.... All attempts to bring them to a knowledge\nof the true God have as yet failed utterly.... Poor brutes in human\nshape ... they must perish off the face of the earth like brute beasts.\u201d\n\nI will not blame this great preacher for boldly uttering and publishing\nwhat multitudes of others show by their conduct that they believe,\nbut dare not say so. Nor need any one blame me, if, knowing facts\nand details which Kingsley could never know, I turn aside for a few\nmoments, and let the light of practical knowledge stream in on this and\nall similar teaching, come from whatsoever quarter it may.\n\nWhile I was pondering over Kingsley\u2019s words, the story of Nora, an\nAboriginal Christian woman, whom, as hereafter related, I myself\nactually visited and corresponded with, was brought under my notice,\nas if to shatter to pieces everything that the famous preacher had\nproclaimed. A dear friend told me how he had seen Nora encamped with\nthe blacks near Hexham in Victoria. Her husband had lost, through\ndrink, their once comfortable home at a Station where he was employed.\nThe change back to life in camp had broken her health, and she lay sick\non the ground within a miserable hut. The visitors found her reading a\nBible, and explaining to a number of her own poor people the wonders\nof redeeming love. My friend, Roderick Urquhart, Esq., overcome by the\nsight, said,\u2014\n\n\u201cNora, I am grieved to see you here, and deprived of every comfort in\nyour sickness.\u201d\n\nShe answered, not without tears, \u201cThe change has indeed made me unwell;\nbut I am beginning to think that this too is for the best; it has at\nlast brought my poor husband to his senses, and I will grudge nothing\nif God thereby brings him to the Saviour\u2019s feet!\u201d\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\nthe true and pure Christian spirit of this poor Aboriginal, and on\nparting she said,\u2014\n\n\u201cDo not think that I like this miserable hut, or the food, or the\ncompany; but I am and have been happy in trying to do good amongst my\npeople.\u201d\n\nFor my part, let that dear Christlike soul look out on me from\nher Aboriginal hut, and I will trample under foot all teachings\nor theorizings that dare to say that she or her kind are but poor\nbrutes;\u2014they who say so blaspheme Human Nature. \u201cI thank thee, O\nFather, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that Thou hast hid these things from\nthe wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.\u201d\n\nRecall, ere you read further, what the Gospel has done for the near\nkindred of these same Aboriginals. On our own Aneityum 3,500 Cannibals\nhave been led to renounce their heathenism, and are leading a civilized\nand a Christian life. In Fiji, 70,000 Cannibals have been brought under\nthe influence of the Gospel; and 13,000 members of the Churches there\nare professing to live and work for Jesus. In Samoa, 34,000 Cannibals\nhave professed Christianity; and, in nineteen years, its College has\nsent forth 206 Native teachers and evangelists. On our New Hebrides,\nmore than 12,000 Cannibals have been brought to sit at the feet of\nChrist, not to say that they are all model Christians; and 133 of the\nNatives have been trained and sent forth as teachers and preachers of\nthe Gospel. Had Christ been brought in the same way into the heart\nand life of the Aborigines by the Christians of Australia and of\nBritain\u2014equally blessed results would as surely have followed, for He\nis \u201cthe same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.\u201d\n\nIt is easy to understand, moreover, how even experienced travellers\nmay be deluded to believe that the Aborigines have no idols and no\nreligion. One must have lived amongst them or their kindred ere he\ncan authoritatively decide these questions. Before I left Melbourne,\nfor instance, I had met Nathaniel Pepper, a converted Aboriginal from\nWimmera. I asked him if his people had any \u201cDoctors,\u201d _i.e._, sacred\nmen or priests. He said they had. I inquired if they had any objects of\nWorship, or any belief in God? He said, \u201cNo! None whatever.\u201d\n\nBut on taking from my pocket some four small stone idols, his\nexpression showed at once that he recognised them as objects of\nWorship. He had seen the sacred men use them; but he refused to answer\nany more questions. I resolved now, if possible, to secure some of\ntheir idols, and 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 \u201cdoctors\u201d had things like these, which they and\nthe old people prayed to; but they added jauntily,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe young fellows don\u2019t worship; we know too much for that!\u201d\n\nNo \u201cdoctors\u201d were, however, in that camp; so I could not meet with\nthem; but I already felt that the testimony of nearly all white people\nthat the blacks had \u201cno idols and no worship,\u201d was quickly crumbling\naway. Besides, my ever-dear friend, Andrew Scott, Esq., had informed me\nthat when he first went out among the blacks,\u2014almost alone, and one of\nthe first white men they had ever seen,\u2014he saw them handling, and going\nthrough ceremonials with just such \u201csmooth stones\u201d as I had brought\nfrom the Islands, without for a moment dreaming that they were idols.\nYet such is the actual fact; very much as it was in the ancient days\nwhen Isaiah (ch. lvii. 6) denounced thus the \u201csons of the sorceress,\u201d\nwho were \u201cinflaming themselves with idols.\u201d \u201cAmong the smooth stones\nof the stream (or valley) is thy portion; they, they are thy lot; even\nto them hast thou poured a drink offering, hast thou offered a meat\noffering (or oblation).\u201d\n\nYet again, R. Urquhart, Esq., Tangery, informed me that he also had\nseen the Aborigines engaged in religious observances. First of all,\na vast multitude of men and women joined in a great Corrobbarree,\nor Heathen festival and dance. Thereafter each marched individually\ntowards the centre of a huge ring, and after certain ceremonies, bowed\nas if in worship towards two manlike figures cut in the ground. Our\nlife amongst the heathen had taught us that Worship was there.\n\nThe rite of circumcision was practised also amongst the blacks of\nAustralia as well as amongst our New Hebrideans. Boys, on attaining\nwhat was looked upon as early manhood, were thus initiated into their\nprivileges as men; and the occasion was accompanied with feasting,\ndancing, and what they regarded as religious ceremonies.\n\nSome tribes in Australia, as on our Islands also, indicate the rank\nor class to which a man belongs by the barbarous custom of knocking\nout the two front teeth! This is done on reaching a certain age;\nwith feasts and dancings held at midnight, and during full moon, in\nconnection with sacred spots, which no one but a priest will be found\ndaring enough to approach.\n\nHence there is no doubt in my mind as to the character and meaning of\nsuch \u201cmysterious figures\u201d as those so much discussed, carved on the\nflat rocks at Middle Harbour, or on the South Reef promontory at Cape\nCove. They are found also at Point Piper, at Mossmans, at Lane Cove,\nand at many other places throughout Australia, representing the human\nfigure in almost every attitude, the kangaroo, the flying squirrel,\nthe shark, the whale, etc., etc.,\u2014all of which I believe to be sacred\nobjects, and these rocks and cliffs to be sacred places. Some of the\nfish carved there are twenty-seven feet long. The Aborigines would\ngive no explanation of their origin, except that they were \u201cmade by\nblack fellows long, long ago;\u201d and that the blacks would not live near\nthem, for \u201ctoo much devil-devil walk about there.\u201d The Balmoral blacks\ninformed me that their sacred men carried about such objects as I\nshowed them, and \u201cthat they were devil-devil,\u201d\u2014which is their only word\nfor God or Spirit, when they talk to you in broken English.\n\nThe 18th of February, 1863, was a day worthy of being chronicled and\nremembered. I visited the Wonwonda Station in the Wimmera district\nof Victoria, and there beheld a great camp of the Aborigines on the\nplain near by. Securing the company of the following witnesses, I\nproceeded to the camp, and found that part of them had already seen me\nat Balmoral. Two of them spoke English fairly well. I managed to break\nthrough their reticence, and in course of time they told us freely\nabout the customs and traditions of their people. They took us to their\n\u201cdoctor,\u201d or Sacred Man, who was lying sick in his hut. Half concealed\namong the skins and clothes behind him, I observed several curious\nbags, which I knew at once would probably contain the little idols of\nwhich I was in quest. I urged the witnesses to take special notice\nof everything that occurred, and draw up and sign a statement for my\nfuture use. The following is their attested report:\u2014\n\n\u201cMr. Paton, having carefully explained to the blacks that he would\nlike to see some of the sacred objects which they said made the people\nsick and well, assured them that his aim was not to mock at them, but\nto prove to white people that the blacks had objects of worship and\nwere not like pigs and dogs. He offered them a number of small pieces\nof silver to get bread and tea for the \u201cdoctor,\u201d if they would open\nthese little bags and let us see what was in them. After a good deal of\ntalk amongst themselves, he took some of the Island stone-gods from his\npocket, saying, \u2018I know that these bags have such things in them.\u2019 An\nAboriginal woman exclaimed, \u2018You can\u2019t hide them from that fellow! He\nknows all about us.\u2019 Mr. Rutherford offered to kill a sheep, and give\nthem sugar and tea to feast on, if they would open the little bags, but\nthey refused. After consulting the Sacred Man, however, he took the\nsilver pieces and allowed them to be opened before us. They were full\nof exactly such stones and other things as Mr. Paton had brought from\nthe Islands, to prove to white people in Melbourne that they were not\nlike dogs, but had gods; he offered the Sacred Man more money for four\nof the objects he had seen. After much talk among themselves, he took\nthe money; and in our presence Mr. Paton selected a stone idol, a piece\nof painted wood of conical shape, a piece of bone of human leg with\nseven rings carved round it, which they said had the power of restoring\nsick people to health, and another piece of painted wood which made\npeople sick; but they made him solemnly promise that he would tell\nno other black fellows where he got them. They were much interested\nin Mr. Paton\u2019s conversation, and said, \u2018No Missionary teach black\nfellow.\u2019 They then showed us square rugs, thread and grass bags, etc.,\nall neatly made by themselves, as proofs that if they were taught they\nand their wives could learn to do things and to work just like white\npeople; but they said, \u2018White man no care for black fellow.\u2019 All this,\nwe, whose names follow, were eye-witnesses of:\u2014G. Rutherford, (Mrs.)\nA. Sutherland, (Mrs.) Martha Rutherford, Jemima Rutherford, Ben. B.\nBentock, tutor of the Rutherford family.\u201d\n\nOn returning to Horsham, I informed my dear friends, Rev. P. Simpson\nand his excellent lady, of my exploits and possessions. He replied,\u2014\n\n\u201cThere is a black \u2018doctor\u2019 gone round our house just now to see one of\nhis people who is washing here to-day. Let us go and test them, whether\nthey know these objects.\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cHave you ever before seen stones like these?\u201d\n\nThe wily \u201cdoctor\u201d replied, \u201cPlenty on the plains, where I kick them out\nof my way.\u201d\n\nTaking others out of my pocket, I said, \u201cThese make people sick and\nwell, don\u2019t they?\u201d\n\nHis rage overcame his duplicity, and he exclaimed, \u201cWhat black fellow\ngive you these? If I know him I do for him!\u201d\n\nThe woman, looking the picture of terror, and pointing to one of the\nobjects, cried,\u2014\n\n\u201cThat fellow no good! he kill men. No good, no good! Me too much\nafraid.\u201d\n\nThen, looking to me, she said, pointing with her finger, \u201cThat fellow\nsavy (knows) too much! No white man see them. He no good.\u201d\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\nOn a later occasion I showed these four objects to Aborigines, with\nwhom I got into intercourse far off in New South Wales. They at once\nrecognised them, and showed the same superstitious dread. They told me\nthe peculiar characteristics and the special powers ascribed to each\nidol or charm. This I confirmed by the testimony of five different\ntribes living at great distances from each other; and it is morally\ncertain that amongst all the blacks of Australia such objects are so\nworshipped and feared in the place of God.\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\nknow of our coming, nor see us till we stood at the door of her hut.\nShe was clean and tidily dressed, as were also her dear little\nchildren, and appeared glad to see us. She had just been reading the\n_Presbyterian Messenger_, and the Bible was lying at her elbow. I said,\u2014\n\n\u201cDo you read the _Messenger_?\u201d\n\nShe replied, \u201cYes; I like to know what is going on in the Church.\u201d\n\nWe found her to be a sensible and humble Christian woman, conversing\nintelligently about religion and serving God devotedly. Next Sabbath\nshe brought 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, \u201cNora, they tell me you are a Christian.\nI want to ask you a few questions about the blacks; and I hope that as\na Christian you will speak the truth.\u201d Rather hurt at my language, she\nraised her right hand, and replied, \u201cI am a Christian. I fear and serve\nthe true God. I always speak the truth.\u201d\n\nTaking from my pocket the stone idols from the Islands, I inquired\nif her people had or worshipped things like these. She replied, \u201cThe\n\u2018doctors\u2019 have them.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you a \u2018doctor\u2019 in your camp?\u201d I asked. She said, \u201cYes, my uncle\nis the Sacred Man; but he is now far away from this.\u201d\n\n\u201cHas he the idols with him now?\u201d I inquired.\n\nShe answered, \u201cNo; they are left in my care.\u201d\n\nI then said: \u201cCould you let us see them?\u201d\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\ndrew two smaller bags and opened them. They were filled with the very\nobjects which I had brought from the Islands. I asked her to consult\nthe men of her tribe whether they would agree to sell four or five of\nthem to me, that I might by them convince the white people that they\nhad gods of their own, and are, therefore, above the brutes of the\nfield; the money to be given to their Sacred Man on his return. This,\nalso, after a time was agreed to. I selected three of the objects,\nand paid the stipulated price. And the undernoted independent witness\nattests the transaction:\u2014\n\n\u201cI this day visited an encampment of the Hopkins blacks, in company\nwith Rev. Mr. Paton, Missionary, and was witness to the following.\nMr. Paton being under the impression that many of the superstitions\nand usages, common to the South Sea Islanders were similar among the\nAborigines of Australia, began by showing some idols, etc., of the\nformer, and asking if they had seen any like them. This inquiry was\nmade of a highly civilized woman, named Nora, who can read and write,\nand has great influence with her tribe. She answered: Oh yes, the\n\u2018doctors\u2019 have them.\n\n\u201cOn Mr. Paton expressing great anxiety to see some of them, she,\nafter consulting some time with the other blacks, said she had some\nbelonging to King John, her uncle, who was absent, and had left them in\nher care. After considerable reluctance shown on the part of the other\nblacks, who were off when they saw Mr. Paton knew all about them, a\nbag was produced, in which there were kangaroo tusks or bears\u2019 tusks,\npieces of human bone, stones, charred wood, etc., etc. She described\nthe virtues attributed to the different articles. If any evil was\nwanted to befall one of another tribe, the \u2018doctor,\u2019 after muttering,\nthrew such a stone in the direction he was supposed to be, wishing he\nmight fall sick, or might die, etc. The spirit from the idol entered\ninto his body, and he was sure to fall sick or die. Another piece of\ncharred wood, that the \u2018doctor\u2019 rubbed on the diseased part of any\nsick person, made the pain come out to the spirit in the wood, and\nthe \u2018doctor\u2019 carried it away. All this time the other blacks were in\nevident dread of the things being seen and handled, repeating, \u2018No\nwhite man ever see these before!\u2019 Mr. Paton got three specimens from\nthem, viz., an evil and a good spirit, and a piece of carved bone.\nRobert Hood, J.P., Hexham, Victoria, Merang, 28th February, 1863.\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cLong ago white men laughed at black fellows, praying to their idols.\nBlack fellows said, white men never see them again! Suppose this white\nman not know all about them, he would not now see them. No white men\nlive now have seen what you have seen.\u201d\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 \u201cbrutes\u201d incapable of knowing God, but human beings,\nyearning after a God of some kind. Nor do I believe that any tribe\nof men will ever be found, who, when their language and customs are\nrightly interpreted, will not display their consciousness of the need\nof a God and that Divine capacity of holding fellowship with the Unseen\nPowers, of which the brutes are without one faintest trace.\n\nThe late Mr. Hamilton, of Mortlake, wrote me in 1863 as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cDuring a residence of twenty-six years in New South Wales and\nVictoria, from constant intercourse with Australian Aborigines I am\nconvinced that they are capable of learning anything that white people\nin an equally neglected condition could learn. In two instances I\nmet with females possessing a greater amount of religious knowledge\nthan many of our white population. The one was able to prompt the\nchildren she was attending as a servant in the answers proper to give\nto the questions I put to them regarding the facts and doctrines of\nChristianity. This was in New South Wales. The other was Nora Hood,\nbaptized and married to an Aboriginal. I conversed with her according\nto the usage of the Presbyterian Church, and I believe her to be a\nsincere and intelligent Christian. I baptized her children without\nhesitation; while I felt it to be my duty in many cases to withhold the\nprivilege from white parents, on account of their being unable to make\na credible profession of their faith in Christ and obedience to Him.\nUnder God, she owes her instruction and conversion to Mrs. MacKenzie.\nWilliam Hamilton, Minister.\u201d\n\nWilliam Armstrong, Esq., of Hexham Park, wrote in 1863:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe Aborigines of Australia certainly believe in spirits, and that\ntheir spirit leaves the body at death and goes to some other island,\nand they seem to have many superstitious ideas about the dead.... I\nbelieve they would have been as easily influenced by the Gospel as\nany other savages, if they had been taught; but intoxicating spirits,\nand the accompanying vices of white people have ruined them. William\nArmstrong.\u201d\n\nBut let Nora, one of the \u201cpoor brutes in human shape,\u201d who was\n\u201cincapable of taking in the Gospel,\u201d and must \u201cperish like brute\nbeasts,\u201d now speak to the heart of every reader in her own words. In\nFebruary, 1863, she wrote to me as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cDear Sir,\u2014I received your kind letter, and was glad to hear from you.\nI am always reading my Bible, for I believe in God the Father and in\nChrist Jesus our Lord, Amen. I often speak to the blacks about Jesus\nChrist; and some of them believe in God and in Jesus. I always teach\nmy children to pray to God our Father in Heaven.... Colin will try not\nto drink any more. He is always praying to God. Them blacks that come\nwith me, I will tell about God and about their sins; but they are so\nvery wicked, they won t listen to me teaching them. Sir, I shall always\npray for you, that God may bless and guide you. O Sir, pray for me, my\nhusband, and my children! Your obedient servant, Nora Hood.\u201d\n\nIn her second letter, she says:\u2014\u201cYour kind letter gave me great\ncomfort. I thank God that I am able to read and write. Mrs. and Miss\nMacKenzie taught me; and through them I came to know Jesus Christ my\nSaviour. Our Lord says, \u2018Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy\nladen, and I will give you rest.\u2019 \u2018Ho, every one that thirsteth, come\nye to the waters!\u2019 Sir, I will tell Joe and King John, and I have been\nalways telling Katy and all the rest of them about Jesus Christ our\nSaviour. Please, Sir, I would like you to write to me, that I may show\nthem your letters,\u201d etc., etc.\n\nIn a third letter, also dated 1863, she says:\u2014\u201cDear Sir, Colin and I\nwere glad to hear from you. I am telling the blacks always about God\nour Saviour and the salvation of their souls. They are so very wicked.\nThey go from place to place, and don\u2019t stop long with me. I am always\nteaching my children to pray, and would like to send them to School\nif I could.... I hope you will go home to England safely, get more\nMissionaries, and then go back to your poor blacks on the Islands. I\nwill be glad to hear from you. May the Lord God bless you, wherever you\ngo! Your affectionate, Nora Hood.\u201d\n\nPoor, dear, Christian-hearted Nora! The Christ-spirit shines forth\nunmistakably through thee,\u2014praying for and seeking to save husband and\nchildren, enduring trials and miseries by the aid of communion with\nthy Lord, weeping over the degradation of thy people and seeking to\nlift them up by telling them of the true God and of His love to Mankind\nthrough Jesus Christ. Would that all white Christians manifested forth\nas much of the Divine Master\u2019s Spirit!\n\nAlas, in reading Marsden\u2019s \u201cLife,\u201d and other authorities, one shrinks\nwith a sickening feeling at the description of the butcheries of the\npoor blacks! Imagine 1830, when the inhabitants were called out to join\nthe troops, and nearly three thousand armed men gloated in the work\nof destruction from the 4th of October till the 26th November. Read\nof one boasting that he had killed seven blacks with his own hand;\nanother, that he had slain, and piled up in a heap, thirty men, women,\nand children; and a third, a _gentleman_, of whom Lieutenant Laidlaw\ntells, exhibiting as a trophy over his bookcase the skull of a poor\nblack, pierced by the bullet with which he had shot him! And their sin,\ntheir crime? Oh, only seizing a sheep, in the frenzy of hunger, which\nfattened on the lands where once grew their food and from which the\nwhite man had pitilessly hunted them. Retribution comes, but sometimes\nslowly, and is not recognised when she appears; but Australia suffers\nto-day from the passions then let loose against the blacks. The demons\nhave come home to roost.\n\nDuring my last Mission tour, in 1888, through Victoria and part of New\nSouth Wales, I visited all Stations of the Aborigines that could be\nconveniently reached. There the few remnants of a once numerous race\nare now assembled together. They try hard to constrain themselves to\nlive in houses. But the spirit of the wanderer is in them. They start\nforth, every now and again, for an occasional ramble over their old\nhunting grounds, and to taste the sweets of freedom. In Victoria, the\nGovernment now provide food and clothing for the Aborigines who will\nremain at the appointed Stations, so that in regard to temporals the\nsurvivors are not badly off. Their religious training and spiritual\ninterests are left entirely to the Churches. The Government provides\na Superintendent at each Station; and where he is a Christian man,\nand takes any interest in the religion and morals of the tribes,\ncontentment reigns. At Ramayeuk, for instance, the Superintendent is\nRev. F. A. Haganeur; and he and his excellent wife regularly instruct\nthe blacks. Nothing can be more delightful than the results. The faces\nof the people were shining with happiness. Their rows of clean and neat\ncottages were a picture and an emblem. In their Church, a Native woman\nplayed the harmonium and led the praise. I never had more attentive\nCongregations. On two occasions they handed me \u00a35, collected at their\nown free will, for our Island Mission. Their School received from the\nGovernment examiners one of the highest percentages. Many at this\nStation have, after a consistent Christian life, died in the full hope\nof Glory together with Jesus.\n\nAt all the other Stations in Victoria the outward comforts of the\nNatives are attended to, but Superintendents ought to be appointed, in\nevery case, to care for their souls as well as their bodies. For strong\ndrink and other vices are rapidly sweeping the Aborigines away; and\nAustralia has but short time to atone for the cruelties of the past,\nand to snatch a few more jewels from amongst them for the Crown of\nJesus our Lord.\n\nAt my farewell meeting in Melbourne, Sir Henry Barkley presiding, I\npleaded that the Colony should put forth greater efforts to give the\nGospel to the Aborigines; I showed the idols which I had discovered\namongst them; I read Nora\u2019s letters, and, I may, without presumption,\nsay, the \u201cbrute-in-human-shape\u201d theory has been pretty effectually\nburied ever since.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n_TO SCOTLAND AND BACK._\n\n Dr. Inglis on the Mission Crisis.\u2014Casting Lots before the\n Lord.\u2014Struck by Lightning.\u2014A Peep at London.\u2014A Heavenly Welcome.\u2014The\n Moderator\u2019s Chair.\u2014Reformed Presbyterian Church and Free Church.\u2014\n Tour through Scotland.\u2014A Frosted Foot.\u2014The Children\u2019s Holy\n League.\u2014Missionary Volunteers.\u2014A God-provided Help-Mate.\u2014Farewell to\n the Old Family Altar.\u2014First Peep at the _Dayspring_.\u2014The _Dayspring_\n in a Dead-Lock.\u2014 Tokens of Deliverance.\u2014The _John Williams_ and the\n _Dayspring_.\u2014Australia\u2019s Special Call.\n\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\nNew Testament carried through the press, zealously enforced this\nappeal. \u201cBefore I left home,\u201d he wrote back to the Church in Scotland,\n\u201cI thought this would be inexpedient; but since I returned here, and\nhave seen the sympathy, interest, and liberality displayed through\nthe blessing of God on Mr. Paton\u2019s instrumentality, and the altered\naspect of the Mission, I feel that a crisis has been reached when\na special effort must be made to procure more men, for which I had\nneither the time, nor had I the means to employ them, but which may now\nbe appropriately done by Mr. Paton; and my prayer and hope are that he\nmay be as successful in securing men at home as he has been in securing\nmoney in these Colonies.\u201d\n\nYet my path was far from clear, notwithstanding my Gideon\u2019s fleece\nreferred to already. To lose time in going home to do work that others\nought to do, while I still heard the wail of the perishing Heathen on\nthe Islands, could scarcely be my duty. Amidst overwhelming perplexity,\nand finding no light from any human counsel, I took a step, to which\nonly once before in all my chequered career I have felt constrained.\nSome will mock when they read it, but others will perhaps more\nprofoundly say: \u201cTo whomsoever this faith is given, let him obey it.\u201d\nAfter many prayers, and wrestlings, and tears, I went alone before the\nLord, and, on my knees, cast lots with a solemn appeal to God, and the\nanswer came, \u201cGo home!\u201d In my heart, I sincerely believe that on both\nthese occasions the Lord condescended to decide for me the path of\nduty, otherwise unknown; and I believe it the more truly now, in view\nof the after-come of thirty years of service to Christ that flowed out\nof the steps then deliberately and devoutly taken. In this, and in many\nother matters, I am no law to others, though I obeyed my then highest\nlight. Nor can I refrain from adding that, for the very reasons\nindicated above, I regard so-called \u201clotteries\u201d and \u201craffles\u201d as a\nmockery of God, and little if at all short of blasphemy. \u201cYe cannot\ndrink at the Lord\u2019s Table, and at the table of devils.\u201d\n\nI sailed for London in the _Kosciusko_, an Aberdeen clipper, on 16th\nMay, 1863. Captain Stewart made the voyage most enjoyable to all.\nThe son of my old friend Bishop Selwyn and I conducted alternately a\nPresbyterian and an Anglican Service. We passed through a memorable\nthunder-burst in rounding the Cape. Our good ship was perilously struck\nby lightning. The men on deck were thrown violently down. The copper\non the bulwarks was twisted and melted\u2014a specimen of which the Captain\ngave me and I still retain. When the ball of fire struck the ship,\nthose of us sitting on chairs, screwed to the floor around the Cabin\ntable, felt as if she were plunging to the bottom. When she sprang\naloft again, a military man and a medical officer were thrown heavily\ninto the back passage between the Cabins, the screws that held their\nseats having snapped asunder. I, in grasping the table, got my leg\nseverely bruised, being jammed betwixt the seat and the table, and had\nto be carried to my berth. All the men were attended to, and quickly\nrecovered consciousness; and immediately the good Captain, an elder of\nthe Church, came to me, and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cLead us in prayer, and let us thank the Lord for this most merciful\ndeliverance; the ship is not on fire, and no one is seriously injured!\u201d\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;\nand we 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 six\no\u2019clock. 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\u2019s business,\nentrusted to me, \u201crequired haste,\u201d and I felt constrained to press\nforward, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left. The streets\nthrough which I was driven seemed to be dirty and narrow; many of the\npeople had a squalid and vicious look; and, fresh from Australia, my\ndisappointment was keen as to the smoky and miserable appearance of\nwhat I saw. No doubt other visitors will behold only the grandeur and\nthe wealth; they will see exactly what they come to see, and London\nwill shine before them accordingly.\n\nAt nine o\u2019clock, that evening, I left for Scotland by train. Next\nmorning, about the same hour, I reported myself at the manse of the\nRev. John Kay, Castle Douglas, the Convener of the Foreign Missions\nCommittee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, to which I 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\u2019s 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\nas our Divine Example Himself fainted under the Cross, which yet He so\nuncomplainingly bore.\n\nThe Foreign Mission Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church met\nin Edinburgh, and welcomed me kindly, nay, warmly. A full report of all\nmy doings for the past, and of all my plans and hopes, was laid before\nthem. They at once agreed to my visiting and addressing every Sabbath\nSchool in the Church. They opened to me their Divinity Hall, that I\nmight appeal to the Students. My Address there was published and\nlargely circulated, under the motto: \u201cCome over and help us.\u201d It was\nused 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\nme the undesired and undeserved honour, the highest which they could\nconfer\u2014the honour of being the Moderator of their Supreme Court. No\none can understand how much I shrank from all this; but, in hope of\nthe Lord\u2019s 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\nThe Church, as there represented, passed a Resolution, declaring:\u2014\n\n\u201cIt is with feelings of no ordinary pleasure that we behold present at\nthis meeting one of our most devoted Missionaries. The result of Mr.\nPaton\u2019s appeals in Australia has been unprecedented in the history of\nthis Mission. It appears in the shape of \u00a34,500 added to the funds of\nthe New Hebrides Mission, besides over \u00a3300 for Native Teachers, to be\npaid yearly in \u00a35 contributions, and all expenses met. The Spirit of\nGod must have been poured out upon the inhabitants of the Colonies,\nin leading them to make such a noble offering as this to the cause of\nMissions, and in making our Missionary the honoured instrument God\nemployed in drawing forth the sympathy and liberality of the Colonists.\nNow, by the good hand of God upon him, he holds the most honoured\nposition of Moderator of the Church, etc., etc.\u201d\n\nThe Synod also placed on record its gratitude for what God had thus\ndone; and its cordial recognition of the many and fruitful services\nrendered by Ministers and Sabbath Schools, both in Scotland and\nAustralia, in standing by me and helping on the _Floating of the\nDayspring_.\n\nI have ever regarded it as a privilege and honour that I was born and\ntrained within the old covenanting Reformed Presbyterian Church of\nScotland. As a separate Communion, that Church is 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. And I was,\u2014in that day of the Church\u2019s honour\nso distinguished for her Missionary zeal,\u2014filled with a high passion\nof gratitude to be able to proclaim, at the close of my tour, and\nafter the addition of new names to our staff, that of all her ordained\nMinisters, one in every six was a Missionary of the Cross.\n\nNor did the dear old Church thus cripple herself; on the contrary, her\nzeal for Missions accompanied, if not caused, unwonted prosperity at\nhome. New waves of liberality passed over the heart of her people.\nDebts that had burdened many of the Churches and Manses were swept\naway. Additional Congregations were organized. And in May, 1876, the\nReformed Presbyterian Church entered into an honourable and independent\nUnion with her larger, wealthier, and more progressive sister, the Free\nChurch of Scotland,\u2014only a few of the brethren, doubtless with perfect\nloyalty to what they regarded as duty to Christ, still holding aloof\nand standing firmly in the old paths, as they appeared to them.\n\nIn the Deed of Union the incorporating Church took itself bound legally\nand formally to maintain the New Hebrides Mission staff, and also\nthe _Dayspring_, committing herself never to withdraw, as it were,\ntill these Islands were all occupied for Jesus. Now that the French\nhave been constrained to abandon the scene, the field is open, and\nthe Islands wail aloud for eight or ten Missionaries more than we at\npresent have (1889); and then the Standard of the Cross might speedily\nbe planted on every separate isle, and a true sense might at last\ncome into the foolish name given to these regions by their Spanish\ndiscoverer, when he called the part at which he touched, thinking it\nthe fabled Southern Continent, _the Land of the Holy Ghost_.\n\nWhen the aforesaid Union took place, all the Missionaries of their own\nfree accord cast in their lot with the incorporating Church; not only\nthose directly supported by the old Reformed Presbyterians themselves,\nbut also the several Missionaries sent forth by them, though supported\nby one or other of the Australian Colonies. And, beyond question, one\nfeature in the Free Church that drew them and bound them to her heart\nwas her noble zeal for and sacrifices in connection with the work of\nMissions, both at home and abroad. For it is a fixed point in the faith\nof every Missionary, that the more any Church or Congregation interests\nitself in the Heathen, the more will it be blessed and prospered at\nHome.\n\n\u201cOne of the surest signs of life,\u201d wrote the Victorian _Christian\nReview_, \u201cis the effort of a Church to spread the Gospel beyond its\nown bounds, and especially to send the knowledge of Jesus amongst\nthe Heathen. The Missions to the Aborigines, to the Chinese in this\nColony, and to the New Hebrides, came to this Church from God. In a\ngreat crisis of the New Hebrides, they sent one of their number to\nAustralia for help, and his appeal was largely owned by the Head of\nthe Church. The Children, and especially the Sabbath Scholars of the\nPresbyterian Churches, became alive with Missionary enthusiasm. Large\nsums were raised for a Mission Ship. The Congregations were roused to\nsee their duty to God and their fellow-men beyond these Colonies, and a\nnew Missionary Spirit took possession of the whole Church. Their deputy\nfrom the Islands agreed to become the Missionary from this Church.\nMany circumstances indeed combined to show that it was the will of the\nMaster, that this Church should join the other Presbyterian Churches\nin taking possession of this field of usefulness; and already the\nresults are very important both to the Church and to the Mission. The\nMissionaries feel much encouraged in receiving substantial support from\nthe largest Presbyterian Church in the Australian Colonies; while the\nPresbyterian Church in Victoria is largely blessed in her own spirit\nthrough the Missionary zeal awakened in her midst. Thus, there is that\nscattereth and yet increaseth; bringing out anew the words of the Lord\nJesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.\u201d\n\nBut, in all this, I am rather anticipating. My tour through Scotland\nbrought me into contact with every Minister, Congregation, and Sabbath\nSchool in the Church of my fathers. They were never at any time a rich\npeople, but they were always liberal. At this time they contributed\nbeyond all previous experience, both in money and in boxes of useful\narticles 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\na sore trial befell me in my pilgrimages. The roads were covered with\nsnow and ice. I reached Aberdeen and Wick by steamer from Edinburgh,\nand had to find my way thence to Thurso. The inside seats on the Mail\nCoach being 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cI dare not! You\u2019ll be washed overboard.\u201d\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\nlee of a headland, saved both the ship and the passengers. When at last\nwe landed, 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\nme, and my foot crying aloud for treatment and skill.\n\nOn returning Southwards, I was confined for about two months, and\nplaced under the best medical advice. All feeling seemed gradually to\nhave departed from my foot; and amputation was seriously proposed both\nin Edinburgh and in Glasgow. Having somehow managed to reach Liverpool,\nmy dear friend, the Rev. Dr. Graham, took me there to a Doctor who\nhad wrought many wonderful recoveries by galvanism. Time after time he\napplied the battery, but I felt nothing. He declared that the power\nused would almost have killed an ordinary man, and that he had never\nseen any part of the human body so dead to feeling on a live and\nhealthy person. Finally, he covered it all over with a dark plaster,\nand told me to return in three days. But next day, the throbbing\nfeeling of insufferable coldness in the foot compelled me to return at\nonce. After my persistent appeals, he removed the plaster; and, to his\ngreat astonishment, 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, \u201cI bear about in my body the\nmarks of the Lord Jesus.\u201d\n\nOn that tour, the Sabbath Schools joyfully adopted my scheme, and\nbecame \u201cshareholders\u201d in the Mission Ship. It was thereafter ably\ndeveloped by an elder of the Church. A _Dayspring_ collecting box has\nfound its way into almost every family; and the returns from Scotland\nhave yielded ever since about \u00a3250 per annum, as their proportion\nfor the expenses of the Children\u2019s Mission Ship to the New Hebrides.\nThe Church in Nova Scotia heartily accepted the same idea, and their\nSabbath School children have regularly contributed their \u00a3250 per\nannum too. The Colonial children have contributed the rest, throughout\nall these years, with unfailing interest. And whensoever the true\nand full history of the South Sea Islands Mission is written for the\nedification of the Universal Church, let it not be forgotten that the\nchildren of Australasia, and Nova Scotia, and Scotland did by their\nunited pennies keep the _Dayspring_ floating in the New Hebrides; that\nthe Missionaries and their families were thereby supplied with the\nnecessaries of life, and that the Islanders were thus taught to clothe\nthemselves and to sit at the feet of Jesus. This was the Children\u2019s\nHoly League, erewhile referred to; and one knows that on such a Union\nthe Divine Master smiles well pleased.\n\nThe Lord also crowned this tour with another precious fruit of\nblessing, though not all by any means due to my influence. Four new\nMissionaries volunteered from Scotland, and three from Nova Scotia.\nBy their aid we not only reclaimed for Jesus the posts that had been\nabandoned, but we took possession of other Islands in His most blessed\nName. But I did not wait and take them out with me. They had matters to\nlook into and to learn about, that would be infinitely helpful to them\nin the Mission field. Especially, and far above everything else, in\naddition to their regular clerical course, some Medical instruction was\nan almost absolute prerequisite. I myself had attended several Medical\nClasses at the Andersonian College, when a student in Glasgow, and had\nhad personal training from an experienced physician. This had proved\ninvaluable, not only on the Islands, but in the remote bush during\nAustralian tours, and indeed on many private occasions, when other\nmedical help was unavailable. Every future Missionary was therefore\nurged to obtain all insight and instruction that was practicable at\nMedical Missions and otherwise, especially on lines known to be most\nrequisite for these Islands. For this, and similar objects, all that\nI raised over and above what was required for the _Dayspring_ was\nentrusted to the Foreign Mission Committee, that the new Missionaries\nmight be fully equipped, and their outfit and travelling expenses be\nprovided for without burdening the Church at home. Her responsibilities\nwere already large enough for her resources. But she could give men,\nGod\u2019s own greatest gift, and His people elsewhere gave the money,\u2014the\nColonies and the Home Country thus binding themselves to each other in\nthis Holy Mission of the Cross.\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 heart was\nstirred with a yearning to aid and teach those who were sitting in\ndarkness; her brother had been an honoured Missionary in the foreign\nfield, and had fallen asleep while the dew of youth was yet upon\nhim; her sister was the wife of a devoted Minister of our Church in\nAdelaide, both she and her husband being zealous promoters of our work;\nand her father had left behind him a fragrant memory through his many\nChristian works in all the Stirling district, and not unknown to fame\nas the author of the still popular books of _Anecdotes_, illustrative\nof the Shorter Catechism and of the Holy Scriptures. Ere I left\nScotland in 1864, I was married to Margaret Whitecross, and God spares\nus to each other still; and the family which He has been pleased in His\nlove to grant unto us we have dedicated to His service, with the prayer\nand hope that He may use every one of them in spreading the Gospel\nthroughout the Heathen World.\n\nOur marriage was celebrated at her sister\u2019s house in Edinburgh; and I\nmay be pardoned for recalling a little event that characterized the\noccasion. My youngest brother, then tutor to a gentleman studying at\nthe University, stepped forth at the close of the ceremony and recited\nan _Epithalamium_ composed for the day. For many a month and year the\nrefrain, a play upon the Bride\u2019s name, kept singing itself through my\nmemory:\u2014\n\n \u201cLong may the Whitecross banner wave\n By the battle blasts unriven;\n Long may our Brother and Sister brave\n Rejoice in the light of Heaven.\u201d\n\nHe described the Bride as hearing a \u201cVoice from the far Pacific Seas\u201d;\nand turning to us both, he sang of an Angel beckoning us to the\nTanna-land, to gather a harvest of souls:\u2014\n\n \u201cThe warfare is brief, the crown is bright,\n The pledge is the souls of men;\n Go, may the Lord defend the Right,\n And restore you safe again!\u201d\n\nBut the verse which my dear wife thought most beautiful for a bridal\nday, and which her memory cherishes still, was this:\u2014\n\n \u201cMay the ruddy Joys, and the Graces fair,\n Wait fondly around you now;\n Sweet angel Hopes and young Loves repair\n To your home and bless your vow!\u201d\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,\ncommended us once again to \u201cthe care and keeping of the Lord God of the\nfamilies of Israel.\u201d 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\nthe sword of human anguish, to the service of our common Lord and to\nthe Salvation of the Heathen. And we went forth, praying that a double\nportion of their spirit, with their precious blessing, might rest upon\nus 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 afterwards 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 death-like swoon. Oh, all ye that\nread this page, think most tenderly of the cries of Nature, even\nwhere Grace and Faith are in perfect triumph. Read, through scenes\nlike these, a fuller meaning into the words addressed to that blessed\nMother, whose Son was given for us all, \u201cYea, a sword shall pierce\nthrough thine own soul also.\u201d\n\nHere, in passing, I may mention that my mother, ever beloved, \u201cfell on\nsleep,\u201d after a short agony of affliction, in 1865; and my \u201cpriest-like\nfather\u201d passed peacefully and joyfully into the presence of his Lord\nin 1868; both cradled and cherished to the last in the arms of their\nown affectionate children, and both in the assured hope of a blessed\nimmortality, where all their sons and daughters firmly expect to meet\nthem again in the Home prepared by their blessed Saviour.\n\nWe embarked at Liverpool for Australia in _The Crest of 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\nof our _Dayspring_ came to inform me that his ship had arrived three\ndays ago and now lay in the stream,\u2014that she had been to the Islands,\nand had settled the Gordons, McCullaghs, and Goodwills on their several\nStations,\u2014that 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 clamouring for their pay, etc., etc. He\ncontinued, \u201cWhere 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!\u201d I gave him \u00a350 of my own to meet clamant demands,\nand besought him to secure me a day or two of delay that something\nmight be 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\nlook at the _Dayspring_, like a sailor getting a first peep at the\nchild born to him whilst far away on the sea. Some of the irritated\nship\u2019s company stopped us by the way, and threatened prosecution\nand all sorts of annoyance. I could only urge again for a few days\u2019\npatience. I found her to be a beautiful two-masted Brig, with a\ndeck-house (added when she first arrived at Melbourne), and every way\nsuitable for our necessities,\u2014a thing of beauty, a white-winged Angel\nset a-floating by the pennies of the children to bear the Gospel to\nthese sin-darkened but sun-lit Southern Isles. To me she became a\nsort of living thing, the impersonation of a living and throbbing love\nin the heart of thousands of \u201cshareholders\u201d; and I said, with a deep,\nindestructible faith,\u2014\u201cThe Lord _has_ provided\u2014the Lord _will_ provide.\u201d\n\nFor present liabilities at least \u00a3700 were instantly required; and, at\nany rate, as large a sum to pay her way and meet expenses of next trip\nto the Islands. Having laid our perplexing circumstances before our\ndear Lord Jesus, having \u201cspread out\u201d all the details in His sympathetic\npresence, pleading that the Ship itself and the new Missionaries were\nall His own, not mine, I told Him that this money was needed to do His\nown blessed work.\n\nOn Friday morning, I consulted friends of the Mission, but no help\nwas visible. I tried to borrow, but found that the lender demanded\ntwenty per cent. for interest, besides the title deeds of the ship\nfor security. I applied for a loan from the agent of the London\nMissionary Society (then agent for us too) on the credit of the\nReformed Presbyterian Church\u2019s Foreign Committee, but he could not give\nit without a written order from Scotland. There were some who seemed\nrather to enjoy our perplexity!\n\nDriven thus to the wall, I advertised for a meeting of Ministers and\nother friends, next morning at 11 o\u2019clock, to receive my report and to\nconsult _re_ the _Dayspring_. I related my journeyings since leaving\nthem, and the results, and then asked for advice about the ship.\n\n\u201cSell her,\u201d said some, \u201cand have done with it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat,\u201d said others, \u201chave the Sabbath Schools given you the\n_Dayspring_, and can you not support her yourselves?\u201d\n\nI pointed out to them that the salary of each Missionary was only \u00a3120\nper annum, that they gave their lives for the Heathen, and that surely\nthe Colonial Christians would undertake the up-keep of the Ship, which\nwas necessary to the very existence of the Mission. I appealed to them\nthat, as my own Church in Scotland had now one Missionary abroad for\nevery six Ministers at home, and the small Presbyterian Church of Nova\nScotia had actually three Missionaries now on our Islands, it would be\na blessed privilege for the Australian Churches and Sabbath Schools to\nkeep 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. McGibbon offered me a meeting for the evening,\nand Dr. Steel an afternoon Service at three o\u2019clock, 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\nsituated, and expressed the hope that under God and their devoted\npastor they would greatly prosper, and would yet be able to help in\nsupporting our Mission to their South Sea neighbours. Returning to the\nvestry, a lady and gentleman waited to be introduced to me. They were\nfrom Launceston, Tasmania.\n\n\u201cI am,\u201d said he, \u201cCaptain and owner of that vessel lying at anchor\nopposite the _Dayspring_. My wife and I, being too late to get on\nshore to attend any Church in the city, heard this little Chapel bell\nringing, and followed, when we saw you going up the stairs. We have so\nenjoyed the Service. We do heartily sympathize with you. This cheque\nfor \u00a350 will be a beginning to help you out of your difficulties.\u201d\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 guided them up that Chapel stair, and opened\ntheir hearts. Jehovah-Jireh!\n\nAt three o\u2019clock, Dr. Steel\u2019s 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\nup and said, \u201cI will give \u00a310.\u201d Another, \u201cI will give \u00a35.\u201d A third, \u201cI\nshall send you \u00a320 to-morrow morning.\u201d 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.\nI fully explained the difficulty about the _Dayspring_, and told them\nwhat God 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\u2019s people; and on Wednesday, when the adjourned meeting\nwas held, the sum had reached in all \u00a3456. Believing that the Lord\nthus intervened at a vital crisis in our Mission, I dwell on it to the\npraise of His blessed Name. Trust in Him, obey Him, and He will not\nsuffer you to be put to shame.\n\nAt a public meeting, held immediately thereafter, an attempt was\nmade to organize the _first_ Australian Mission Auxiliary to the New\nHebrides; but it needed an enthusiastic secretary, and for lack thereof\ncame to nothing at that time. At another meeting, the first elements of\na brooding strife appeared. The then Agent of the noble and generous\nLondon Missionary Society intimated that he had just issued Collecting\nCards for the _John Williams_, and that it would be unbrotherly to\nurge collections for the _Dayspring_ at the same time throughout New\nSouth Wales. He suggested that I should first visit Tasmania and South\nAustralia, and that, on our return, they would help us as we would\nnow help them. The most cordial feelings had always prevailed betwixt\nthe Societies, and we accepted the proposal, though our circumstances\nwere peculiarly trying, and I personally believed that no harm, but\ngood, would come from both of us doing everything possible to fan the\nMissionary spirit.\n\nClearing out from her sister ships, then in harbour, the _John\nWilliams_ and the _John Wesley_, our little _Dayspring_ sailed for\nTasmania. At Hobart we were visited by thousands of children and\nparents, and afterwards at Launceston, who were proud to see their own\nship, in which they were \u201cshareholders\u201d for Jesus. Daily, all over the\nColony, I preached in Churches and addressed public meetings, and got\ncollections, and gave out Collecting Cards to be returned within two\nweeks. But here also the little rift began to show itself. At a public\nmeeting in Hobart, the Congregational Minister said,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe support the _John Williams_ for the London Missionary Society. Let\nthe Presbyterians do as much for the _Dayspring_!\u201d\n\nI replied, that I was there by special invitation from those who\nhad called the meeting, and that, rather than have any unseemly\nwrangling, my friend, Dr. Nicolson, and I would quietly retire. But\nthe Chairman intervened, and insisted that the meeting should go\nforward in a Christian spirit, and without any word of recrimination.\nTo find ourselves, even by a misunderstanding, regarded as inimical\nto the London Missionary Society, one of the most Catholic-spirited\nand Christlike Societies in the world, was peculiarly painful. Still\nthe little rift seemed to widen at every turn, and we found ourselves\nthrown more and more exclusively on Presbyterians alone. But thus also\nthe hearts of _two_ great Communions were concentrated on Heathendom,\nwhere one only or chiefly had been bearing the burden heretofore. And\nthe Lord hath need of all.\n\nWe received many tokens of interest and sympathy. The steam tug was\ngranted to us free, and the harbour 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 \u00a3227 8_s._ 11_d._\nclear for 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\u2019s people were\nmoved greatly in the cause. After meeting all expenses while in port,\nthere remained a sum of \u00a3634 9_s._ 2_d._ for the up-keep of the vessel.\nThe Honourable George Fife Angus gave me \u00a3241\u2014a dear friend belonging\nto the Baptist Church. But there was still a deficit of \u00a3400 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\nMelbourne; but, on arriving there, sickness and anxiety laid me aside\nfor three days. Under great weakness, I crept along to my dear friends\nat the Scotch College, Dr. and Mrs. Morrison, and Miss Fraser, and\nthrew myself on their advice.\n\n\u201cCome along,\u201d said the Doctor cheerily, \u201cand I\u2019ll introduce you to Mr.\nButchart and one or two friends in East Melbourne, and we\u2019ll see what\ncan be done!\u201d\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\nsent to me. I received in all, on this tour, the sum of \u00a31,726 9_s._\n10_d._ Our _Dayspring_ once more sailed free, and our hearts overflowed\nwith gratitude to the Lord and to His stewards!\n\nOn my return to Sydney, and before sailing to the Islands, I called,\nby advertisement, a public meeting of Ministers and other friends to\nreport success, and to take counsel for the future.\n\nMy report was received with hearty thanksgiving to Almighty God. And a\nresolution was unanimously adopted, in view of all that had transpired,\nurging that a scheme must be organized, whereby the Presbyterian\nChurches and Sabbath Schools of Australia should be banded together for\nthe support of the _Dayspring_, and so prevent the necessity of such\nspasmodic efforts for all future time.\n\nFrom that day, practically, the _Dayspring_ was supported by the\nPresbyterians alone. At the first, all helped in the original\npurchase of the Mission Ship, and she was to do all needful work on\nthe Loyalty Islands for the London Society\u2019s Missionaries, as well\nas on the New Hebrides for us. This was the agreement; and, despite\nlittle misunderstandings with the Agents, the _Dayspring_ was for some\nyears placed heartily at their service. When the _John Williams_\nwas wrecked, our ship, at great loss and expense, accompanied her to\nSydney, and spent four months of the following year for them entirely\namongst the Eastern Islands. The brethren on the Loyalty Islands sent\nup their Mr. Macfarland to the Colonies to secure that the promised\nsupport should be given by their friends to the _Dayspring_; but, this\nfailing, they in 1870 declined finally to have her doing their work,\nwhen no longer paid for by their Churches. This little rift, however,\namongst the contributing Churches never affected us in the Mission\nfield; they and we have ever wrought together there in most perfect\ncordiality of brotherhood.\n\nPerhaps the true way to look upon the whole series of events is this:\nthe Australian Presbyterian Churches had been led to hear from God a\nspecial call, and must necessarily organize themselves to answer it.\nIn this blessed work of converting the Heathen, we can all loyally\nrejoice, whether the instruments in the Lord\u2019s hand be Episcopal,\nPresbyterian, or Congregational! I glory in the success of every\nProtestant Mission, and daily pray for them all. It was God\u2019s own wise\nprovidence, and not my zeal, wise or intrusive, that matured these\narrangements, and gave the Australian Presbyterian Churches a Mission\nShip of their own, and a Mission field at their doors. The Ministers\nand the Sabbath Schools felt constrained as by one impulse to undertake\nthis gracious work. The Presbyterian Churches in all these Colonies\nreceived this duty as from God; and the organizing of Missionary\nSocieties in Congregations and Sabbath Schools, for the effective\naccomplishment of the same, has been a principal means in the hands\nof the Lord of promoting and uplifting the cause of Christ throughout\nAustralasia. It is worth while to re-travel that old road once again,\nwere it for no other purpose than to show how, despite apparent checks\nand reverses, the mighty tide of Divine Love moves resistlessly onward,\ncovers up temporary obstructions, and claims everything for Jesus.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n_CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES._\n\n First of Missionary Duties.\u2014Mar\u00e9 and Noumea.\u2014The French in\n the Pacific.\u2014The _Cura\u00e7oa_ Affair.\u2014The \u201cGospel and Gunpowder\u201d\n Cry.\u2014The Missionaries on their Defence.\u2014The Mission Synod\u2019s\n Report.\u2014The Shelling of the Tannese Villages.\u2014Public Meeting and\n Presbytery.\u2014Fighting at Bay.\u2014Federal Union in Missions.\u2014A Fiery\n Furnace at Geelong.\u2014Results of Australian Tour.\u2014New Hebrides Mission\n Adopted by Colonies.\n\n\nWe went down to the Islands with the _Dayspring_ in 1865. The full\nstory of the years that had passed was laid before my Missionary\nbrethren at their Annual Synod. They resolved that permanent\narrangements must now be made for the Vessel\u2019s support, and that I must\nreturn to the Colonies and see these matured. This, meantime, appeared\nto all of them the most clamant of all Missionary duties,\u2014their very\nlives, and the existence of the Mission itself, depending thereon. The\nLord seemed to leave me no alternative; and, with great reluctance, my\nback was again turned away from the Islands. The _Dayspring_, doing\nduty among the Loyalty Islands, left me, along with my dear wife, on\nMar\u00e9, there to await an opportunity of getting to New Caledonia, and\nthence to Sydney.\n\nDetained there for some time, we saw the noble work done by Messrs.\nJones and Creagh, of the London Missionary Society, all being cruelly\nundone by the tyranny and Popery of the French. One day, in an inland\nwalk, Mrs. Paton and I came on a large Conventicle in the bush.\nThey were teaching each other, and reading the Scriptures which the\nMissionaries had translated into their own language, and which the\nFrench had forbidden them to use. They cried to God for deliverance\nfrom their oppressors! Missionaries were prohibited from teaching the\nGospel to the Natives without the permission of France; their books\nwere suppressed, and they themselves placed under military guard on\nthe island of Lifu. Even when, by Britain\u2019s protest, the Missionaries\nwere allowed to resume their work, the French language was alone to\nbe used by them; and some, like Rev. J Jones (as far down as 1888),\nwere marched on board a Man-of-war, at half an hour\u2019s notice, and,\nwithout crime laid to their charge, forbidden ever to return to the\nIslands. While, on the other hand, the French Popish Missionaries were\neverywhere fostered and protected, presenting to the Natives as many\nobjects of idolatry as their own, and following, as is the custom\nof the Romish Church in those Seas, in the wake of every Protestant\nMission, to pollute and to destroy.\n\nBeing detained also for two weeks on Noumea, we saw the state of\naffairs under military rule. English Protestant residents, few in\nnumber, appealed to me to conduct worship, but liberty could not be\nobtained from the authorities, who hated everything English. But a\nnumber of Protestant parents, some French, others English and German,\napplied to me to baptize their children at their own houses. To have\nasked permission would have been to court refusal, and to falsify my\nposition. I laid the matter before the Lord, and baptized them all.\nWithin two days the Private Secretary of the Governor arrived with an\ninterpreter, and began to inquire of me,\u2014\n\n\u201cIs it true that you have been baptizing here?\u201d\n\nI replied quite frankly, \u201cIt is.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are sent to demand on whose authority.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn the authority of my Great Master.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen did you get that authority?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen I was licensed and ordained to preach the Gospel, I got that\nauthority from my Great Master.\u201d\n\nHere a spirited conversation followed betwixt the two in French, and\nthey politely bowed, and left me.\n\nVery shortly they returned, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cThe Governor sends his compliments, and he wishes the honour of a\nvisit from you at Government House at three o\u2019clock, if convenient for\nyou.\u201d\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 \u201cde great Missionary of de New Hebrides.\u201d\nHe conversed in a very friendly manner about the work there, and seemed\nanxious to find any indication as to the English designs. I had to\ndeal very cautiously. He spoke chiefly through the interpreter; but,\nsometimes dismissing him, he talked to me as good, if not better,\nEnglish himself. He was eager to get my opinions as to how Britain\ngot and retained her power over the Natives. After a very prolonged\ninterview, we parted without a single reference to the baptisms or to\nreligious services!\n\nThat evening the Secretary and interpreter waited upon us at our Inn,\nsaying,\u2014\n\n\u201cThe Governor will have pleasure in placing his yacht and crew at your\ndisposal to-morrow. Mrs. Paton and you can sail all round, and visit\nthe Convict island, and the Government gardens, where lunch will be\nprepared for you.\u201d\n\nIt was a great treat to us indeed. The crew were in prison garments,\nbut all so kind to us. By Convict labour all the public works seemed to\nbe carried on, and the Gardens were most beautiful. The carved work in\nbone, ivory, cocoa-nuts, shells, etc., was indeed very wonderful. We\nbought a few specimens, but the prices were beyond our purse. It was a\nstrange spectacle\u2014these 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\nmoney if they would take me, instead of leaving me to wait for a\n\u201ctrader.\u201d He at once granted my request, and arranged that we should\nbe charged only at the daily cost for the sailors. At his suggestion,\nhowever, I took a number of things on board with me, and presented them\nto be used at the Cabin table. We were most generously treated,\u2014the\nCaptain giving up his own room to my wife and myself, as they had no\nspecial accommodation for passengers.\n\nNoumea appeared to me at that time to be wholly given over to\ndrunkenness and vice, supported as a great Convict settlement by\nthe Government of France, and showing every extreme of reckless,\nworldly pleasure, and of cruel, slavish toil. When I saw it again,\nthree-and-twenty years thereafter, it showed no signs of progress for\nthe better. In his book on the French Colonies, J. Bonwick, F.R.G.S.,\nsays that even yet Noumea and its dependencies contain only 1,068\nColonists from France. If there be a God of justice and of love, His\nblight cannot but rest on a nation whose pathway is stained with\ncorruption and steeped in blood, as is undeniably the case with France\nin the Pacific Isles.\n\nArriving at Sydney, I was at once plunged into a whirlpool of horrors.\nH.M.S. _Cura\u00e7oa_ had just returned from her official trip to the\nIslands, in which the Commodore, Sir William Wiseman, had thought it\nhis duty to inflict punishment on the Natives for murder and robbery\nof Traders and others. On these Islands, as in all similar cases,\nthe Missionaries had acted as interpreters, and of course always used\ntheir influence on the side of mercy, and in the interests of peace.\nBut Sydney, and indeed Australia and the Christian World, were thrown\ninto a ferment just a few days before our arrival, by certain articles\nin a leading publication there, and by the pictorial illustrations of\nthe same. They were professedly from an officer on board Her Majesty\u2019s\nship, and the sensation was increased by their apparent truthfulness\nand reality. Tanna was the scene of the first event, and a series was\nto follow in succeeding numbers. The _Cura\u00e7oa_ was pictured lying off\nthe shore, having the _Dayspring_ in tow. 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\u2014men who had jeoparded their\nlives for years on end rather than hurt one hair on a Native\u2019s head\u2014a\ncry of execration, loud and deep and even savage, arose from the Press,\nand was apparently joined in by the Church itself. The common witticism\nabout the \u201cGospel and Gunpowder\u201d headed hundreds of bitter and scoffing\narticles in the journals; and, as we afterwards learned, the shocking\nnews had been telegraphed to Britain and America, losing nothing in\nforce by the way, and while filling friends of Missions with dismay,\nwas 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\nthe nostrils of the People.\n\nThe gage of battle had been thrown and fell at my feet. Without one\nmoment\u2019s 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\nI had been myself an eye-witness, and intimating legal prosecution\nunless the most ample and unequivocal withdrawal and apology were\nat once published. The Newspaper printed my rejoinder, and made\nsatisfactory amends for having been imposed upon and deceived. I waited\nupon the Commodore, and appealed for his help in redressing this\nterrible injury to our Mission. He informed me that he had already\ncalled his officers to account, but that all denied any connection\nwith the articles or the pictures. He had little doubt, all the\nsame, that some one on board was the prompter, who gloried in the\nevil that was being done to the cause of Christ. He offered every\npossible assistance, by testimony or otherwise, to place all the facts\nbefore the Christian public and to vindicate out Missionaries.\n\nThe outstanding facts are best presented in the following extract from\nthe official report of the Mission Synod:\u2014\n\n\u201cWhen the New Hebrides Missionaries were assembled at their annual\nmeeting on Aneityum, H.M.S. _Cura\u00e7oa_, Sir Wm. Wiseman, Bart., C.B.,\narrived in the harbour 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 excited the\nNatives to it,\u2014the Missionaries gave the Commodore a memorandum on the\nloss of life and property that had been sustained by the Mission on\nTanna, Erromanga, and Efat\u00e8. He requested the Missionaries to supply\nhim with interpreters, and requested the _Dayspring_ to accompany him\nwith them. The request was at once acceded to. Mr. Paton was appointed\nto act as interpreter for Tanna, Mr. Gordon for Erromanga, and Mr.\nMorrison for Efat\u00e8.\n\n\u201cAt each of these Islands, the Commodore summoned the principal Chiefs\nnear the harbours 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\nthe wrong and protect those who had suffered wrong. The Queen did not\nsend him 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.\u201d\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,\nhe shelled two villages,\u2014having the day before informed the natives\nthat he would do so, and advising to have all women, children, and\nsick removed, which in fact they did. He also sent a party on shore\nto destroy canoes, houses, etc. The Tannese were astonished, beyond\nall precedent, by the terrific display of destructive power that was\nexhibited in the harbour. It was found impossible to reach the actual\nmurderers; in these circumstances the Commodore\u2019s object was to save\nlife and limit himself to the destruction of property, and so impress\nthe Natives with some idea of those tremendous powers of destruction,\nwhich lie slumbering in a Man-of-war, and which can be awakened and\nbrought into action at any moment.\n\nOn Erromanga no lives were lost. On Tanna one man was wounded; but, it\nwas reported, three persons were afterwards killed by the bursting of a\nshell, when the natives were stripping off its lead to make balls. It\nis matter of deep regret that one man of the party sent on shore was\nshot by a Native concealed in a tree. Against orders he had wandered\nfrom his party, and was in a plantation standing eating a stick of\nsugar-cane when he was shot.\n\nAs I had orders to act as interpreter for the Commodore on Tanna, I\nwill relate what happened there. From day to day, for three continuous\ndays, he besought the Natives to comply with his wishes. He warned them\nthat if they did not, he would shell the two villages of the Chief who\nmurdered the last white man at Port Resolution, and destroy his canoes.\nHe also explained to them, that all who retired to a large bay in the\nland of Nowar, the Christian Chief (if Christian he can be called),\nwould be safe, as he had protected white men from being murdered;\nand now he would protect his property and all under his care on this\nland. The whole of these inhabitants, young and old, went to Nowar\u2019s\nland and were safe, while they witnessed what a Man-of-war could do\nin punishing murderers. But, before the hour approached, multitudes\nof Tannese warriors had assembled on the beach, painted and armed and\ndetermined to fight the Man-of-war! When the Commodore gave orders to\nprepare for action, I approached him and said with tears,\u2014\n\n\u201cO Commodore, surely you are not going to shell these poor and foolish\nTannese!\u201d Sharply, but not unkindly, he replied,\u2014\n\n\u201cYou are here as interpreter, not as my adviser. I alone am\nresponsible. You see their defiant attitude. If I leave without\npunishing them now, no vessel or white man will be safe at this\nharbour. You can go on board your own ship, till I require your\nservices again.\u201d\n\nIndeed he had many counts against them, and his instructions were\nexplicit. Shortly before that, Nouka, the Chief of one of the villages,\nhad murdered a trader with a bar of iron, and another was murdered at\nhis instigation. Miaki, the Chief of another, had for many years been\nringleader of all mischief and murder on that side of the island. The\nChief of a village on the other side of the bay was at that moment\nassembled with his men on the high ground within our view, and dancing\nto a war song in defiance!\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\nthe whole host were seen disappearing over the brow of the hill. Two\nshots were sent over the heads of the warriors on the shore, with\nterrific noise and uproar; in an instant, every man was making haste\nfor Nowar\u2019s land, the place of refuge. The Commodore then shelled\nthe villages, and destroyed their property. Beyond what I have here\nrecorded, absolutely nothing was done.\n\nWe return then for a moment to Sydney. The public excitement made\nit impossible to open my lips in the promotion of our Mission. The\nRevs. Drs. Dunsmore Lang and Steel, along with Professor Smith of the\nUniversity, waited on the Commodore, and got an independent version\nof the facts. They then called a meeting on the affair by public\nadvertisement. Without being made acquainted with the results of\ntheir investigations, I was called upon to give my own account of the\n_Cura\u00e7oa\u2019s_ visit and of the connection of the Missionaries therewith.\nThey then submitted the Commodore\u2019s 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 _Cura\u00e7oa_ 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\nThe Presbytery of Sydney held a special meeting, and I was summoned\nto appear before it. Dr. Geddie of Aneityum was also present, being\nthen in the Colonies. Whether the tide of abuse had turned my dear\nfellow-Missionary\u2019s head, I cannot tell; but, on being asked to make a\nstatement, he condemned the Missionaries for acting as interpreters,\nand wound up with a dramatic exclamation that \u201crather than have had\nanything to do with the _Cura\u00e7oa\u2019s_ visit he would have had his hand\nburned off in the fire.\u201d\n\nThe Court applauded. The Moderator then said: \u201cMr. Paton has heard the\nnoble speech of Dr. Geddie. Let him now solemnly promise that, under no\ncircumstances, will he have anything to do with a Man-of-war. Then we\nmay see our way again to stand by him, and help him in his Mission.\u201d\nAnd in this spirit, he appealed to me.\n\nOn rising, I explained that I appeared before them only out of\nbrotherly courtesy, as their Presbytery had no jurisdiction over me,\nand I spoke to the following effect:\u2014\n\n\u201cI am indeed a Missionary to the Heathen, but also a British subject.\nI have never requested redress from Man-of-war, or any civil power;\nbut, like Paul, I reserve my full rights, if need be, to appeal unto\nC\u00e6sar. If any member of this Presbytery has his house robbed, as a\ngood citizen he seeks redress and protection. But on Tanna I lost my\nearthly all, and sought no redress from man. The Tannese Chiefs,\nindeed, who were friendly, sent a Petition by me to the Governor of\nSydney; which, however, was never presented to him at all, fearing\nthat thereby indirectly I might bring punishment upon my poor deluded\nTannese. Others were more convinced as to the path of duty, or less\nconsiderate of the Natives. Their Petition I now take from my pocket\nand submit it to you. It was presented to the Governor, Sir John Young,\nafter the death of the Gordons, and prayed for a judicial investigation\nas to their murders. As soon it was known of, a counter Petition in the\ninterests of the Traders was immediately got up and signed by many of\nthe great merchants of Sydney, protesting against any such visit to the\nIslands by a Man-of-war. This Petition, then, the original and only one\never presented in favour of a visit from Her Majesty\u2019s Commodore, was\ndrawn up and is signed\u2014by whom?\u201d\n\nOn Dr. Geddie acknowledging that he had written and signed that\nPetition, but that it prayed only for an _investigation_, I proceeded,\u2014\n\n\u201cSurely a judicial investigation like this implied all the after\nconsequences, if once undertaken! At any rate, this is the _only_\nPetition sent from the Missionaries, and it was sent unknown to me.\nFinally, I must respectfully inform the Presbytery that I will never\nmake such a promise as the Moderator has indicated. I shall remain\nfree to act in humanity and in justice as God and conscience guide\nme. I believe I saved both life and property by interpreting for the\nCommodore, and making things mutually intelligible to him and to the\nNatives. I have done as clear a Christian duty as I ever did in my\nlife. I am not ashamed. I offer no apology. I do not believe that in\nthe long run, when all facts are known, my conduct in this affair can\npossibly injure either myself, or, what is more, the Name of my Lord.\u201d\n\nPerhaps my words were not too conciliatory. But excitement so blinded\nmany friends, that I had to fight as if at bay, or get no hearing and\nno justice. The Presbytery hesitated, and closed without coming to\nany resolution. All the members of it showed me thereafter the same\nrespect as ever before. It was gratifying to learn in due course that\nall the Churches supporting our Mission, after having independently\ninvestigated into the facts, justified the course adopted by us,\u2014Nova\nScotia alone excepted. Yet two of her own Missionaries had also to\ninterpret for that Man-of-war, exactly as I had done, nor did I ever\nhear that any rebuke was administered to them. Feeling absolutely\nconscious that I had only done my Christian duty, I left all results in\nthe hands of my Lord Jesus, and pressed forward in His blessed work.\n\nMore than one dear personal friend had to be sacrificed over this\npainful affair. A Presbyterian Minister, and a godly elder and his\nwife, all most excellent and well-beloved, at whose houses I had been\nreceived as a brother, intimated to me that owing to this case of the\n_Cura\u00e7oa_ their friendship and mine must entirely cease in this world.\nAnd it did cease; but my esteem never changed. I had learned not to\nthink unkindly of friends, even when they manifestly misunderstood my\nactions. Nor would these things merit being recorded here, were it not\nthat they may be at once a beacon and a guide. God\u2019s people are still\nbelied. And the multitude are still as ready as ever to cry, \u201cCrucify!\nCrucify!\u201d\n\nThe scheme for meeting the yearly cost of the _Dayspring_, that had\nalready been tentatively set a-going, had now to be matured and\npermanently organized. In this my dear friend Dr. J. Dunsmore Lang,\nwell acquainted with the resources of all the Churches, was our\njudicious counsellor. We proposed that Victoria should raise \u00a3500; New\nSouth Wales and New Zealand, \u00a3200 each; Tasmania, Queensland, and South\nAustralia, \u00a3100 each, and \u00a3250 each from Novia Scotia and Scotland.\nTasmania, South Australia, and Queensland fell a little short of their\nproportion; Sydney, Scotland, and Novia Scotia met their claims; and\nVictoria and New Zealand exceeded them, and made up for deficiency\nin others. This has ever since been done in great measure, though\nnot exclusively, by the Sabbath Scholars of the Churches, through\ntheir _Dayspring_ \u201cMission-boxes.\u201d In organizing and maturing this\nscheme, I visited and addressed almost every Presbyterian Congregation\nand Sabbath School in New South Wales and Victoria, South Australia\nand Tasmania; and Ministers and Superintendents, with scarcely an\nexception, came to be bound together in a true federal union in support\nof our Mission and our Ship.\n\nFor the first three years, when everything was new, the _Dayspring_\ncost us about \u00a31,400 per annum; but since then she has cost on an\naverage little short of \u00a32,000 over all. There has too often been a\nfloating debt of \u00a3300 or more, which has given us great anxiety; but\nthe Lord has sent what was required, and enabled us to keep her sailing\nwith the Gospel and His servants amongst these Islands, free of any\nactual burden,\u2014His own pure messenger of Good Tidings, unstained with\nthe polluting and bloody associations of the foul-winged trading Ships!\n\nAnother fiery furnace awaited me on this tour, when I reached Geelong.\nOne of the prominent Ministers refused to shake hands. An agent of the\nLondon Missionary Society had informed them \u201cthat the \u00a33,000 paid for\nthe _Dayspring_ had been thrown away, that the Vessel was useless,\nfitted only for carrying stores, and having no accommodation for\npassengers; and that on her second trip to the Islands our Missionaries\nhad to wait and go down by the _John Williams_.\u201d It was an abiding\nsorrow to me, that local misrepresentations gave the Societies an\nappearance of conflict, whereof the parent organizations knew nothing\nwhatever. But, for all the interests at stake, facts _had_ to be made\nknown. Several Congregations had resolved to withdraw from the support\nof our Mission; and several Ministers at Ballarat, and elsewhere, were\nby similar accounts prejudiced against us.\n\nI demanded an opportunity of stating the facts, and vindicating myself\nand others, in a public meeting duly called for the purpose. They at\nonce agreed. I wrote once and a second time to the Agent, but got no\nanswer, only an evasive note. I went by rail and saw him. He would give\nno explanation, or authority for his statements, but practically put me\nout, on a pretence of there being sickness at the house. Nevertheless,\nin a spirit of determined brotherhood, I resolved only to explain facts\nabout the _Dayspring_, and not to drag in the name of that great sister\nSociety which he so poorly served.\n\nThere was a crowded meeting. The Minister who refused to shake hands\nwas voted to the chair. I was called upon to explain my position. By\nthis time I had communicated with the _Dayspring_ officials, and,\nproducing the log-book, I read from it, regarding the voyage referred\nto, the following:\u2014\n\n\u201cWhen the _Dayspring_ sailed from Sydney for the Islands, she had as\npassengers on board, Rev. Mr. Paton, Mrs. Paton, and child, Rev. Mr.\nMcNair and Mrs. McNair, Rev. Mr. Niven and Mrs. Niven, Mrs. Ella and\nchild, of the London Missionary Society, Captain Fraser, Mrs. Fraser,\nchild, and servant, besides all the year\u2019s Mission supplies for both\nthe New Hebrides and the Loyalty Islands. And on reaching these\nIslands, as the French Government had ordered the removal of all the\nEastern Teachers of the London Missionary Society from that group,\nthe _Dayspring_ had to undertake an unexpected voyage of three months\nfrom the Loyalties to Samoa, Rarotonga, etc., with Rev. Mr. and Mrs.\nSleigh of the London Missionary Society, and sixty-one of their Native\nTeachers, who, along with their families, were all in health landed\nsafely on their respective islands, as passengers by the _Dayspring_.\u201d\n\nI also read a corroborative narrative from Captain Fraser, written from\nmemory, as he was at that time far inland in the country, and had not\naccess to the records of his vessel. And my statement closed to this\neffect,\u2014\n\n\u201cIt must now be manifest to all, that the damaging reports circulated\nin Geelong are more than replied to. By the Captain, and from the\nlog, they are proved to be false, both as to capacity for goods and\npassengers. At present the _Dayspring_ is everything that could be\ndesired for the furtherance of our Mission. If _you_ are satisfied, I\nwish to leave this painful subject, and proceed with my proper work.\nBut I am prepared to answer any question from the Chairman or the\nmeeting, and to give the fullest information.\u201d\n\nThe round of applause that followed was my complete vindication. The\nChairman gave me his hand, and pledged his utmost support. He proposed\nthe following resolution, which was carried with acclamation,\u2014\n\n\u201cThat this meeting, having heard Mr. Paton with satisfaction, pledges\nthe Churches, Sabbath Schools, and friends in Geelong, henceforth to\nsupport the _Dayspring_ and the New Hebrides Mission to the utmost of\ntheir power, and to receive and encourage him as much as ever in his\nwork on behalf of the Mission.\u201d\n\nThe special object of my visit was then explained, and several\nMinisters and others spoke heartily in furtherance of the proposals for\nthe permanent support of the _Dayspring_ through the Sabbath Schools.\n\nAll battles through mere misunderstandings are painful, but especially\nthose amongst Christian brethren. Still they had to be fought, never\nlaying aside the weapons of the Cross; and God has overruled them for\nthe promotion of His Kingdom in a way which makes all Catholic-spirited\nfollowers of the Lord Jesus equally rejoice.\n\nOn this tour, in Victoria alone, I spent 250 days and addressed 265\nmeetings, representing 180 Congregations and their Sabbath Schools. The\nproportion was on the same scale in the other Colonies visited. And all\nthese arrangements I had to make for myself, by painful and laborious\ncorrespondence night and day. But the Lord\u2019s blessing was abundantly\nvouchsafed. Victoria gave \u00a31,954 19_s._ 3_d_; Tasmania, \u00a376 12_s._\n7_d._; South Australia, \u00a3222 16_s._; New South Wales, \u00a3249; being a\ntotal of \u00a32,503 7_s._ 10_d._, besides \u00a3220 in yearly donations of \u00a35,\npromised for the maintenance of the Native Teachers.\n\nIn 1862 I appealed to the Victorian General Assembly to take up the\nNew Hebrides Mission as their own. The appeal was followed by Rev.\nJ. Clark, Convener of Heathen Missions Committee in 1863, getting\nthe Assembly to accept the proposal. And in 1865 the Rev. Dr. A. J.\nCampbell carried our scheme, and the Assembly pledged itself to give\n\u00a3500 per annum for the support of the _Dayspring_, from the offerings\nof the Sabbath Schools. New Zealand and other Colonies soon followed\nVictoria\u2019s example, until all were pledged to uphold the New Hebrides\nMission. For my dear friend and old College companion, Rev. Joseph\nCopeland, had visited at the same time Queensland and New Zealand, and\nhad received from them respectively \u00a3101 2_s._ 4_d._ and \u00a3580; so that\nall the Churches adopted our scheme for the permanent support of the\n_Dayspring_; and the Mission fund had now a fair balance on the right\nside.\n\nAt the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria in\n1866, I was adopted\u2014being officially transferred from the Church in\nScotland\u2014as the first Missionary from the Presbyterian Churches of\nAustralia to the New Hebrides. Dr. Geddie would also have been adopted\nat the same time, but Novia Scotia could not agree to part with its\nfirst and most highly-honoured Missionary. The Victorian Church\ntherefore engaged the Rev. James Cosh, M.A., on his way out from\nScotland, as its other agent, in the hope that we two might be able to\nre-open and carry on the Tanna Mission. In their _Christian Review_ of\n1867, they said:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe idea which we in Victoria had, when the Missionaries left us\nin July last was, that Messrs. Paton and Cosh would be associated on\nTanna, and labour for its evangelization, under the special auspices\nas well as at the cost of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria; but Mr.\nCosh, having chosen the station at Pango on Efat\u00e8, where the Natives\nwere more prepared for the Gospel, and where life and property were\nsafe, went to spend a year\u2019s novitiateship with Mr. and Mrs. Morrison\non Efat\u00e8. Mr. Paton would have fain gone back to Tanna, but the\nMissionaries generally feared that no one European life would have been\nsafe at the time on Tanna. They therefore, and no doubt wisely, sent\nMr. Paton to the small and less savage, but not less Heathen, Island of\nAniwa.\u201d\n\nIt was indeed one of the bitterest trials of my life, not to be able to\nreturn and settle down at once on dear old Tanna; but I could not go\nalone, against the decided opposition of all the other Missionaries\u2014Dr.\nInglis, however, at last sympathizing most strongly with my views. I\nwent, as will appear hereafter, to Aniwa, the nearest island to the\nscene of my former woes and perils, in the hope that God would soon\nopen up my way and enable me to return to blood-stained Tanna.\n\nMy heart bleeds for the Heathen, and I long to see a Teacher for every\ntribe and a Missionary for every island of the New Hebrides. The hope\nstill burns that I may witness it; and then I could gladly rest.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n_SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA._\n\n The _John Williams_ on the Reef.\u2014A Native\u2019s Soliloquy.\u2014Nowar Pleading\n for Tanna.\u2014The White Shells of Nowar.\u2014The Island of Aniwa.\u2014First\n Landing on Aniwa.\u2014The Site of our New Home.\u2014\u201cMe no Steal!\u201d\u2014House\n Building for God.\u2014Native Expectations.\u2014Tafigeitu or Sorcery.\u2014The\n Miracle of Speaking Wood.\u2014Perils through Superstition.\u2014The Mission\n Premises.\u2014A City of God.\u2014Builders and their Wages.\u2014Great Swimming\n Feat.\u2014Stronger than the \u201cGods\u201d of Aniwa.\n\n\nEverything being now arranged for in the Colonies, in connection with\nthe Mission and _Dayspring_, as far as could possibly be, we sailed\nfor the Islands on the 8th August, 1866. Besides my wife and child,\nthe following accompanied us to the field: Revs. Copeland, Cosh, and\nMcNair, along with their respective wives. On August 20th we reached\nAneityum; and, having landed some of our friends, we sailed Northwards,\nas far as Efat\u00e8, to let the new Missionaries see all the Islands open\nfor occupation, and to bring all our Missionaries back to the annual\nmeeting, where the permanent settlements would be finally agreed upon.\n\nOn our return, we found that the beautiful new _John Williams_,\nreaching Aneityum on 5th of September, had stuck fast on the coral\nreef and swung there for three days. By the unceasing efforts of the\nNatives, working in hundreds, she was saved, though badly damaged.\nAt a united meeting of all the Missionaries, representing the London\nMissionary Society and our own, it was resolved that she must be taken\nto Sydney for repairs. Twenty stout Aneityumese were placed on board\nto keep her pumps going by day and night, and the _Dayspring_ was\nsent to keep her company in case of any dire emergency. Missionaries\nwere waiting to be settled, and the season was stealing away. But the\ncause of humanity and the claims of a sister Mission were paramount.\nWe remained at Aneityum for five weeks, and awaited the return of the\n_Dayspring_.\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-ne\u00e9-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 re-occupied\nand some fresh Islands were entered upon in the name of Jesus. As we\nmoved about with our _Dayspring_, and planted the Missionaries here and\nthere, nothing could repress the wonder of Natives.\n\n\u201cHow is this?\u201d they cried; \u201cwe slew or drove them all away! We\nplundered their houses and robbed them. Had we been so treated, nothing\nwould have made us return. But they come back with a beautiful new\nship, and with more and more Missionaries. And is it to trade and to\nget money, like the other white men? No! no! But to tell us of their\nJehovah God and of His Son Jesus. If their God makes them do all that,\nwe may well worship Him too.\u201d\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 rumoured\nregarding its fruits on other Islands. Even _Cannibals_ have sometimes\nbeen found thus prepared to welcome the Missionary, and to make not\nonly his property but his life comparatively safe. The Isles \u201cwait\u201d for\nChrist.\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\u2014wounds 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\u201cDon\u2019t land them,\u201d said the wily Chief; \u201cjust throw them over; my men\nand I will catch everything before it reaches the water, and carry them\nall safely ashore!\u201d\n\nThe Captain said he durst not. \u201cThen,\u201d persisted Nowar, \u201cjust point\nthem out to us; you will have no further trouble; we will manage\neverything for Missi.\u201d\n\nThey were in distress when he refused; and poor old Nowar tried another\ntack. Suspecting that my dear wife was afraid of them, he got us on\nshore to see his extensive plantations. Turning eagerly to her, he\nsaid, leaving me to interpret,\u2014\n\n\u201cPlenty of food! While I have a yam or a banana, you shall not want.\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cI fear not any lack of food.\u201d\n\nPointing to his warriors, he cried, \u201cWe are many! We are strong! We can\nalways protect you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not afraid,\u201d she calmly replied.\n\nHe then led us to that fig-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,\u2014\n\n\u201cThe God who protected Missi there will always protect you.\u201d\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\nwent to this Aniwan Chief, and took the white shells, the insignia of\nChieftainship, from his own arm, and bound them on the Sacred Man,\nsaying,\u2014\n\n\u201cBy these you promise to protect my Missionary and his wife and child\non Aniwa. Let no evil befall them; or, by this pledge, I and my people\nwill revenge it.\u201d\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\u2019s 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\nAniwa became my Mission Home in November, 1866; and ever since, save\non my, alas! too frequent deputation pilgrimages among Churches in\nGreat Britain and in the Colonies, it has been the heart and centre of\nmy personal labours amongst the Heathen. God never guided me back to\nTanna; but others, my dear friends, have seen His Kingdom planted and\nbeginning to grow amongst that slowly relenting race. Aniwa was to be\nthe land wherein my past years of toil and patience and faith were to\nsee their fruits ripening at length. I claimed Aniwa for Jesus, and by\nthe Grace of God Aniwa now worships at the Saviour\u2019s feet.\n\nThe Island of Aniwa is one of the smaller isles of the New Hebrides. It\nmeasures about nine miles by three and a half, and is everywhere girt\nround with a belt of coral reef. The sea breaks thereon heavily, with\nthundering roar, and the white surf rolls in furious and far. But there\nare days of calm, when all the sea is glass, and the spray on the reef\nis only a fringe of silver.\n\nThe ledges of coral rock indicate that Aniwa has been heaved up from\nits ocean bed, at three or four separate bursts of mighty volcanic\npower. No stone or other rock anywhere appears, but only and always\nthe coral, in its beautiful and mysterious variety. The highest land\nis less than three hundred feet above the level of the sea; and though\nthe soil is generally light, there are patches good and deep, mostly\ntowards the southern end of the island, and near the crater of an\nextinct volcano, where excellent plantations are found, and which, if\ncarefully cultivated, might support ten times the present population.\n\nAniwa, having no hills to attract and condense the clouds, suffers\nbadly for lack of genial rains; and the heavy rains of hurricane and\ntempest seem to disappear as if by magic through the light soil and\nporous rock. The moist atmosphere and the heavy dews, however, keep the\nIsland covered with green, while large and fruitful trees draw wondrous\nnourishment from their rocky beds. The Natives suffer from a species\nof Elephantiasis, in all probability produced by their bad drinking\nwaters, and from the hot and humid climate of their isle.\n\nAniwa has no harbour, or safe anchorage of any kind for ships; though,\nin certain winds, they have been seen at anchor on the outer edge of\nthe reef, always a perilous haven! There is one crack in the coral\nbelt, through which a boat can safely run to shore; but the little\nwharf, built there of the largest coral blocks that could be rolled\ntogether, has been once and again swept clean off by the hurricane,\nleaving \u201cnot a wrack behind.\u201d\n\nI had had a glimpse of Aniwa before, in the _John Knox_, when Mr.\nJohnston accompanied me; and again with my dear friend Gordon, who was\nmurdered on Erromanga; besides, I had seen Aniwans in their canoes at\nTanna in search of food. They had pleaded with us to remain amongst\nthem, arguing against there being two Missionaries on Tanna and none\non Aniwa. Their \u201corator,\u201d a very subtle man, who spoke Tannese well,\ninformed us that the white Traders told them that if they killed or\ndrove away the Missionaries they would get plenty of ammunition and\ntobacco. This was why our life had been so often attempted. Beyond this\nall was strange. Everything had to be learned afresh on Aniwa, as on\nTanna.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cALL THE NATIVES WITHIN REACH ASSEMBLED.\u201d]\n\nWhen we landed, the Natives received us kindly. They and the\nAneityumese Teachers led us to a temporary home, prepared for our\nabode. It was a large Native Hut. Walls and roof consisted of\nsugar-cane leaf and reeds, intertwisted on a strong wooden frame. It\nhad neither doors nor windows, but open spaces instead of these. The\nearthen floor alone looked beautiful, covered thick with white coral\nbroken small. It had only one Apartment; and that, meantime, had to\nserve also for Church and School and Public Hall. We screened off a\nlittle portion, and behind that screen planted our bed, and stored our\nvaluables. All the Natives within reach assembled to watch us taking\nour food! A box at first served for a chair, the lid of another box was\nour table, our cooking was all done in the open air under a large tree,\nand we got along with amazing comfort. But the house was under the\nshelter of a coral rock, and we saw at a glance that at certain seasons\nit would prove a very hotbed of fever and ague. We were, however,\nonly too thankful to enter it, till a better could be built, and on a\nbreezier site.\n\nThe Aniwans were not so violently dishonourable as the Tannese. But\nthey had the knack of asking in a rather menacing manner whatever they\ncoveted; and the tomahawk was sometimes swung to enforce an appeal. For\nlosses and annoyance, we had of course no redress. But we tried to\nkeep things well out of their way, knowing that the opportunity there,\nas elsewhere, sometimes develops the thief. We strove to get along\nquietly and kindly, in the hope that when we knew their language, and\ncould teach them the principles of Jesus, they would be saved, and life\nand property would be secure. But the rumour of the _Cura\u00e7oa\u2019s_ visit\nand her punishment of murder and robbery did more, by God\u2019s blessing,\nto protect us during those Heathen days than all other influences\ncombined. The savage Cannibal was heard to whisper to his bloodthirsty\nmates, \u201cnot to murder or to steal, for the Man-of-war that punished\nTanna would blow up their little Island!\u201d\n\nSorrowful experience on Tanna had taught us to seek the site for\nour Aniwan house on the highest ground, and away from the malarial\nswamps 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.\nNone but their Sacred Men durst touch them; and the Natives watched\nus hewing and digging, certain that their gods would strike us dead!\nThat failing, their thoughts may probably have been turned to reflect\nthat after all the Jehovah God was stronger than they. In levelling\nthe site, and gently sloping the sides of the ground for good drainage\npurposes, I had gathered together two large baskets of human bones. I\nsaid to a Chief in Tannese,\u2014\n\n\u201cHow do these bones come to be here?\u201d\n\nAnd he replied, with a shrug worthy of a cynical Frenchman,\u2014\n\n\u201cAh, we are not Tanna men! We don\u2019t eat the bones!\u201d\n\nWhile I was away building the house, Mrs. Paton had one dreadful\nfright. She generally remained about half a mile off, in charge of\nthe Native hut in which our property had been stored, with one or two\nof the friendly Natives around her, though as yet she could not speak\ntheir language. One day she sat alone, the baby playing at her feet.\nA rustling commenced amongst the boxes behind the curtain. She had\nbeen there all the morning, and no one had entered. Horror-smitten,\nher eyes were fastened towards the noise. Suddenly, the blanket-screen\nwas thrown aside, and a black face, with blood-red eyes and milk-white\nteeth peered out, and cried in broken English,\u2014\n\n\u201cMe no steal! Me no steal!\u201d\n\nThen, with a bound like that of a deer, the man sprang out and ran\nfor the village. My dear wife, fearing his sudden return, snatched up\nher child and rushed to the place where I was working, never feeling\nthe ground beneath her till she sank down almost fainting at my feet.\nThanking God for her escape, we thought it wiser to remain where we\nwere and finish our task for the day. We learned that, since we did\nnot return, his wrath had cooled down and he had withdrawn. This man\nwas a sort of wild beast in his passionate moods. His body became\nconvulsed and his muscles twitched with rage. He had lately murdered a\nneighbour, a man of his own tribe, in his frenzy. We believe that the\nLord baffled his rage on that memorable day, and said to his tumultuous\nsoul,\u2014\u201cPeace! be still.\u201d\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 labour would be vastly greater, a substantial house\u2014for\nthe comfort of our successors, if not of ourselves. We decided that,\nas this 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\nwall about three feet high all round. Air passages carried sweeping\ncurrents underneath each room, and greatly lessened the risk of fever\nand ague. A wide trench was dug all round, and filled up as a drain\nwith broken coral. At back and front, the verandah stretched five\nfeet wide; and pantry, bath-room and tool-house were partitioned off\nunder the verandah behind. The windows sent to me had hinges; I added\ntwo feet to each, with wood from Mission boxes, and made them French\ndoor-windows, opening from each room to the verandah. And so we had, by\nGod\u2019s blessing, a healthy spot to live in, if not exactly a thing of\nbeauty!\n\nThe Mission House, as ultimately finished, had six rooms, three on\neach side of the lobby, and measured ninety feet in length, surrounded\nby a verandah, one hundred feet by five, which kept everything shaded\nand cool. Underneath two rooms, a cellar was dug eight feet deep, and\nshelved all round for a store. In more than one terrific hurricane that\ncellar saved our lives,\u2014all crushing into it when trees and houses were\nbeing tossed like feathers on the wings of the wind. Altogether, the\nhouse at Aniwa has proved one of the healthiest and most commodious of\nany that have been planted by Christian hands on the New Hebrides. In\nselecting site and in building \u201cthe good hand of our God was upon us\nfor good.\u201d\n\nI built also two Orphanages, almost as inevitably necessary as the\nMissionary\u2019s own house. They stood on a line with the front of my\nown dwelling, one for girls, the other for boys, and we had them\nconstantly under our own eyes. The Orphans were practically boarded at\nthe Mission premises, and adopted by the Missionaries. Their clothing\nwas a heavy drain upon our resources; and every odd and curious article\nthat came in any of the boxes or parcels was utilized. We trained these\nyoung people for Jesus. And at this day many of the best of our Native\nTeachers, and most devoted Christian helpers, are amongst those who\nwould probably have perished but for these Orphanages.\n\nA grievous accident deprived me of special help in house-building.\nI cut my ankle badly with an adze, as I had done before on Tanna,\nthrough a knot in the tree. Binding my handkerchief tightly round it,\nI appealed to the Natives to carry me back to our hut. They stipulated\nfor payment. My vest pocket being filled with fish-hooks, a current\ncoin on all these Islands, I got a fellow to understand the bribe.\nHe carried me a little, got some hooks, and then called another, who\ndid the same, and then called a third, and so on, each man earning\nhis hooks, and passing on the burden and the pay to another, while I\nsuffered terribly and bled profusely. Being my own doctor, I dressed\nthe wound for weeks, kept it constantly in cold water bandages, and by\nthe kindness of the Lord it recovered, though it left me lame for many\na day.\n\nBut the greatest sorrow was this: the good and kind Aneityumese, who\nhad been hired to come and help me with all the unskilled parts of the\nlabour, could do nothing without me, and when the _Dayspring_ came\nround at the appointed time I had to pay them in full and let them\nreturn, deprived of their valuable aid. Even to keep them in food would\nhave exhausted our limited stores, and some months must elapse before\nour next supplies could arrive from Sydney.\n\nThe Aniwans themselves could scarcely be induced to work at all, even\nfor payment. Their personal wants were few, and were supplied by their\nown plantations. They replied to my appeals with all the unction of\nphilosophers, and told me,\u2014\n\n\u201cThe conduct of the men of Aniwa is to stand by, or sit and look on,\nwhile their women do the work!\u201d\n\nOn Aniwa we soon found ourselves face to face with blank Heathenism.\nThe natives at first expected that the Missionary\u2019s _Biritania\ntavai_ (= British Medicine) would cure at once all their complaints.\nDisappointment led to resentment in their ignorant and childish\nminds. They also expected to get for the asking, or for any trifle,\nan endless supply of knives, calico, fish-hooks, blankets, etc. Every\nrefusal irritated them. Again, our Medicines relieved or cured them,\nso they blamed us also for their diseases,\u2014all their Sacred Men not\nonly curing but also _causing_ sickness. Further, they generally came\nto us only after exhausting every resource of their own witchcraft and\nsuperstition, and when it was probably too late. I had often to taste\nthe Medicine in their sight before the sufferers would touch it; and if\none dose did not cure them, it was almost impossible to get them to\npersevere. But time taught them its value, and the yearly expenditure\nfor Medicine soon became a very heavy tax on our modest salary.\n\nStill we set our bell a-ringing every day after dinner\u2014intimating\nour readiness to give advice or medicine to all who were sick. We\nspoke to them, so soon as we had learned, a few words about Jesus.\nThe weak received a cup of tea and a piece of bread. The demand was\nsometimes great, especially when epidemics befell them. But some rather\nfled from us as the cause of their sickness, and sought refuge from\nour presence in remotest corners, or rushed off at our approach and\nconcealed themselves in the bush. They were but children, and full of\nsuperstition; and we had to win them by kindly patience, never losing\nfaith in them and hope for them, any more than the Lord did with us!\n\nAs on Tanna, all sicknesses and deaths were supposed to be caused by\nsorcery, there called _Nahak_, on Aniwa called _Tafigeitu_. Some Sacred\nMan burned the remains of food such as the skin of a banana, or a hair\nfrom the head, or something that the person had even touched, and he\nwas the disease-maker. Hence they were kept in a state of constant\nterror, and breathed the very atmosphere of revenge. When one became\nsick, all the people of his village met day after day, and made long\nspeeches and tried to find out the enemy who was causing it. Having\nfixed on some one, they first sent presents of mats, baskets, and food\nto the supposed disease-makers; if the person recovered, they took\ncredit for it; if the person died, his friends sought revenge on the\nsupposed murderers. And such revenge took a wide sweep, satisfying\nitself with the suspected enemy, or any of his family, or of his\nvillage, or even of his tribe. Thus endless bloodshed and unceasing\nintertribal wars kept the people from one end of the Island to the\nother in one long-drawn broil and turmoil.\n\nLearning the language on Aniwa was marked by similar incidents to those\nof Tanna, related in Part First; though a few of them could understand\nmy Tannese, and that greatly helped me. One day a man, after carefully\nexamining some article, turned to his neighbour and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cTaha tinei?\u201d\n\nI inferred that he was asking, \u201cWhat is this?\u201d\n\nPointing to another article, I repeated their words; they smiled at\neach other, and gave me its name. On another occasion, a man said to\nhis companion, looking towards me,\u2014\n\n\u201cTaha neigo?\u201d\n\nConcluding that he was asking my name, I pointed towards him, and\nrepeated the words, and they at once gave me their names. Readers\nwould be surprised to discover how much you can readily learn of any\nlanguage, with these two short questions constantly on your lips,\nand with people ready at every turn to answer\u2014\u201cWhat\u2019s this?\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s\nyour name?\u201d 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\nhad gone far in the house-building operations, during which some of\nthem were constantly beside me.\n\nOne incident of that time was very memorable, and God turned it to\ngood account for higher ends. I often tell it as \u201cthe miracle of the\nspeaking bit of wood;\u201d and it has happened to other Missionaries\nexactly as to myself. While working at the house, I required some nails\nand tools. Lifting a piece of planed wood, I pencilled a few words on\nit, and requested our old Chief to carry it to Mrs. Paton, and she\nwould send what I wanted. In blank wonder, he innocently stared at me,\nand said,\u2014\n\n\u201cBut what do you want?\u201d\n\nI replied, \u201cThe wood will tell her.\u201d He looked rather angry, thinking\nthat I befooled him, and retorted,\u2014\n\n\u201cWho ever heard of wood speaking?\u201d\n\nBy hard pleading I succeeded in persuading him to go. He was amazed\nto see her looking at the wood and then fetching the needed articles.\nHe brought back the bit of wood, and eagerly made signs for an\nexplanation. Chiefly in broken Tannese I read to him the words, and\ninformed him that in the same way God spoke to us through His Book.\nThe will of God was written there, and by-and-bye, when he learned to\nread, he would hear God _speaking_ to him from its page, as Mrs. Paton\nheard me from the bit of wood.\n\nA great desire was thus awakened in the poor man\u2019s soul to see the\nvery Word of God printed in his own language. He helped me to learn\nwords and master ideas with growing enthusiasm. And when my work of\ntranslating portions of Holy Scripture began, his delight was unbounded\nand his help invaluable. The miracle of a speaking page was not less\nwonderful than that 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\u2019s blessing, and by our careful nursing\nand suitable 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\none of them actually died, an Erromangan. 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\nOur Mission House was once and again threatened with fire, and we\nourselves with musket, before its completion. The threats to set fire\nto our premises stirred up Namakei, however, to befriend us; and we\nlearned that he and his people had us under a guard by night and by\nday. But a savage Erromangan lurked about for ten days, watching for\nus with tomahawk and musket, and we knew that our peril was extreme.\nLooking up to God for protection, I went on with my daily toils,\nhaving a small American tomahawk beside me, and showing no fear. The\nmain thing was to take every precaution against surprise, for these\nmurderers are all cowards, and will attempt nothing when observed. I\nsent for the old Chief, whose guest the Erromangan was, and warned him\nthat God would hold him guilty too if our blood was shed.\n\n\u201cMissi,\u201d he warmly replied, \u201cI knew not, I knew not! But by the first\nfavourable wind he shall go, and you will see him no more.\u201d\n\nHe kept his word, and we were rescued from the enemy and the avenger.\n\nThe site was excellent and very suitable for our Mission Station. The\nground sloped away nearly all round us, and the pathway up to it was\nadorned on each side with beautiful crotons and island plants, and\nbehind these a row of orange trees. A cocoa-nut grove skirted the shore\nfor nearly three miles, and shaded the principal public road. Near\nour premises were many leafy chestnuts and wide-spreading bread-fruit\ntrees. When, in the course of years, everything had been completed\nto our taste, we lived practically in the midst of a beautiful\nVillage,\u2014the Church, the School, the Orphanage, the Smithy and Joiner\u2019s\nShop, the Printing Office, the Banana and Yam House, the Cook House,\netc.; all very humble indeed, but all standing sturdily up there among\nthe orange trees, and preaching the Gospel of a higher civilization and\nof a better life for Aniwa. The little road leading to each door was\nlaid with the white coral broken small. The fence around all shone\nfresh and clean with new paint. Order and taste were seen to be laws in\nthe white man\u2019s New Life; and several of the Natives began diligently\nto follow our 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\nto bind his long whip-cord hair, he would carry me a block of coral\nor fetch 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 or 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 School then, by their own\nfree toil, rejoicing to labour without money or price; and they have\never since kept them in good repair, for the service of the Lord, by\ntheir voluntary 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;\nthe ridge was bound down by cocoa-nut leaves, dexterously plaited from\nside to side and skewered to the ridge pole with hard wooden pins;\nand over all, a fresh storm-roof was laid on yearly for the hurricane\nmonths, composed of folded cocoa-nut leaves, held down with planks\nof wood, and bound to the frame-work below,\u2014which, however, had to be\nremoved again in April to save the sugar-cane leaf from rotting beneath\nit. There you were snugly covered in, and your thatching good to last\nfrom eight years to ten; that is, provided you were not caught in the\nsweep of the hurricane, before which trees went flying like straws,\nhuts disappeared like autumn leaves, and your Mission House, if left\nstanding at all, was probably swept bare alike of roof and thatch at a\nsingle stroke! Well for you at such times if you have a good barometer\nindicating the approach of the storm; and better still, a large cellar\nlike ours, four-and-twenty feet by sixteen, built round with solid\ncoral blocks,\u2014where 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!\n\nWe had also to invent a lime kiln, and this proved one of the hardest\nnuts of all that had to be cracked. The kind of coral required could be\nobtained only at one spot, about three miles distant. Lying at anchor\nin my boat, the Natives dived into the sea, broke off with hammer and\ncrowbar piece after piece, and brought it up to me, till I had my load.\nWe then carried it ashore, and spread it out in the sun to be blistered\nthere for two weeks or so. Having thus secured twenty or thirty boat\nloads, and had it duly conveyed round to the Mission Station, a huge\npit was dug in the ground, dry wood piled in below, and green wood\nabove to a height of several feet, and on the top of all the coral\nblocks were orderly laid. When this pile had burned for seven or ten\ndays, the coral had been reduced to excellent lime, and the plaster\nwork 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,\nto my 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\nall houses should be built of wood which is as full as possible of gum\nor resin, since the large white ants devour not only all other soft\nwoods, but even Colonial blue gum trees, the hard cocoa-nut, and window\nsashes, chairs, and tables!\n\nGlancing back on all these toils, I rejoice that such exhausting\ndemands are no longer made on our newly arrived Missionaries. Houses,\nall ready for being set up, are now brought down from the Colonies.\nZinc roofs and other improvements have been introduced. The Synod\nappoints a deputation to accompany the young Missionary, and plant the\nhouse along with himself at the Station committed to his care. Precious\nstrength is thus saved for higher uses; and not only property but life\nitself is oftentimes 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\npeople in our hearing to this effect:\u2014\n\n\u201cWhen Missi came we saw his boxes. We knew he had blankets and calico,\naxes and knives, fish-hooks and all such things. We said, \u2018Don\u2019t drive\nhim off, else we will lose all these things. We will let him land.\nBut we will force him to live on the Sacred Plot. Our gods will kill\nhim, and we will divide all that he has amongst the men of Aniwa.\u2019 But\nMissi built his house on our most sacred spot. He and his people lived\nthere, and the gods did not strike. He planted bananas there, and we\nsaid, \u2018Now when they eat of these they will all drop down dead, as our\nfathers assured us, if any one ate fruit from that ground, except only\nour Sacred Men themselves.\u2019 These bananas ripened. They did eat them.\nWe kept watching for days and days, but no one died! Therefore what we\nsay, and what our fathers have said, is not true. Our gods cannot kill\nthem. Their Jehovah God is stronger than the gods of Aniwa.\u201d\n\nI enforced old Namakei\u2019s appeal, telling them that, though they knew\nit not, it was the living and true and only God who had sent them\nevery blessing which they possessed, and had at last sent us to teach\nthem how to serve and love and please Him. In wonder and silence they\nlistened, while I tried to explain to them that Jesus, the Son of this\nGod, had lived and died and gone to the Father to save them, and that\nHe was now willing to take them by the hand and lead them through this\nlife to glory and immortality together with Himself.\n\nThe old Chief led them in prayer\u2014a strange, dark, groping prayer, with\nstreaks of Heathenism colouring every thought and sentence; but still\na heart-breaking prayer, as the cry of a soul once Cannibal, but now\nbeing thrilled through and through with the first conscious pulsations\nof the Christ-Spirit, throbbing into the words: \u201cFather, Father; our\nFather.\u201d\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 \u201cFather,\nour Father,\u201d though they might be far, very far, from the type of\nChristian that dubs itself \u201crespectable,\u201d my heart broke over them in\ntears of joy; and nothing will ever persuade me that there was not a\nDivine Heart in the heavens rejoicing too.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n_FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM._\n\n Navalak and Nemeyan on Aniwa.\u2014Taia the \u201cOrator.\u201d\u2014The Two next\n Aneityumese Teachers.\u2014In the Arms of Murderers.\u2014Our First Aniwan\n Converts.\u2014Litsi Sor\u00e9.\u2014Surrounded by Torches.\u2014Traditions of Creation,\n Fall, and Deluge.\u2014 Infanticide and Wife-Murder.\u2014Last Heathen\n Dance.\u2014Nelwang\u2019s Elopement.\u2014Yakin\u2019s Bridal Attire.\u2014Christ-Spirit\n _versus_ War-Spirit.\u2014Heathenism in Death-Grips.\u2014A Great Aniwan\n Palaver.\u2014The Sinking of the Well.\u2014\u201cMissi\u2019s Head Gone Wrong.\u201d\u2014\u201cWater!\n Living Water!\u201d\u2014Old Chief\u2019s Sermon on \u201cRain from Below.\u201d\u2014The Idols\n Cast Away.\u2014The New Social Order.\u2014Back of Heathenism Broken.\n\n\nOn landing in November, 1866, we found the Natives of Aniwa, some very\nshy and distrustful, and others forward and imperious. No clothing\nwas worn; but the wives and elder women had grass aprons or girdles\nlike our first Parents in Eden. The old Chief interested himself in\nus and our work; but the greater number showed a far deeper interest\nin the axes, knives, fish-hooks, stripes of red calico and blankets,\nreceived in payment for work or for bananas. Even for payment they\nwould scarcely work at first, and they were most unreasonable, easily\noffended, and started 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, \u201cI must be attended to! I\nwon\u2019t wait on _him_.\u201d Such are 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\ninto the bush. Living on cocoa-nuts, he awaited a favourable wind,\nand, launching 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\nChrist. They strongly yearned to spread that saving Gospel to the\nHeathen Islands all around. Amid prayers and strong cryings to God\nthey, like the Church at Antioch, designated two of their leading men\nto go as Native Teachers and evangelize Aniwa, viz., Navalak and\nNemeyan; whilst others went forth to Fotuna, Tanna, and Erromanga, as\nopportunity arose. Namakei, the principal Chief of Aniwa, had promised\nto protect and be kind to them. But as time went on, it was discovered\nthat the Teachers belonged to the Tribe on Aneityum, and one of them\nto the very land, where long ago the Aniwans had been murdered. The\nTeachers had from the first known their danger, but were eager to make\nknown the Gospel to Aniwa. It was resolved that they should die. But\nthe Aniwans, having promised to protect them, shrank from doing it\nthemselves; so they hired two Tanna men and an Aniwan Chief, one of\nwhose parents had belonged to Tanna, to waylay and shoot the Teachers\nas they returned from their tour of Evangelism among the villages on\nSabbath afternoon. Their muskets did not go off, but the murderers\nrushed upon them with clubs and left them for 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\ncarried him to his village and kindly nursed him. He pled with the\npeople that the claims of revenge had been satisfied, and that Navalak\nshould be cherished and sent home,\u2014the Christ-Spirit beginning to work\nin that darkened soul! Navalak was restored to his people, and is yet\nliving\u2014a high-class Chief on Aneityum and an honour to the Church of\nGod, bearing on his body \u201cthe marks of the Lord Jesus.\u201d And often\nsince has he visited Aniwa, in later years, and praised the Lord\namongst the very people who once thirsted for his blood and left him by\nthe wayside as good as dead!\n\nFor a time, Aniwa was left without any witness for Jesus,\u2014the London\nMissionary Society Teachers, having suffered dreadfully for lack of\nfood and from fever and ague, being also removed. But on a visit of a\nMission vessel, Namakei sent his orator Taia to Aneityum, to tell them\nthat now revenge was satisfied, the cut in the earth filled up, and a\ncocoa-nut tree planted and flourishing where the blood of the Teachers\nhad been shed, and that no person from Aneityum would ever be injured\nby Aniwans. Further, he was to plead for more Teachers, and to pledge\nhis Chief\u2019s word that they would be kindly received and protected. They\nknew not the Gospel, and had no desire for it; but they wanted friendly\nintercourse with Aneityum, where trading vessels called, and whence\nthey might obtain mats, baskets, blankets, and iron tools. At length\ntwo Aneityumese again volunteered to go, Kangaru and Nelmai, one from\neach side of the Island, and were located by the Missionaries, along\nwith their families, on Aniwa, one with Namakei, and the other at the\nsouth end, to lift up the Standard of a Christlike life among their\nHeathen neighbours.\n\nTaia, who went on the Mission to Aneityum, was a great speaker and\nalso a very cunning man. He was the old Chief\u2019s appointed \u201cOrator\u201d on\nall state occasions, being tall and stately in appearance, of great\nbodily strength, and possessed of a winning manner. On the voyage to\nAneityum, he was constantly smoking and making things disagreeable to\nall around him. Being advised not to smoke while on board, he pled\nwith the Missionary just to let him take a whiff now and again till\nhe finished the tobacco he had in his pipe, and then he would lay it\naside. But, like the widow\u2019s meal, it lasted all the way to Aneityum,\nand never appeared to get less\u2014at which the innocent Taia expressed\nmuch astonishment!\n\nThe two Teachers and their wives on Aniwa were little better than\nslaves when we landed there, toiling in the service of their masters\nand living in constant fear of being murdered. They conducted the\nWorship in Aneityumese, while the Aniwans lay smoking and talking\nall round till it was over. The language of Aniwa had never yet been\nreduced to a written form, and consequently no book had been printed\nin it. The Teachers and their wives were kept hard at work on Friday\nand Saturday, cooking and preparing food for the Aniwans, who, after\nthe so-called Worship, feasted together and had a friendly talk. We\nimmediately put an end to this Sabbath feasting. That made them angry\nand revengeful. They even demanded food, etc., in payment for coming to\nthe Worship, which we always resolutely refused. Doubtless, however,\nthe mighty contrast presented by the life, character, and disposition\nof these godly Teachers was the sowing of the seed that bore fruit in\nother days,\u2014though as yet no single Aniwan had begun to wear clothing\nout of respect to Civilization, much less been brought to know and love\nthe Saviour.\n\nI could now speak a little to them in their own language; and so,\naccompanied generally by my dear wife and by an Aneityumese Teacher,\nand often by some friendly Native, I began to visit regularly at their\nvillages and to talk to them about Jesus and His love. We tried also\nto get them to come to our Church under the shade of the banyan tree.\nNasi and some of the worst characters would sit scowling not far off,\nor follow us with loaded muskets. Using every precaution, we still held\non doing our work; sometimes giving fish-hooks or beads to the boys and\ngirls, showing them that our objects were kind and not selfish. Such\nvisits gained their confidence.\n\nAnd however our hearts sometimes trembled in the presence of imminent\ndeath and sank within us, we stood fearless in their presence, and left\nall results in the hands of Jesus. Often have I had to run into the\narms of some savage, when his club was swung or his musket levelled\nat my head, and, praying to Jesus, so clung round him that he could\nneither strike nor shoot me till his wrath cooled down and I managed\nto slip away. Often have I seized the pointed barrel and directed it\nupwards, or, pleading with my assailant, uncapped his musket in the\nstruggle. At other times, nothing could be said, nothing done, but\nstand still in silent prayer, asking God to protect us or to prepare\nus for going home to His Glory. He fulfilled His own promise,\u2014\u201cI will\nnot fail thee nor forsake thee.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: I WANT YOU TO TRAIN LITSI FOR JESUS.]\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 harbour; 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\nthat we took tea evening and morning. When we gave him a cup and a\npiece of bread, he liked it well, and gave a sip to all around him. At\nfirst he came for the tea, perhaps, and disappeared suspiciously soon\nthereafter; but his interest manifestly grew, till he showed great\ndelight in helping us in every possible way. Along with him, and as his\nassociates, came also the Chief Naswai and his wife Katua. These three\ngrew into the knowledge of the Saviour together. From being savage\nCannibals they rose before our eyes, under the influence of the Gospel,\ninto noble and beloved characters; and they and we loved each other\nexceedingly.\n\nNamakei brought his little daughter, his only child, the Queen of her\nrace, called Litsi Sor\u00e9 (= Litsi the Great), and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cI want to leave my Litsi with you. I want you to train her for Jesus.\u201d\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\u2019s only brother, the Sacred Man\nthat had attempted to shoot me, also brought his child, Litsi Sisi (=\nthe Little) to be trained like her cousin. The mothers of both were\ndead. The children reported all they saw, and all we taught them, and\nso their fathers became more deeply interested in our work, and the\nnews of the Gospel spread far and wide. Soon we had all the Orphans\ncommitted to us, whose guardians were willing to part with them, and\nour Home became literally _the School of Christ_,\u2014the boys growing up\nto help all my plans, and the girls to help my wife and to be civilized\nand trained by her, and many of them developing into devoted Teachers\nand Evangelists.\n\nOur earlier Sabbath Services were sad affairs. Every man came\narmed\u2014indeed, every man slept with his weapons of war at his side\u2014and\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\nto listen, but the most lay about on their backs or sides, smoking,\ntalking, sleeping! When we stopped the feast at the close, for which\nthey were always ready, the audiences at first went down to two or\nthree; 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 \u201cpay\u201d 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 \u201cidols,\u201d and when we would not purchase them but\nurged them to give them up and cast them away for love to Jesus, they\ncarried them off saying they would have nothing to do with this new\nWorship.\n\nAmidst our frequent trials and dangers in those earlier times on Aniwa,\nour little Orphans often warned us privately and saved our lives from\ncruel plots. When, in baffled rage, our enemies demanded who had\nrevealed things to us, I always said, \u201cIt was a little bird from the\nbush.\u201d So, the dear children grew to have perfect confidence in us.\nThey knew we would not betray them; and they considered themselves the\nguardians of our lives.\n\nThe excitement increased on both sides, when a few men openly gave up\ntheir idols. Morning after morning, I noticed green cocoa-nut leaves\npiled at the end of our house, and wondered if it were through some\nHeathen superstition. But one night the old Chief knocked upon me and\nsaid,\u2014\n\n\u201cRise, Missi, and help! The Heathen are trying to burn your house. All\nnight we have kept them off, but they are many and we are few. Rise\nquickly, and light a lamp at every window. Let us pray to Jehovah, and\ntalk loud as if we were many. God will make us strong.\u201d\n\nI found that they had the buckets and pails from all my Premises full\nof water,\u2014that the surrounding bush was swarming with Savages, torch in\nhand,\u2014that the Teachers and other friendly Natives had been protecting\nthemselves from the dews under the large cocoa-nut leaves which I saw,\nwhile they kept watch over us. After that I took my turn with them in\nwatching, each guard being changed after so many hours. But they held a\nmeeting and said amongst each other,\u2014\n\n\u201cIf our Missi is shot or killed in the dark, what will we have to watch\nfor then? We must compel Missi to remain indoors at night!\u201d\n\nI yielded so far to their counsel; but still went amongst them, watch\nafter watch, to encourage them.\n\nWhat a suggestive tradition of the Fall came to me in one of those\nearly days on Aniwa! Upon our leaving the hut and removing to our new\nhouse, it was seized upon by Tupa for his sleeping place; though still\ncontinuing to be used by the Natives, as club-house, court of law,\netc. One morning at daylight this Tupa came running to us in great\nexcitement, wielding his club furiously, and crying,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, I have killed the Tebil. I have killed Teapolo. He came to\ncatch me last night. I raised all the people, and we fought him round\nthe house with our clubs. At daybreak he came out and I killed him\ndead. We will have no more bad conduct or trouble now. Teapolo is dead!\u201d\n\nI said, \u201cWhat nonsense! Teapolo is a spirit, and cannot be seen.\u201d\n\nBut in mad excitement he persisted that he had killed him. And at Mrs.\nPaton\u2019s 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cThere he lies! Truly I killed him.\u201d\n\nI protested: \u201cThat is not the Devil; it is only the body of a serpent.\u201d\n\nThe man quickly answered, \u201cWell, but it is all the same! He is Teapolo.\nHe makes us bad, and causes all our troubles.\u201d\n\nFollowing up this hint by many inquiries, then and afterwards, I found\nthat they clearly associated man\u2019s troubles and sufferings somehow\nwith the serpent. They worshipped the Serpent, as a spirit of evil,\nunder the name of Matshiktshiki; that is to say, they lived in abject\nterror of his influence, and all their worship was directed towards\npropitiating his rage against men.\n\nTheir story of Creation, at least of the origin of their own Aniwa\nand the adjacent Islands, is much more an outcome of the Native mind.\nThey say that Matshiktshiki fished up these lands out of the sea. And\nthey show the deep print of his foot on the coral rocks, opposite each\nisland, whereon he stood as he strained and lifted them up above the\nwaters. He then threw his great fishing-line round Fotuna, thirty-six\nmiles distant, to draw it close to Aniwa and make them one land; but,\nas he pulled, the line broke and he fell into the sea,\u2014so the Islands\nremain separated unto this day.\n\nMatshiktshiki placed men and women on Aniwa. On the southern end of\nthe Island, there was a beautiful spring and a freshwater river, with\nrich lands 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 thence across to\nAneityum,\u2014leaving them where Dr. Inglis has since built his beautiful\nMission Station. To this day, the river there is called \u201cthe water of\nAniwa\u201d by the inhabitants of both Islands; and it is the ambition of\nall Aniwans to visit Aneityum and drink of that spring and river, as\nthey sigh to each other,\u2014\n\n\u201cAlas, for the waters of Aniwa!\u201d\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\nday to day, and the sea rose till it threatened to cover everything.\nAll were drowned except the few who climbed up on the volcano mountain.\nThe sea had already put out the volcano at the southern end of Aniwa;\nand Matshiktshiki, who dwelt in the greater volcano, becoming afraid\nof the extinction of his big fire too, split it off from Aniwa with\nall the land on the south-eastern side, and sailed it across to Tanna\non the top of the flood. There, by his mighty strength, he heaved\nthe volcano to the top of the highest mountain of Tanna, where it\nremains to this day. For, on the subsiding of the sea, he was unable to\ntransfer his big fire to Aniwa; and so it was reduced to a very small\nisland, without a volcano, and without a river, for the sins of the\npeople 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\u2019s; and women or children scream wildly at the sight of one.\nThe Natives of several of our Islands have the form of the lizard, as\nalso of the snake and the bird and the face of man, cut deep into the\nflesh of their arms. When the cuts begin to heal, they tear open the\nfigures and press back the skin and force out the flesh, till the forms\nstand out above the skin and abide there as a visible horror for all\ntheir remaining days. When they become Christians and put on clothing,\nthey are very anxious to cover these reminders of Heathenism from\npublic view.\n\nThe darkest and most hideous blot on Heathenism is the practice of\nInfanticide. 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\u2019\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-bye touched\nwith the 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\nthey had no children. The man, being a Heathen, resolved to take home\nanother wife, a widow with two children. This was naturally opposed\nby his young wife. And, without the slightest warning, while she sat\nplaiting a basket, he discharged a ball into her from his loaded\nmusket. It crashed through her arm and lodged in her side. Everything\nwas done that was in my power to save her life; but on the tenth day\ntetanus came on, and she soon after passed away. The man appeared very\nattentive to her all the time; but, being a Heathen, he insisted that\nshe had no right to oppose his wishes! He was not in any way punished\nor disrespected by the people of his village, but went out and in\namongst them as usual, and took home the other woman as his wife a few\nweeks thereafter. His second wife began to attend Church and School\nregularly with her children; and at last he also came along with them,\nchanging very manifestly from his sullen and savage former self. They\nhave a large family; they are avowedly trying to train them all for the\nLord Jesus; and they take their places meekly at the Lord\u2019s Table.\n\nIt would give a wonderful shock, I suppose, to many namby-pamby\nChristians, to whom the title \u201cMighty to Save\u201d 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\nheart, and weighs every motive and circumstance, has perhaps much more\nreason to be shocked by the presence of some of themselves. Penitence\nopens all the Heart of God\u2014\u201cTo-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.\u201d\n\nAmongst the heathen, a murderer was often honoured; and if he succeeded\nin terrifying those who ought to take revenge, he was sometimes even\npromoted to be a Chief. One who had thus risen to tyrannize over his\nvillage was so feared and obeyed, that one of the lads there said to\nme,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, I wish I had lived long ago! I could have murdered some great\nman, and come to honour. As Christians, we have no prospects; where are\nyour warriors? Are we always to remain common men?\u201d\n\nI told him of greatness in the service of Jesus, of glory and honour\nwith our Lord. That lad afterwards became a Native Teacher, first in\nhis own village, and then on a Heathen Island,\u2014the Lord the Spirit\nhaving opened up for his ambition the nobler path.\n\nThe last Heathen Dance on Aniwa was intended, strange to say, in honour\nof our work. We had finished the burning of a large lime-kiln for our\nbuildings, and the event was regarded as worthy of a festival. To our\nsurprise, loud bursts of song were followed by the tramp, tramp of many\nfeet. Men and women and children poured past us, painted, decorated\nwith feathers and bush twigs, and dressed in their own wildest\nform, though almost entirely nude so far as regards the clothing of\ncivilization. They marched into the village Public Ground, and with\nsong and shout and dance made the air hideous to me. They danced in\ninner and outer circles, men with men and women with women; but I do\nnot know that the thing looked more irrational to an outsider than\ndo the balls at home. Our Islanders, on becoming followers of Jesus,\nhave always _voluntarily_ withdrawn from all these scenes, and regard\nsuch dancings as inconsistent with the presence and fellowship of the\nSaviour.\n\nOn calling one of their leading men and asking him what it all meant,\nhe said,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, we are rejoicing for you, singing and dancing to our gods for\nyou and your works.\u201d\n\nI told him that my Jehovah God would be angry at His Church being so\nassociated with Heathen gods. The poor bewildered soul look grieved,\nand asked,\u2014\n\n\u201cIs it not good, Missi? Are we not helping you?\u201d\n\nI said, \u201cNo! It is not good. I am shocked to see you. I come here to\nteach you to give up all these ways, and to please the Jehovah God.\u201d\n\nHe went and called away his wife and all his friends, and told them\nthat the Missi was displeased. But the others held on for hours, and\nwere much disgusted that I would not make them a feast and pay them for\ndancing! No other dance was ever held near our Station on Aniwa.\n\nSome most absurd and preposterous experiences were forced upon us by\nthe habits and notions of the people. Amongst these I recall very\nvividly the story of Nelwang\u2019s elopement with his bride. I had begun,\nin spare hours, to lay the foundation of two additional rooms for our\nhouse, and felt rather uneasy to see a well-known Savage hanging around\nevery day with his tomahawk, and eagerly watching me at work. He had\nkilled a man, before our arrival on Aniwa; and it was he that startled\nmy wife by suddenly appearing from amongst the boxes, and causing her\nto run for life. On seeing him hovering so alarmingly near, tomahawk in\nhand, I saluted him,\u2014\n\n\u201cNelwang, do you want to speak to me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, Missi,\u201d he replied, \u201cif you will help me now, I will be your\nfriend for ever.\u201d\n\nI answered, \u201cI am your friend. That brought me here and keeps me here.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said he very earnestly, \u201cbut I want you to be strong as my\nfriend, and I will be strong for you!\u201d\n\nI replied, \u201cWell, how can I help you?\u201d\n\nHe quickly answered, \u201cI want to get married, and I need your help.\u201d\n\nI protested: \u201cNelwang, you know that marriages here are all made\nin infancy, by children being bought and betrothed to their future\nhusbands. How can I interfere? You don\u2019t want to bring evil on me and\nmy wife and child? It might cost us our lives.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! no! Missi,\u201d earnestly retorted Nelwang. \u201cNo one hears of this,\nor can hear. Only help me now. You tell me, if you were in my\ncircumstances, how would you act?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s surely very simple,\u201d I answered. \u201cEvery man knows how to\ngo about that business, if he wants to be honest! Look out for\nyour intended, find out if she loves you, and the rest will follow\nnaturally,\u2014you will marry her.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d argued Nelwang, \u201cbut just there my trouble comes in!\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you know the woman you would like to get?\u201d I asked, wishing to\nbring him to some closer issue.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied he very frankly, \u201cI want to marry Yakin, the chief widow\nup at the inland village, and that will break no infant betrothals.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d I persevered, \u201cdo you know if she loves you or would take you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Nelwang; \u201cone 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\u2019s men; and if she had loved any of them more than she did me,\nshe would have given them to another. With the ear-rings she gave me\nher heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen why,\u201d I insisted, \u201cdon\u2019t you go and marry her?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere,\u201d said Nelwang gravely, \u201cbegins 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!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd if you take her,\u201d I suggested, \u201cthe disappointed thirty will shoot\nyou.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what I see, Missi,\u201d continued Nelwang; \u201cbut 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.\u201d\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\nrocks above the village as watchmen, to cut down with his American\ntomahawk a passage through the fence at the back, and to carry off\nhis bride at dead of night into the seclusion and safety of the bush!\nNelwang\u2019s eyes flashed as he struck his tomahawk into a tree, and\ncried,\u2014\n\n\u201cI see it now, Missi! I shall win her from them all. Yakin and I will\nbe strong for you all our days!\u201d\n\nNext morning Yakin\u2019s 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,\ntheir fences broken down, and all their property either destroyed\nor distributed. Work was suspended, and the disappointed thirty\nsolaced themselves by feasting at Yakin\u2019s expense. On the third day I\narrived at the scene. Seeing our old friend Naswai looking on at the\nplunderers, I signalled him, and said innocently,\u2014\n\n\u201cNaswai, what\u2019s this your men are about? What\u2019s all the uproar?\u201d\n\nThe Chief replied, \u201cHave you not heard, Missi?\u201d\n\n\u201cHeard?\u201d said I. \u201cThe whole island has heard your ongoings for three\ndays! I can get no peace to study, or carry on my work.\u201d\n\n\u201cMissi,\u201d said the Chief, \u201cNelwang has eloped with Yakin, the wealthy\nwidow, and all the young men are taking their revenge.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d replied I, \u201cis that all? Call your men, and let us speak to them.\u201d\n\nThe men were all assembled, and I said: \u201cAfter all your kindness to\nYakin, and all your attention to her since her husband\u2019s death, has\nshe really run away and left you all? Don\u2019t you feel thankful that you\nare free from such an ungrateful woman? Had one of you been married\nto her, and she had afterwards run away with this man that she loved,\nthat would have been far worse! And are you really making all this\nnoise over such a person, and destroying so much useful food? Let these\ntwo fools go their way, and if she be all that you now say, he will\nhave the worst of the bargain, and you will be sufficiently avenged.\nI advise you to spare the fruit trees\u2014go home quietly\u2014leave them to\npunish each other\u2014and let me get on with my work!\u201d\n\nNaswai repeated my appeal.\n\n\u201cMissi\u2019s word is good! Gather up the food. Wait till we see their\nconduct, how it grows. She wasn\u2019t worth all this bother and noise!\u201d\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\nNelwang appeared at my side!\n\n\u201cHillo!\u201d I said, \u201cwhere have you come from? and where is Yakin?\u201d\n\n\u201cI must not,\u201d he replied, \u201ctell you yet. We are hid. We have lived on\ncocoa-nuts 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\nand fenced, whenever we dare; but we will come and live with you, till\npeace is secured. Will you let us come to-morrow morning?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right!\u201d I said. \u201cCome to-morrow!\u201d 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\ncould handle freely both musket and tomahawk, which, though laid aside,\nwere never far away, it was not every enemy that cared to try issues\nwith Nelwang and his bride. After a few weeks had thus passed by, and\nas both of them were really showing an interest in things pertaining\nto Jesus and His Gospel, I urged them strongly to appear publicly at\nthe Church on Sabbath, to show that they were determined to stand their\nground together as true husband and wife, and that the others must\naccept the position and become reconciled. Delay now could gain no\npurpose, and I wished the strife and uncertainty to be put to an end.\n\nNelwang knew our customs. Every worshipper has to be seated, when our\nlittle bell ceases ringing. Aniwans would be ashamed to enter after\nthe Service had actually begun. As the bell ceased, Nelwang, knowing\nthat he would have a clear course, marched in, dressed in shirt and\nkilt, and grasping very determinedly his tomahawk! He sat down as\nnear to me as he could conveniently get, trying hard to conceal his\nmanifest agitation. Slightly smiling towards me, he then turned and\nlooked eagerly at the door through which the women entered and left the\nChurch, as if to say, \u201cYakin is coming!\u201d But his tomahawk was poised\nominously on his shoulder, and his courage gave him a defiant and\nalmost impudent air. He was evidently quite ready to sell his life at a\nhigh price, if any one was prepared to risk the consequences.\n\nIn a few seconds Yakin entered; and if Nelwang\u2019s bearing and appearance\nwere rather inconsistent with the feeling of worship,\u2014what on earth\nwas I to do when the figure and costume of Yakin began to reveal\nitself marching in? The first visible difference betwixt a Heathen and\na Christian is,\u2014that the Christian wears some clothing, the Heathen\nwears none. Yakin determined to show the extent of her Christianity\nby the amount of clothing she could carry upon her person. Being a\nChiefs widow before she became Nelwang\u2019s bride, she had some idea of\nstate occasions, and appeared dressed in every article of European\napparel, mostly portions of male attire, that she could beg or borrow\nfrom about the premises! Her bridal gown was a man\u2019s drab-coloured\ngreat-coat, put on above her Native grass skirts, and sweeping down to\nher heels, buttoned tight. Over this she had hung on a vest, and above\nthat again, most amazing of all, she had superinduced a pair of men\u2019s\ntrousers, drawing the body over her head, and leaving a leg dangling\ngracefully over each of her shoulders and streaming down her back.\nFastened to the one shoulder also there was a red shirt, and to the\nother a striped shirt, waving about her like wings as she sailed along.\nAround her head a red shirt had been twisted like a turban, and her\nnotions of art demanded that a sleeve thereof should hang aloft over\neach of her ears! She seemed to be a moving monster loaded with a mass\nof rags. The day was excessively hot, and the perspiration poured over\nher face in streams. She, too, sat as near to me as she could get on\nthe women\u2019s side of the Church. Nelwang looked at me and then at her,\nsmiling quietly, as if to say,\u2014\n\n\u201cYou never saw, in all your white world, a bride so grandly dressed!\u201d\n\nI little thought what I was bringing on myself, when I urged them to\ncome to Church. The sight of that poor creature sweltering before me\nconstrained me for once to make the service very short\u2014perhaps 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\nkind of wild grotesquerie!\n\nHenceforth I never lacked a body-guard, nor Mrs. Paton a helper. Yakin\nlearned to read and write, and became an excellent teacher in our\nSabbath school; she also learned to sing, and led the praise in Church,\nwhen my wife was unable to be present. In fact, she could put her\nhand to everything about the house or the Mission, and became a great\nfavourite amongst the people. Nelwang fulfilled his promise faithfully.\nHe was indeed my friend. Through all my inland tours, either he or\nthe Sacred Man, Kalangi (who first attempted twice to shoot me, and\nthen, after his conversion, acted as if God had entrusted him with\nthe keeping of my life), faithfully accompanied me. With tomahawk or\nmusket, or both in hand, they were always within reach, and instantly\nstarted to the front wherever danger seemed to threaten us. These were\namongst our first and best Church members. Nelwang and the Sacred Man\nhave both gone to their rest. But Yakin of the many garments has also\nhad many husbands. She rejoices now in her _fourth_, and is still a\ndevoted Christian, and a most interesting character in many ways.\n\nThe progress of God\u2019s work was most conspicuous in relation to wars and\nrevenges among the Natives. The two high Chiefs, Namakei and Naswai,\nfrequently declared,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe are the men of Christ now. We must not fight. We must put down\nmurders and crimes among our people.\u201d\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 public\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\nbetween the contending parties. My faith enabled me to grasp and\nrealize the promise, \u201cLo, I am with you always.\u201d In Jesus I felt\ninvulnerable and immortal, so long as I was doing His work. And I can\ntruly say, that these were the moments when I felt my Saviour to be\nmost truly and sensibly present, inspiring and empowering me.\n\nAnother scheme had an excellent educative and religious influence.\nI tried to interest all the villages, and to treat all the Chiefs\nequally. In our early days, after getting into my two-roomed house, I\nengaged the Chief, or representative man of each district, to put up\none or other of the many outhouses required at the Station. One, along\nwith his people, built the cook-house; another, the store; another,\nthe banana and yam-house; another, the washing-house; another, the\nboys\u2019 and girls\u2019 house; the houses for servants and teachers, the\nSchoolhouse, and the large shed, a kind of shelter where Natives sat\nand talked when not at work about the Premises. Of course these all\nwere at first only Native huts, of larger or smaller dimensions. But\nthey were all built by contract for articles which they highly valued,\nsuch as axes, knives, yards of prints and calico, strings of beads,\nblankets, etc. They served our purpose for the time, and when another\nparty, by contract also, had fenced around our Premises, the Mission\nStation was really a beautiful little lively and orderly Village, and\nin itself no bad emblem of Christian and Civilized life. The payments,\nmade to all irrespectively, but only for work duly done and according\nto reasonable bargain, distributed property and gifts amongst them on\nwholesome principles, and encouraged a well-conditioned rivalry which\nhad many happy effects.\n\nHeathenism made many desperate and some strange efforts to stamp out\nour Cause on Aniwa, but the Lord held the helm. One old Chief, formerly\nfriendly, turned against us. He ostentatiously set himself to make\na canoe, working at it very openly and defiantly on Sabbaths. He,\nbecoming sick and dying, his brother started, on a Sabbath morning and\nin contempt of the Worship, with an armed company to provoke our people\nto war. They refused to fight; and one man, whom he struck with his\nclub, said,\u2014\n\n\u201cI will leave my revenge to Jehovah.\u201d\n\nA few days thereafter, this brother also fell sick and suddenly died.\nThe Heathen party made much of these incidents, and some clamoured for\nour death in revenge, but most feared to murder us; so they withdrew\nand lived apart from our friends, as far away as they could get.\nBy-and-bye, however, they set fire to a large district belonging to our\nsupporters, burning cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees and plantations.\nStill our people refused to fight, and kept near to protect us. Then\nall the leading men assembled to talk it over. Most were for peace, but\nsome insisted upon burning our house and driving us away or killing us,\nthat they might be left to live as they had hitherto done. At last a\nSacred Man, a Chief who had been on Tanna when the _Cura\u00e7oa_ punished\nthe murderers and robbers but protected the villages of the friendly\nNatives there, stood up and spoke in our defence, and warned them what\nmight happen; and other three, who had been under my instruction on\nTanna, declared themselves to be the friends of Jehovah and of His\nMissionary. Finally the Sacred Man rose again, and showed them rows of\nbeautiful white shells strung round his left arm, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cNowar, 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 arms and bound on mine, to protect them from all harm. He told me\nto declare to the men of Aniwa that if the Missi be injured or slain,\nhe and his warriors will come from Tanna and take the full revenge in\nblood.\u201d This turned the scale. The meeting closed in our favour.\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\u2019s Day, in contempt of the practice of the men on\nJehovah\u2019s 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\nto our enemies, that we might talk and reason together with them. By\ndaybreak, the Chiefs and nearly eighty men assembled at the Mission,\ndeclaring that they were on Jehovah\u2019s side, and wished to go with me.\nBut, alas! they refused to lay down their arms, or leave them behind;\nnor would they either refrain from going or suffer me to go alone.\nPledging them to peace, I was reluctantly placed at their head, and we\nmarched off to the village of the unfriendly party.\n\nThe villagers were greatly alarmed. The Chief\u2019s two sons came forth\nwith every available man to meet us. That whole day was consumed in\ntalking and speechifying, sometimes chanting their replies: the Natives\nare all inveterate talkers! To me the day was utterly wearisome; but it\nhad one redeeming feature,\u2014their rage found vent in hours of palaver,\ninstead of blows and blood. It ended in peace. The Heathen were amazed\nat the number of Jehovah\u2019s friends; and they pledged themselves\nhenceforth to leave the Worship alone, and that every one who pleased\nmight come to it unmolested. For this, worn out and weary, we returned,\npraising the Lord.\n\nBut I must here record the story of the Sinking of the Well, which\nbroke the back of Heathenism on Aniwa. Being a flat coral island, with\nno hills to attract the clouds, rain is scarce there as compared with\nthe adjoining mountainous islands; and even when it does fall heavily,\nwith tropical profusion, it disappears, as said before, through the\nlight soil and porous rock, and drains itself directly into the sea.\nHence, because of its greater dryness, Aniwa is more healthy than many\nof the surrounding isles; though, probably for the same reason, its\nNatives are subject to a form of Elephantiasis, known as the \u201cBarbadoes\nleg.\u201d The Rainy Season is from December to April, and then the disease\nmost characteristic of all these regions is apt to prevail, viz., fever\nand ague.\n\nAt certain seasons, the Natives drank very unwholesome water; and,\nindeed, the best water they had at any time for drinking purposes was\nfrom the precious cocoa-nut, a kind of Apple of Paradise for all these\nSouthern Isles! They also cultivate the sugar-cane very extensively,\nand in great variety; and they chew it, when we would fly to water\nfor thirst, so it is to them both food and drink. The black fellow\ncarries with him to the field, when he goes off for a day\u2019s work, four\nor five sticks of sugar-cane, and puts in his time comfortably enough\non these. Besides, the sea being their universal bathingplace, in which\nthey swattle like fish, and little water, almost none, being required\nfor cooking purposes, and none whatever for washing clothes (!), the\nlack of fresh springing water was not the dreadful trial to them that\nit would be to us. Yet they appreciate and rejoice in it immensely\ntoo; though the water of the green cocoa-nut is refreshing, and in\nappearance, taste, and colour not unlike lemonade\u2014one nut filling a\ntumbler; and though, when mothers die they feed the babies on it and\non the soft white pith, and they flourish on the same; yet the Natives\nthemselves show their delight in preferring, when they can get it, the\nmilk from the goat and the water from the well.\n\nMy household felt sadly the want of fresh water. I prepared two large\ncasks, to be filled when the rain came. But when we attempted to do so\nat the water-hole near the village, the Natives forbade us, fearing\nthat our large casks would carry all the water away, and leave none\nfor them with their so much smaller cocoa-nut bottles. This public\nwater-hole was on the ground of two Sacred Men, who claimed the power\nof emptying and filling it by rain at will. The superstitious Natives\ngave them presents to bring the rain. If it came soon, they took all\nthe credit for it. If not, they demanded larger gifts to satisfy their\ngods. Even our Aneityumese Teachers said to me, when I protested that\nsurely they could not believe such things,\u2014\n\n\u201cIt is hard to know, Missi. The water does come and go quickly. If you\npaid them well, they might bring the rain, and let us fill our casks!\u201d\n\nI told them that, as followers of Jehovah, we must despise all Heathen\nmummeries, and trust in Him and in the laws of His Creation to help us.\n\nAniwa, having therefore no permanent supply of fresh water, in spring\nor stream or lake, I resolved by the help of God to sink a well near\nthe Mission Premises, hoping that a wisdom higher than my own would\nguide me to the source of some blessed spring. Of the scientific\nconditions of such an experiment I was completely ignorant; but I\ncounted on having to dig through earth and coral above thirty feet,\nand my constant fear was, that owing to our environment, the water, if\nwater I found, could only be salt water after all my toils! Still I\nresolved to sink that shaft in hope, and in faith that the Son of God\nwould 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cI am going to sink a deep well down into the earth, to see if our God\nwill send us fresh water up from below.\u201d\n\nThey looked at me with astonishment, and said in a tone of sympathy\napproaching to pity,\u2014\n\n\u201cO Missi! Wait till the rain comes down, and we will save all we\npossibly can for you.\u201d\n\nI replied, \u201cWe may all die for lack of water. If no fresh water can be\ngot, we may be forced to leave you.\u201d\n\nThe old Chief looked imploringly, and said: \u201cO Missi! you must not\nleave us for that. Rain comes only from above. How could you expect our\nIsland to send up showers of rain from below?\u201d\n\nI told him: \u201cFresh water does come up springing from the earth in my\nLand at home, and I hope to see it here also.\u201d\n\nThe old Chief grew more tender in his tones, and cried: \u201cO Missi, your\nhead is going wrong; you are losing something, or you would not talk\nwild like that! Don\u2019t 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.\u201d\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\nbe useful to all. I began to dig, with pick and spade and bucket at\nhand, an American axe for a hammer and crowbar, and a ladder for\nservice by-and-bye. The good old Chief now told off his men in relays\nto watch me, lest I should attempt to take my own life, or do anything\noutrageous, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cPoor Missi! That\u2019s the way with all who go mad. There\u2019s no driving of\na notion out of their heads. We must just watch him now. He will find\nit harder to work with pick and spade than with his pen, and when he\u2019s\ntired we\u2019ll persuade him to give it up.\u201d\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\nwent into the house and filled my vest pocket with large beautiful\nEnglish-made fish-hooks. These are very tempting to the young men,\nas compared with their own,\u2014skilfully made though _they_ be out of\nshell, and serving their purposes wonderfully. Holding up a large hook,\nI cried,\u2014\u201cOne of these to every man who fills and turns over three\nbuckets out of this hole!\u201d\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\nrest in order had a chance, and bucket after bucket was filled and\nemptied rapidly. Still the shaft seemed to lower very slowly, while\nmy fish-hooks were disappearing very quickly. I was constantly there,\nand took the heavy share of everything, and was thankful one evening\nto find that we had cleared more than twelve feet deep,\u2014when lo! next\nmorning, one 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\u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201chad you been in that hole last night, you would have\nbeen buried, and a Man-of-war would have come from Queen \u2019Toria to ask\nfor the Missi that lived here. We would say, \u2018Down in that hole.\u2019 The\nCaptain would ask, \u2018Who killed him and put him down there?\u2019 We would\nhave to say, \u2018He went down there himself!\u2019 The Captain would answer,\n\u2018Nonsense! who ever heard of a white man going down into the earth to\nbury himself? You killed him, you put him there; don\u2019t hide your bad\nconduct with lies!\u2019 Then he would bring out his big guns and shoot\nus, and destroy our Island in revenge. You are making your own grave,\nMissi, and you will make ours too. Give up this mad freak, for no rain\nwill be found by going downwards on Aniwa. Besides, all your fish-hooks\ncannot tempt my men again to enter that hole; they don\u2019t want to be\nburied with you. Will you not give it up now?\u201d\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\nsides, capable of sustaining a cross tree betwixt them. I sank them\non each side firmly into the ground, passed the beam across them over\nthe centre of the shaft, fastened thereon a rude home-made pulley and\nblock, passed a rope over the wheel, and swung my largest bucket to\nthe end of it. Thus equipped, I began once more sinking away at the\nwell, but at so wide an angle that the sides might not again fall\nin. Not a Native, however, would enter that hole, and I had to pick\nand dig away till I was utterly exhausted. But a Teacher, in whom I\nhad confidence, took charge above, managing to hire them with axes,\nknives, etc., to seize the end of the rope and walk along the ground\npulling it till the bucket rose to the surface, and then he himself\nswung it aside, emptied it, and lowered it down again. I rang a little\nbell which I had with me, when the bucket was loaded, and that was the\nsignal for my brave helpers to pull their rope. And thus I toiled on\nfrom day to day, my heart almost sinking sometimes with the sinking of\nthe well, till we reached a depth of about thirty feet. And the phrase,\n\u201cliving water,\u201d \u201cliving water,\u201d kept chiming through my soul like music\nfrom God, as I dug and hammered away!\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,\nset round and round with prickly thorns. One evening I said to the old\nChief,\u2014\n\n\u201cI think that Jehovah God will give us water to-morrow from that hole!\u201d\n\nThe Chief said, \u201cNo, 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.\u201d\n\nI still answered, \u201cCome to-morrow. I hope and believe that Jehovah God\nwill send you the rain water up through the earth.\u201d At the moment I\nknew I was risking much, and probably incurring sorrowful consequences,\nhad no water been given; but I had faith that the Lord was leading me\non, and I knew that I sought His glory, not my own.\n\nNext morning, I went down again at daybreak and sank a narrow hole in\nthe centre about two feet deep. The perspiration broke over me with\nuncontrollable excitement, and I trembled through every limb, when\nthe water rushed up and began to fill the hole. Muddy though it was,\nI eagerly tasted it, and the little \u201ctinny\u201d dropped from my hand with\nsheer joy, and I almost fell upon my knees in that muddy bottom to\npraise the Lord. It was water! It was fresh water! It was living water\nfrom Jehovah\u2019s well! True, it was a little brackish, but nothing to\nspeak of; and no spring in the desert, cooling the parched lips of a\nfevered pilgrim, ever appeared more worthy of being called a Well of\nGod than did that water to me!\n\nThe Chiefs had assembled with their men near by They waited on in\neager expectancy. It was a rehearsal, in a small way, of the Israelites\ncoming round, while Moses struck the rock and called for water.\nBy-and-bye, when I had praised the Lord, and my excitement was a little\ncalmed, the mud being also greatly settled, I filled a jug, which I had\ntaken down empty in the sight of them all, and ascending to the top\ncalled for them to come and see the rain which Jehovah God had given us\nthrough the well. They closed around me in haste, and gazed on it in\nsuperstitious fear. The old Chief shook it to see if it would spill,\nand then touched it to see if it felt like water. At last he tasted it,\nand rolling it in his mouth with joy for a moment, he swallowed it, and\nshouted, \u201cRain! Rain! Yes, it is Rain! But how did you get it?\u201d\n\nI repeated, \u201cJehovah my God gave it out of His own Earth in answer to\nour labours and prayers. Go and see it springing up for yourselves!\u201d\n\nNow, though every man there could climb the highest tree as swiftly\nand as fearlessly as a squirrel or an opossum, not one of them had\ncourage to walk to the side and gaze down into that well. To them this\nwas miraculous! But they were not without a resource that met the\nemergency. They agreed to take firm hold of each other by the hand, to\nplace themselves in a long line, the foremost man to lean cautiously\nforward, gaze into the well, and then pass to the rear, and so on till\nall had seen \u201cJehovah\u2019s rain\u201d far below. It was somewhat comical, yet\nfar more pathetic, to stand by and watch their faces, as man after\nman peered down into the mystery, and then looked up at me in blank\nbewilderment! When all had seen it with their own very eyes, and were\n\u201cweak with wonder,\u201d the old Chief exclaimed,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, wonderful, wonderful is the work of your Jehovah God! No god of\nAniwa ever helped us in this way. But, Missi,\u201d continued he, after a\npause that looked like silent worship, \u201cwill it always rain up through\nthe earth? or, will it come and go like the rain from the clouds?\u201d\n\nI told them that I believed it would always continue there for our use,\nas a good gift from Jehovah.\n\n\u201cWell, but, Missi,\u201d replied the Chief, some glimmering of self-interest\nbeginning to strike his brain, \u201cwill you or your family drink it all,\nor shall we also have some?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou and all your people,\u201d I answered, \u201cand all the people of the\nIsland may come and drink and carry away as much of it as you wish.\nI believe there will always be plenty for us all, and the more of it\nwe can use the fresher it will be. That is the way with many of our\nJehovah\u2019s best gifts to men, and for it and for all we praise His Name!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, Missi,\u201d said the Chief, \u201cit will be our water, and we may all\nuse it as our very own.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I answered, \u201cwhenever 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.\u201d\n\nThe Chief looked at me eagerly, fully convinced at length that the\nwell contained a treasure, and exclaimed, \u201cMissi, what can we do to\nhelp you now?\u201d\n\nOh, how like is human nature all the world over! When one toils and\nstruggles, when help is needed which many around could easily give and\nbe the better, not the worse, for giving it, they look on in silence,\nor bless you with ungenerous criticism, or ban you with malicious\njudgment. But let them get some peep of personal advantage by helping\nyou, or even of the empty bubble of praise for offering it, and how\nthey rush to your aid!\n\nBut I was thankful to accept of the Chief\u2019s assistance, though rather\nlate in the day, and I said,\u2014\n\n\u201cYou have seen it fall in once already. If it falls again, it will\nconceal the rain from below which our God has given us. In order to\npreserve it for us and for our children in all time, we must build it\nround and round with great coral blocks from the bottom to the very\ntop. I will now clear it out, and prepare the foundation for this wall\nof coral. Let every man and woman carry from the shore the largest\nblocks they can bring. It is well worth all the toil thus to preserve\nour great Jehovah\u2019s gift!\u201d\n\nScarcely were my words repeated, 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\nlay like limestone rocks, broken up by the hurricanes, and rolled\nashore in the arms of mighty billows; and in an incredibly short time\nscores of them were tumbled down for my use at the mouth of the well.\nHaving prepared a foundation, I made ready a sort of box to which every\nblock was firmly tied and then let down to me by the pulley,\u2014a Native\nTeacher, 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 axe. The wall is about three feet thick, and\nthe masonry 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, 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.\u201d\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,\nand a row of the hugest rocks laid round the top bound all together,\nand formed the mouth of the well. Women, boys, and all wished to have\na hand in building it, and it remains to this day, a solid wall of\nmasonry, the circle being thirty-four feet deep, eight feet wide at\nthe top, and six at the bottom. I floored it over with wood above all,\nand fixed the windlass and bucket, and there it stands as one of the\ngreatest material blessings which the Lord has given to Aniwa. It rises\nand falls with the tide, though a third of a mile distant from the sea;\nand when, after using it, we tasted the pure fresh water on board the\n_Dayspring_, it seemed so insipid that I had to slip a little salt into\nmy tea along with the sugar before I could enjoy it! All visitors are\ntaken to see the well, as one of the wonders of Aniwa; and an Elder of\nthe Church said to me lately,\u2014\n\n\u201cBut for that water, during the last two years of drought, we would all\nhave been dead!\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi not only used pick and spade, but he prayed and cried to his\nGod. We have learned to dig, but not how to pray, and therefore Jehovah\nwill not give us the rain from below!\u201d\n\nThe well was now finished. The place was neatly fenced in. And the old\nChief said,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, now that this is the water for all, we must take care and keep\nit pure.\u201d\n\nI was so thankful that all were to use it. Had we alone drawn water\ntherefrom, they could so easily have poisoned it, as they do the\nfish-pools, in caverns among the rocks by the shore, with their\nnuts and runners, and killed us all. But there was no fear, if they\nthemselves were to use it daily. The Chief continued,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, I think I could help you next Sabbath. Will you let me preach a\nsermon on the well?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I at once replied, \u201cif you will try to bring all the people to\nhear you.\u201d\n\n\u201cMissi, I will try,\u201d he eagerly promised. The news spread like wildfire\nthat the Chief Namakei was to be the 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,\nand his limbs twitching with emotion. He spoke to the following effect,\nswinging his tomahawk to enforce every eloquent gesticulation,\u2014\n\n\u201cFriends 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\u2014things all too wonderful; and we said regarding many of\nthem that they must be lies. White people might believe such nonsense,\nbut we said that the black fellow knew better than to receive it.\nBut 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\u2019s head is turned; he\u2019s 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\nhis Jehovah God is true. Some day our eyes will see it. For to-day we\nhave seen the rain from the earth.\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cMy people, the people of Aniwa, the world is turned upside down\nsince the word of Jehovah came to this land! Who ever expected to see\nrain coming up through the earth? It has always come from the clouds!\nWonderful is the work of this Jehovah God. No god of Aniwa ever\nanswered prayers as the Missi\u2019s God has done. Friends of Namakei, all\nthe powers of the world could not have forced us to believe that rain\ncould be given from the depths of the earth, if we had not seen it\nwith our eyes, felt it and tasted it as we here do. Now, by the help\nof Jehovah God the Missi brought that invisible rain to view, which we\nnever before heard of or saw, and,\u201d\u2014(beating his hand on his breast, he\nexclaimed),\u2014\n\n\u201cSomething 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\nbrought Him to our knowledge. The coral has been removed, the land has\nbeen cleared away, and lo! the water rises. Invisible till this day,\nyet all the same it was there, though our eyes were too weak. So I,\nyour Chief, do now firmly believe that when I die, when the bits of\ncoral and the heaps of dust are removed which now blind my old eyes, I\nshall then see the Invisible Jehovah God with my soul, as Missi tells\nme, not less surely than I have seen the rain from the earth below.\nFrom this day, my people, I must worship the God who has opened for\nus the well, and who fills us with rain from below. The gods of Aniwa\ncannot hear, cannot help us, like the God of Missi. Henceforth I am\na follower of Jehovah God. Let every man that thinks with me go now\nand fetch the idols of Aniwa, the gods which our fathers feared, and\ncast them down at Missi\u2019s feet. Let us burn and bury and destroy these\nthings of wood and stone, and let us be taught by the Missi how to\nserve the God who can hear, the Jehovah who gave us the well, and who\nwill give us every other blessing, for He sent His Son Jesus to die\nfor us and bring us to Heaven. This is what the Missi has been telling\nus every day since he landed on Aniwa. We laughed at him, but now\nwe believe him. The Jehovah God has sent us rain from the earth. Why\nshould He not also send us His Son from Heaven? Namakei stands up for\nJehovah!\u201d\n\nThis address, and the Sinking of the Well, broke, as I already said,\nthe back of Heathenism on Aniwa. That very afternoon, the old Chief\nand several of his people brought their idols and cast them down at my\nfeet beside the door of our house. Oh, the intense excitement of the\nweeks that followed! Company after company came to the spot, loaded\nwith their gods of wood and stone, and piled them up in heaps, amid\nthe tears and sobs of some, and the shoutings of others, in which was\nheard the oft-repeated word, \u201cJehovah! Jehovah!\u201d What could be burned,\nwe cast into the flames; others we buried in pits twelve or fifteen\nfeet deep; and some few, more likely than the rest to feed or awaken\nsuperstition, we sank far out into the deep sea. Let no Heathen eyes\never gaze on them again!\n\nWe do not mean to indicate that, in all cases, their motives were\neither high or enlightened. There were not wanting some who wished to\nmake this new movement pay, and were much disgusted when we refused\nto \u201cbuy\u201d their gods! On being told that Jehovah would not be pleased\nunless they gave them up of their own free will, and destroyed them\nwithout pay or reward, some took them home again and held on by them\nfor a season, and others threw them away in contempt. Meetings\nwere held; speeches were delivered, for these New Hebrideans are\nirrepressible orators, florid, and amazingly graphic; much talk\nfollowed, and the destruction of idols went on apace. By-and-bye two\nSacred Men and some other selected persons were appointed a sort of\ndetective Committee, to search out and expose those who pretended to\ngive them all up, but were hiding certain idols in secret, and to\nencourage waverers to come to a thorough decision for Jehovah. In these\nintensely exciting days, we \u201cstood still\u201d and saw the salvation of the\nLord.\n\nThey flocked around us now at every meeting we held. They listened\neagerly to the story of the life and death of Jesus. They voluntarily\nassumed one or other article of clothing. And everything transpiring\nwas fully and faithfully submitted to us for counsel or for\ninformation. One of the very first things of a Christian discipline to\nwhich they readily and almost unanimously took was the asking of God\u2019s\nblessing on every meal and praising the great Jehovah for their daily\nbread. Whosoever did not do so was regarded as a Heathen. (Query: how\nmany _white_ Heathens are there?) The next step, and it was taken in\na manner as if by some common consent that was not less surprising\nthan joyful, was a form of Family Worship every morning and evening.\nDoubtless the prayers were often very queer, and mixed up with many\nremaining superstitions; but they were prayers to the great Jehovah,\nthe compassionate Father, the Invisible One\u2014no longer to gods of stone!\n\nNecessarily these were the conspicuous features of our life as\nChristians in their midst\u2014morning and evening Family Prayer, and\nGrace at Meat; and hence, most naturally, their instinctive adoption\nand imitation 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 at all), 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,\u2014the\nchange as to the Lord\u2019s Day. Village after village followed in this\nalso the example of the Mission House. All ordinary occupations ceased.\nSabbath was spoken of as the Day for Jehovah. Saturday came to be\ncalled \u201cCooking Day,\u201d referring to the extra preparations for the day\nof rest and worship. They believed that it was Jehovah\u2019s will to keep\nthe first 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,\u2014three generations sometimes at the one copy or A B C book!\nThefts, quarrels, crimes, etc., were settled now, not by club law,\nbut by fine or bonds or lash, as agreed upon by the Chiefs and\ntheir people. Everything was rapidly and surely becoming \u201cnew\u201d under\nthe influence of the leaven of Jesus. Industry increased. Huts and\nplantations were safe. Formerly every man, in travelling, carried with\nhim all his valuables; now they were secure, left at home.\n\nEven a brood of fowls or a litter of pigs would be carried in bags\non their persons in Heathen days. Hence at Church we had sometimes\nlively episodes, the chirruping of chicks, the squealing of piggies,\nand the barking of puppies, one gaily responding to the other, as we\nsang, or prayed, or preached the Gospel! Being glad to see the Natives\nthere, even with all their belongings, we carefully refrained from\nfinding fault; but the thread of devotion was sometimes apt to slip\nthrough one\u2019s fingers, especially when the conflict of the owner to\nsilence a baby-pig inspired the little wretch to drown everything in a\nlong-sustained and angry swinish scream.\n\nThe Natives, finding this state of matters troublesome to themselves\nand disagreeable all round, called a General Assembly, unanimously\ncondemned dishonesty, agreed upon severe fines and punishments for\nevery act of theft, and covenanted to stand by each other in putting it\ndown. The Chiefs, however, found this a long and difficult task, but\nthey held at it under the inspiration of the Gospel and prevailed. Even\nthe trials and difficulties with which they met were overruled by God,\nin assisting them to form by the light of their own experience a simple\ncode of Social Laws, fitted to repress the crimes there prevailing,\nand to encourage the virtues specially needing to be cultivated there.\nHeathen Worship was gradually extinguished; and, though no one was\ncompelled to come to Church, every person on Aniwa, without exception,\nbecame an avowed worshipper of Jehovah God. Again, \u201cO Galilean, Thou\nhast conquered!\u201d\n\nOften since have I meditated on that old Cannibal Chief reasoning\nhimself and his people, from the sinking of the well and the bringing\nof the invisible water to view, into a belief as to the existence\nand power of the great Invisible God, the only Hearer and Answerer\nof prayer. And the contrasted picture rises before my mind of the\nmultitudes in Britain, America, Germany, and our Colonies, all whose\nwisdom, science, art, and wealth have only left them in spiritual\ndarkness\u2014miserable doubters! In their pride of heart, they deny their\nCreator and Redeemer, so gloriously revealed to them alike in Nature\nand in Scripture, and are like a dog barking against the sun. They will\naccept nothing but what their poorly-developed Science can demonstrate;\nyet that Science, as compared with the All-Truth of the Universe, is\ninfinitely smaller than was the poor Chief Namakei\u2019s knowledge as\ncompared with mine! They do certainly know that their very existence,\nat every moment, depends on things that neither reason nor science can\nfathom, any more than Namakei could understand the rain from below. For\nevery reason that he and his people had to believe in the Invisible\nGod, who brought the water to their view, these sons and daughters\nof civilization, \u201cthe heirs of all the ages in the foremost files of\ntime,\u201d have ten thousand more\u2014from history, from science, from material\nprogress\u2014yet in their pride of Intellect they refuse to acknowledge\nand adore that Invisible and Inscrutable God, in whom every day they\nlive, and move, and have their being, and who has spoken to us by His\nSon from Heaven. If their own sons, daughters, or servants, who are\ninfinitely less dependent on them than they are upon God, should treat\nthemselves as they are treating their Creator, what would they think?\nHow would they feel? I pity from the depth of my heart every human\nbeing, who, from whatever cause, is a stranger to the most ennobling,\nuplifting, and consoling experience that can come to the soul of\nman\u2014blessed communion with the Father of our Spirits, through gracious\nunion with the Lord Jesus Christ. \u201cI thank Thee, O Father, Lord of\nHeaven and Earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and\nprudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it\nseemed good in Thy sight.... Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are\nheavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn\nof Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto\nyour souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light\u201d (Matt. xi.\n25-30).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n_THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE._\n\n My first Aniwan Book.\u2014The Power of Music.\u2014A Pair of Glass\n Eyes.\u2014Church Building for Jesus.\u2014The Hanging of the Bell.\u2014Patesa\n and his Bride.\u2014An Armed Embassage.\u2014Youwili\u2019s Taboo.\u2014Youwili\u2019s\n Conversion.\u2014The Tobacco Idol.\u2014First Communion on Aniwa.\u2014Our\n Village Day Schools.\u2014New Social Laws.\u2014A Sabbath Day\u2019s Work on\n Aniwa.\u2014Our Week-day Life.\u2014The Orphans and their Biscuits.\u2014\u201cThe\n Wreck of the _Dayspring_.\u201d\u2014God\u2019s Own Finger-Posts.\u2014God\u2019s Work our\n Guarantee.\u2014Profane Swearers Rebuked.\u2014A Heavenly Vision.\u2014On Wing\n through New Zealand.\u2014Our Second _Dayspring_.\n\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 printing\npress. 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\nhad first to manufacture substitutes from scraps of iron and wood. I\nmanaged, however, to make it go, and by-and-bye 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 other little things.\n\nThe old Chief had eagerly helped me in translating and preparing\nthis first book. He had a great desire \u201cto hear it speak,\u201d as he\ngraphically expressed it. It was made up chiefly of short passages from\nthe Scriptures, that might help me to introduce them to the treasures\nof Divine truth and love. Namakei came to me, morning after morning,\nsaying,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, is it done? Can it speak?\u201d\n\nAt last I was able to answer, \u201cYes!\u201d\n\nThe old Chief eagerly responded, \u201cDoes it speak my words?\u201d\n\nI said, \u201cIt does.\u201d\n\nWith rising interest, Namakei exclaimed,\u2014\n\n\u201cMake it speak to me, Missi! Let me hear it speak.\u201d\n\nI read to him a part of the book, and the old man fairly shouted in an\necstasy of joy: \u201cIt does speak! It speaks my own language, too! Oh,\ngive it to me!\u201d\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, \u201cMissi, I cannot make it speak! It will\nnever speak to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said I; \u201cyou don\u2019t 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.\u201d\n\n\u201cO Missi, dear Missi, show me how to make it speak!\u201d 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\nhim a pair of spectacles, and managed to fit him well. He was much\nafraid of putting them on at first, manifestly in dread of some sort of\nsorcery. At last when they were properly placed, he saw the letters and\neverything so clearly that he exclaimed in great excitement and joy,\u2014\n\n\u201cI 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!\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cI have lifted up A B C. They are here in my head, and I will hold them\nfast. Give me other three.\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cCome, and I will let you hear how the book speaks our own Aniwan\nwords. You say, it is hard to learn to read and make it speak. But be\nstrong to try! If an old man like me has done it, it ought to be much\neasier for you.\u201d\n\nOne day I heard him read to a company with wonderful fluency. Taking\nthe book, I asked him to show me how he had done it 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\u2019s own Word, perhaps the power of Music was most\namazingly blessed in opening up our way. Amongst many other\nillustrations, I may mention how Namakei\u2019s wife was won. The old lady\npositively shuddered at coming near the Mission House, and dreaded\nbeing taught anything. One day she was induced to draw near the door,\nand fixing a hand on either post, and gazing inwards, she exclaimed,\n\u201cAw\u00e1i, Missi! K\u00e1i, Missi!\u201d\u2014the Native cry for unspeakable wonder. Mrs.\nPaton began to play on the harmonium, and sang a simple hymn in the old\nwoman\u2019s language. Manifestly charmed, she drew nearer and nearer, and\ndrank in the music, as it were, at every pore of her being. At last\nshe ran off, and we thought it was with fright, but it was to call\ntogether all the women and girls from her village \u201cto hear the _bokis_\nsing!\u201d (Having no _x_, the word _box_ is pronounced thus.) She returned\nwith them all at her heels. They listened with dancing eyes. And ever\nafter the sound of a hymn, and the song of the _bokis_, made them flock\nfreely to class or meeting.\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\njoyous side of the Worship and Service of Jehovah could not have been\npresented to the Natives, but for the gift bestowed by the Lord on my\ndear wife. She led our songs of praise, both in the family and in the\nChurch, and that was the first avenue by which the New Religion winged\nits way into the 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,\none day, he brought her to me, saying, \u201cMissi, can you give my wife\nalso a pair of new glass eyes like mine? She tries to learn, but she\ncannot see the letters. She tries to sew, but she pricks her finger,\nand throws away the needle, saying, \u2018The ways of the white people are\nnot good!\u2019 If she could get a pair of glass eyes, she would be in a new\nworld like Namakei.\u201d In my bundle I found a pair that suited her. She\nwas in positive terror about putting them on her face, but at last she\ncried with delight,\u2014\n\n\u201cOh, my new eyes! my new eyes! I have the sight of a little girl. I\nwill learn hard now. I will make up for lost time.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cOH, MY NEW EYES!\u201d]\n\nHer progress was never very great, but her influence for good on other\nwomen and girls was immense.\n\nIn all my work amongst the Natives, I have striven to train them to be\nself-supporting, and have never helped them where I could train them\nto help themselves. In this respect I was exceedingly careful, when\nthe question arose of building their Churches, and Schools. At first\nwe moved about amongst them from village to village, acquired their\nlanguage, and taught them everywhere,\u2014by the roadside, under the shade\nof a tree, or on the public Village Ground. Our old Native Hut, when\nwe removed to the Mission House formerly referred to, was used for all\nsorts of public meetings. Feeling by-and-bye that the time had come\nto interest them in building a new Church, and that it would be every\nway helpful, I laid the proposal before them, carefully explaining\nthat for this work no one would be paid, that the Church was for all\nthe Islanders and for the Worship alone, and that every one must build\npurely for the love of Jesus.\n\nI told them that God would be pleased with such materials as they had\nto give, 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 (= cocoa-nut fibre rope)\nwhich I had brought from Aneityum, and the nails brought 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,\u2014one Chief only holding back. Women and\nchildren began to gather and prepare the sugar-cane leaf for thatch.\nMen searched for and cut down suitable trees.\n\nThe Church measured sixty-two feet by twenty-four. The wall was\ntwelve feet high. The studs were of hard iron-wood, and were each by\ntenon and mortise fastened into six iron-wood trees forming the upper\nwall plates. All were not only nailed, but strongly tied together by\nsinnet-rope, so as to resist the hurricanes. The roof was supported\nby four huge iron-wood trees, and another of equally hard wood, sunk\nabout eight feet into the ground, surrounded by building at the base,\nand forming massive pillars. There were two doorways and eight window\nspaces; the floor was laid with white coral, broken small, and covered\nwith cocoa-nut tree leaf-mats, on which the people sat. I had a small\nplatform, floored and surrounded with reeds; and Mrs. Paton had a seat\nenclosing the harmonium, also made of reeds, and in keeping. Great\nharmony prevailed all the time, and no mishap marred the work. One\nhearty fellow fell from the roof-tree to the ground, and was badly\nstunned. But, jumping up, he shook himself, and saying,\u2014\u201cI was working\nfor Jehovah! He has saved me from being hurt,\u201d\u2014he mounted the roof\nagain and went on cheerily with his work.\n\nOur pride in the New Church soon met with a dreadful blow. That very\nseason a terrific hurricane levelled it with the ground. After much\nwailing, the principal Chief, in a great Assembly, said,\u2014\n\n\u201cLet us not weep, like boys over their broken bows and arrows! Let us\nbe strong, and build a yet stronger Church for Jehovah.\u201d\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\u2019s 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.\nOne Chief still held back. After a while, I visited him and personally\ninvited his help,\u2014telling him that it was God\u2019s 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\nwas now reduced to fifty feet by twenty-two, and the roof had been\nlowered by four feet in order to give the windlass sufficient purchase,\nthere was plenty of smaller wood on Aniwa, but the larger trees were\napparently exhausted. One morning, however, we were awoke at early\ndaybreak by the shouting and singing of a company of men, carrying a\ngreat 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\nhad lifted the roof-tree out of his own house, as black as soot could\nmake it, 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\nin the very centre 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\nthe walls. The Natives were sharp enough to notice that I was not\nputting up the bell; and suspicions arose that I kept it back in\norder to take it with me when I returned to Tanna. It was a beautiful\nChurch bell, cast and sent out by our dear friend, James Taylor,\nEsq., Engineer, Birkenhead. The Aniwans, therefore, gave me no rest\ntill I agreed to have it hung on their new Church. They found a large\niron-wood tree near the shore, cut a road for half a mile through the\nbush, tied poles across it every few feet, and with shouts lifted\nit bodily on their shoulders\u2014six men or so at each pole\u2014and never\nset it down again till they reached the Church; for as one party got\nexhausted, others were ready to rush in and relieve them at every\nstage of the journey. The two old Chiefs, flourishing their tomahawks,\nwent capering in front of all the rest, and led the song to which they\nmarched, joyfully bearing their load. They dug a deep hole into which\nto sink it; I squared the top and screwed on the bell; then we raised\nthe tree by ropes, letting it sink into the hole, built it round eight\nfeet deep with coral blocks and lime, and there from its top swings and\nrings ever since the Church bell of Aniwa.\n\nA fortnight\u2019s cessation of labour at the Church now followed. Their\nown plantations were attended to, and other needful duties performed.\nOur resumption of operations at the Church gave the opportunity for a\ndeed of horrid cruelty. The Chiefs son, Patesa, had just been married\nto a youthful widow, whom Nasi, a Tanna man living on Aniwa, had also\ndesired. The people of the young bridegroom\u2019s village agreed to sleep\novernight near the Mission Premises, in order to be ready for the work\nearly next morning; and they deputed the young couple to return to the\nvillage and sleep there, watching over their property. Nasi and his\nhalf-brother Nouka, knowing they were alone, crept stealthily towards\ntheir hut at earliest daybreak, and removed the door without awaking\neither of the sleepers. Next moment a ball struck the young husband\ndead. The wife sprang up and implored Nasi to spare her; but he sent a\nball through her heart, and she fell dead upon her dead spouse. Their\npeople, hearing the double shot, rushed to the scene, and found the hut\nflowing with blood. Early that same forenoon the bride and bridegroom\nwere laid in the same grave, in the sleep of love and death.\n\nFor a week all our work was suspended. Men and boys went about fully\narmed, and all their talk was for revenge. Nasi had a number of\ndesperate fellows at his back, all armed with muskets, and I feared the\nloss of many lives. I implored them for once to leave the vengeance in\nthe hands of God, and to stand by each other in carrying forward the\nwork of Jehovah. But I solemnly forbade the murderers to come near the\nMission House, or to help us with the Church. My counsel was so far\naccepted. But every man came to the work armed with musket, tomahawk,\nspear, and club, and the boys with bows and arrows; and these were\npiled up round the fence at hand, with watchmen stationed for alarm.\nThus, literally with sword in one hand and trowel in the other, the\nHouse of the Lord was reared again on Aniwa.\n\nCoral was secured, as described in a preceding chapter; lime was\nprepared therefrom by burning it in extemporized kilns; and each\nvillage vied with all the rest in plastering beautifully its own\nallocated portion\u2014the first job of the kind they had ever done. The\nfloor was covered with broken coral and mats, but the Natives are now\n(1889) furnishing it with white men\u2019s seats. Originally they had a\nrow of seats all round it inside, made of bamboo cane and reeds. The\nwomen and girls enter by one door, and the men and boys by another; and\nthey sit on separate sides,\u2014except at the Lord\u2019s table, when all sit\ntogether as one family. It was a Church perfectly suitable for their\ncircumstances, and it cost the Home Committees not a single penny. It\nhas withstood many a hurricane. A large number of the original builders\nare gone to their rest; but their work abides, and witnesses for God\namongst their children. On its rude walls I could see the glorious\nmotto\u2014\u201cJehovah Shammah.\u201d\n\nOne of the last attempts ever made on my life resulted, by God\u2019s\nblessing, in great good to us all and to the work of the Lord. It was\nwhen Nourai, one of Nasi\u2019s men, struck at me again and again with the\nbarrel of his musket; but I evaded the blows, till rescued by the\nwomen\u2014the men looking on stupefied. After he escaped into the bush, I\nassembled our people, and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cIf you do not now try to stop this bad conduct, I shall leave Aniwa,\nand go to some island where my life will be protected.\u201d\n\nNext morning at daybreak, about one hundred men arrived at my house,\nand in answer to my query why they came armed they replied,\u2014\u201cWe\nare now going to that village, where the men of wicked conduct are\ngathered together. We will find out why they sought your life, and we\nwill rebuke their Sacred Man for pretending to cause hurricanes and\ndiseases. We cannot go unarmed. We will not suffer you to go alone. We\nare your friends and the friends of the Worship. And we are resolved to\nstand by you, and you must go at our head to-day!\u201d\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\ntheir village, Nourai, who had attacked me the Sabbath day before, and\nhis brother were seen lurking with their muskets; but our young men\nmade a rush 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\neach other. My friends declared, in every conceivable form of language\nand of graphic illustration, that they were resolved at any cost to\ndefend me and the worship of Jehovah, and that they would as one man\npunish every attempt to injure me or take my life. The orator, Taia,\nexclaimed,\u2014\n\n\u201cYou think that Missi is here alone, and that you can do with him as\nyou please! No! We are now all Missi\u2019s men. We will fight for him and\nhis rather than see him injured. Every one that attacks him attacks us.\nThat is finished to-day!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cI\u2019LL KNOCK THE TEVIL OUT OF HIM.\u201d]\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cIf he can make a hurricane, why can\u2019t he restore the joint of his own\nknee? It is surely easier to do the one than the other!\u201d\n\nThe Natives laughed heartily, and taunted him. Meantime he sat looking\ndown to the earth in sullen silence; and a ludicrous episode ensued.\nHis wife, a big, strong woman, scolded him roundly for the trouble\nhe had brought them all into; and then, getting indignant as well as\nangry, she seized a huge cocoa-nut leaf out of the bush, and with the\nbutt end thereof began thrashing his shoulders vigorously, as she\npoured out the vials of her wrath in torrents of words, always winding\nup with the cry,\u2014\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll knock the Tevil out of him! He\u2019ll not try hurricanes again!\u201d\n\nThe woman was a Malay, as many of the Aniwans were. Had a Papuan woman\non Tanna or Erromanga dared such a thing, she would have been killed on\nthe spot. But even on Aniwa, the unwonted spectacle of a wife beating\nher husband created uproarious amusement. At length I remonstrated,\nsaying,\u2014\n\n\u201cYou had better stop now! You don\u2019t want to kill him, do you? You seem\nto have knocked \u2018the Tevil\u2019 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.\u201d\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\nneighbours. The offending villagers at length presented a large\nquantity of sugar-cane and food to us as a peace-offering; and we\nreturned, praising God that the whole day\u2019s scolding had ended in talk,\nnot blood. The result was every way most helpful. Our friends knew\ntheir strength and took courage. Our enemies were disheartened and\nafraid. We saw the balance growing heavier every day on the side of\nJesus; and our souls blessed the Lord.\n\nThese events suggest to me another incident of those days full at\nonce of trial and of joy. It pertains to the story of our young\nChief, Youwili. From the first, and for long, he was most audacious\nand troublesome. Observing that for several days no Natives had come\nnear the Mission House, I asked the old Chief if he knew why, and he\nanswered,\u2014\n\n\u201cYouwili has _tabooed_ the paths, and threatens death to any one who\nbreaks through it.\u201d\n\nI at once replied: \u201cThen 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_.\u201d\n\nThe old Chief called the people together, and they came to me,\nsaying,\u2014\u201cOur anger is strong against Youwili. Go with us and break down\nthe _taboo_. We will assist and protect you.\u201d\n\nI went at their head and removed it. It consisted simply of reeds\nstuck into the ground, with twigs and leaves and fibre tied to each in\na peculiar way, in a circle round the Mission House. The Natives had\nan extraordinary dread of violating the _taboo_, and believed that it\nmeant death to the offender or to some one of his family. All present\nentered into a bond to punish on the spot any man who attempted to\nreplace the _taboo_, or to revenge its removal. Thus a mortal blow was\npublicly struck at this most miserable superstition, which had caused\nbloodshed and misery untold.\n\nOne day, thereafter, I was engaged in clearing away the bush around\nthe Mission 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,\u2014their\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cThis must not continue. Are you to permit one young fool to defy us\nall, and break up the Lord\u2019s work on Aniwa? If you cannot righteously\npunish him, I will shut myself up in my House and withdraw from all\nattempts to teach or help you, till the Vessel comes, and then I can\nleave the Island.\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cYou know our resolution. It is for you now to decide. Either you must\ncontrol that foolish young man, or we must go!\u201d\n\nMuch speech-making, as usual, followed. The people resolved to seize\nand punish Youwili; but he fled, and had hid himself in the bush.\nComing to me, the Chief said,\u2014\n\n\u201cIt is left to you to say what shall be Youwili\u2019s punishment. Shall we\nkill him?\u201d\n\nI replied firmly, \u201cCertainly not! Only for murder can life be lawfully\ntaken away.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat then?\u201d they continued. \u201cShall we burn his houses and destroy his\nplantations?\u201d\n\nI answered, \u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cShall we bind him and beat him?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cShall we place him in a canoe, thrust him out to sea, and let him\ndrown or escape as he may?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! by no means.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, Missi,\u201d said they, \u201cthese are our ways of punishing. What other\npunishment remains that Youwili cares for?\u201d\n\nI replied, \u201cMake 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.\u201d\n\nThis idea of punishment seemed to tickle them greatly. The Chiefs\nreported our words to the Assembly; and the Natives laughed and\ncheered, as if it were a capital joke! They cried aloud,\u2014\n\n\u201cIt is good! It is good! Obey the word of the Missi.\u201d\n\nAfter considerable hunting, the young Chief was found. They brought him\nto the Assembly and scolded him severely and told him their sentence.\nHe was surprised by the nature of the punishment, and cowed by the\ndetermination of the people.\n\n\u201cTo-morrow,\u201d said he, \u201cI will fully repair the fence. Never again will\nI oppose the Missi. His word is good.\u201d\n\nBy daybreak next morning Youwili was diligently repairing what he had\nbroken down, and before evening he had everything made right, better\nthan it was before. While he toiled away, some fellows of his own rank\ntwitted him, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cYouwili, you found it easier to cut down Missi\u2019s fence than to repair\nit again. You will not repeat that in a hurry!\u201d\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\nleft without uttering a single word. My heart yearned after the poor\nfellow, but I thought it better to let his own mind work away, on its\nnew ideas as to punishment and revenge, for a little longer by itself\nalone. I instinctively felt that Youwili was beginning to turn, that\nthe Christ-Spirit had touched his darkly-groping soul. My doors were\nnow thrown open, and every good work went on as before. We resolved to\nleave Youwili entirely to Jesus, setting apart a portion of our prayer\nevery day for the enlightenment and conversion of the young Chief, on\nwhom all our 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, that is too hard work for you. Let me be your helper!\u201d\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\noff, pulling with the strength of a horse. My heart rose in gratitude,\nand I wept with joy as I followed him. I knew that that rope was but a\nsymbol of the yoke of Christ, which Youwili with his change of heart\nwas beginning to carry! Truly there is only one way of being born\nagain, regeneration by the power of the Spirit of God, the new heart;\nbut there are many ways of conversion, of outwardly turning to the\nLord, of taking the actual first step that shows on whose side we are.\nRegeneration is the sole work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart\nand soul, and is in every case one and the same. Conversion, on the\nother hand, bringing into play the action also of the human will, is\nnever absolutely the same perhaps in even two souls,\u2014as like and yet as\ndifferent as are the faces of men.\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\namongst them, so we could scarcely believe our eyes and ears when\nYouwili became a disciple of Jesus, though we had been praying for his\nconversion every day. His once sullen countenance became literally\nbright with inner light. His wife came immediately for a book and a\ndress, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cYouwili sent me. His opposition to the Worship is over now. I am to\nattend Church and School. He is coming too. He wants to learn how to be\nstrong, like you, for Jehovah and for Jesus.\u201d\n\nOh, Jesus! to Thee alone be all the glory. Thou hast the key to unlock\nevery heart that Thou hast created.\n\nYouwili proved to be slow at learning to read, but he had perseverance,\nand his wife greatly helped him. The two attended the Communicants\u2019\nClass together, and ultimately both sat down at the Lord\u2019s Table. After\nhis first Communion, he waited for me under an orange-tree near the\nMission House, and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, I\u2019ve given up everything for Jesus, _except one_. I want to\nknow if it is bad, if it will make Jesus angry; for if so, I am willing\nto give it up. I want to live so as to please Jesus now.\u201d\n\nWe feared that it was some of their Heathenish immoralities, and were\nin a measure greatly relieved when he proceeded,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, I have not yet given up my pipe and tobacco! O Missi, I have\nused it so long, and I do like it so well; but if you say that it makes\nJesus angry with me, I will smash my pipe now, and never smoke again!\u201d\n\nThe man\u2019s soul was aflame. He was in tremendous earnest, and would have\ndone anything for me. But I was more anxious to instruct his conscience\nthan to dominate it. I therefore replied in effect thus,\u2014\n\n\u201cI rejoice, Youwili, that you are ready to give up anything to please\nJesus. He well deserves it, for He gave up His life for you. For my\npart, you know that I do not smoke; and from my point of view I would\nthink it wrong in me to waste time and money and perhaps health in\nblowing tobacco smoke into the air. It would do me no good. It could\nnot possibly help me to serve or please Jesus better. I think I am\nhappier and healthier without it. And I am certain that I can use the\ntime and money, spent on this selfish and rather filthy habit, far\nmore for God\u2019s glory in many other ways. But I must be true to you,\nYouwili, and admit that many of God\u2019s dear people differ from me in\nthese opinions. They spend time and money, and sometimes injure health,\nin smoking, besides setting a wasteful example to lads and young men,\nand do not regard it as sinful. I will not therefore condemn these, our\nfellow Christians, by calling smoking a _sin_ like drunkenness; but I\nwill say to you that I regard it as a foolish and wasteful indulgence,\na bad habit, and that though you may serve and please Jesus with it,\nyou might serve and please Jesus very much better without it.\u201d\n\nHe looked very anxious, as if weighing his habit against his\nresolution, and then said,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, I give up everything else. If it won\u2019t make Jesus angry, I will\nkeep the pipe. I have used it so long, and oh, I do like it!\u201d\n\nRenewing our advice and counsel, but leaving him free to do in\nthat matter so as to please Jesus according to his own best light,\nYouwili departed with a conscience so far greatly relieved, and we\nhad many meditations upon the incident. Most of our Natives, on their\nconversion, have voluntarily renounced the Tobacco Idol; but what\nmore could I say to Youwili, with thousands of white Christians at\nmy back burning incense to that same idol every day of their lives?\nMarvellous to me, in this connection, has often been the working of\na tender conscience, asking itself how to serve and please Jesus, or\nhow to do more for Jesus. Some years ago, for instance, I met a State\nSchool Teacher in Victoria, who had been lately brought under the power\nof the Gospel. In his fresh love, he wanted to do something to show\nhis gratitude to Jesus. He had a young family, and the way was barred\nto the Mission field. His dear wife and he calculated over all their\nexpenditure, to find out how much they could save to support the work\nof Jesus at home and abroad. Little or nothing could be spared from\nwhat appeared necessary claims. He fell upon his knees, and in tears\nimplored God to show him how he could do something more to save the\nperishing. A voice came to him like a flash,\u2014\n\n\u201cIf you so care for Me and My work, you can easily sacrifice your pipe.\u201d\n\nHe instantly took up his pipe, and laid it before the Lord, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cThere it is, O my Lord, and whatsoever it may have cost me, shall now\nfrom year to year be Thine!\u201d\n\nHe was not what is called a heavy smoker,\u2014anything under one shilling\nper week being considered \u201cmoderate,\u201d as I am informed. But he found\nthat he had been spending thirty-one shillings per annum on tobacco;\nand every year since he has laid that money upon the altar to Jesus,\nand prayed Him to use it in sending His Gospel to Heathen lands. I\nwonder which soul is the richer at the end of a year\u2014he who lays his\nmoney, saved from a selfish indulgence, at the feet of Jesus, or he who\nblows it away in filthy smoke?\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\nthe Church of the Redeemed in Glory were amongst the great cloud of\nwitnesses who eagerly \u201cpeered\u201d down upon the scene,\u2014when we sat around\nthe Lord\u2019s Table and partook of His body and blood with those few souls\nrescued out of the Heathen World. My Communicants\u2019 Class had occupied\nme now a considerable time. The conditions of attendance at this early\nstage were explicit, and had to be made very severe, and only twenty\nwere admitted to the roll. At the final examination only twelve gave\nevidence 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\u2019s 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\nup before 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cDo you, in accordance with your profession of the Christian Faith, and\nyour promises before God and the people, wish me now to baptize you?\u201d\n\nAnd,\u2014\u201cWill you live henceforth for Jesus only, hating all sin and\ntrying to love and serve your Saviour?\u201d\n\nThen, beginning with the old Chief, the twelve came forward, and I\nbaptized them one by one according to the Presbyterian usage. Two\nof them had also little children, and they were at the same time\nbaptized, and received as the lambs of the flock. Solemn prayer was\nthen offered, and in the name of the Holy Trinity the Church of Christ\non Aniwa was formally constituted. I addressed them on the words of\nthe Holy Institution\u2014I Corinthians xi. 23\u2014and then, after the prayer\nof Thanksgiving and Consecration, administered the Lord\u2019s Supper,\u2014the\nfirst time since the Island of Aniwa was heaved out of its coral\ndepths! Mrs. McNair, my wife, and myself along with six Aneityumese\nTeachers, communicated with the newly baptized twelve. And I think, if\never in all my earthly experience, on that day I might truly add the\nblessed words\u2014Jesus \u201cin the midst.\u201d\n\nThe whole Service occupied nearly three hours. The Islanders looked\non with a wonder whose unwonted silence was almost painful to bear.\nMany were led to inquire carefully about everything they saw, so new\nand strange. For the first time the Dorcas Street Sabbath School\nTeachers\u2019 gift from South Melbourne Presbyterian Church was put to\nuse\u2014a new Communion Service of silver. They gave it in faith that we\nwould require it, and in such we received it. And now the day had come\nand gone! For three years we had toiled and prayed and taught for this.\nAt the moment when I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once\nstained with the blood of Cannibalism, now stretched out to receive and\npartake the emblems and seals of the Redeemer\u2019s love, I had a foretaste\nof the joy of Glory that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall\nnever taste a deeper bliss, till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus\nHimself.\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\nJesus, a hymn being sung betwixt each. My heart was so full of joy\nthat I could do little else but weep. Oh, I wonder, I _wonder_, when I\nsee so many good Ministers at home, crowding each other and treading\non each other\u2019s heels, whether they would not part with all their\nhome privileges, and go out to the Heathen World and reap a joy like\nthis\u2014\u201cthe joy of the Lord.\u201d\n\nHaving now our little Aniwan book, we set about establishing Schools\nat every village on the Island. Mrs. Paton and I had been diligently\ninstructing those around us, and had now a number prepared to act as\nhelpers. Experience has proved that, for the early stages their own\nfellow-Islanders are the most successful instructors. Each village\nbuilt its own School, which on Sabbath served as a district Church.\nFor the two most advanced Schools I had our good Aneityumese Teachers,\nand for the others I took the best readers that could be found. These\nI changed frequently, returning them to our own School for a season,\nwhich was held for them in the afternoon; and, to encourage them, a\nsmall salary was granted to each of them yearly, drawn from what is\nknown throughout the Churches as the Native Teachers\u2019 Fund.\n\nThese village Schools have all to be conducted at daybreak, while the\nheavy dews still drench the bush; for, so soon as the dews are lifted\nby the rising sun, the Natives are off to their plantations, on which\nthey depend for their food almost exclusively. I had a large School at\nthe Mission Station also at daybreak, besides the afternoon School at\nthree o\u2019clock for the training of Teachers. At first they made very\nlittle progress; but they began to form habits of attention; and they\nlearned the fruitful habit of acknowledging God always, for all our\nSchools were opened and closed with prayer. As their knowledge and\nfaith increased, we saw their Heathen practices rapidly passing away,\nand a new life shaping itself around us. Mrs. Paton taught a class of\nabout fifty women and girls. They became experts at sewing, singing,\nplaiting hats, and reading. Nearly all the girls could at length cut\nout and make their own dresses, as well as shirts or kilts for the men\nand clothing for the children. Yet, three short years before, men and\nwomen alike were running about naked and savage. The Christ-Spirit is\nthe true civilizing power.\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,\u2014the Will of\nGod, and one rule for them and their people as Christians,\u2014to please\nthe Lord Jesus. In every difficulty they consulted me. I explained\nto them and read in their hearing the very words of Holy Scripture,\nshowing what appeared to me to be the will of God and what would\nplease the Saviour; and then sent them away to talk it over with their\npeople, and to apply these principles of the word of God as wisely as\nthey could according to their circumstances. Our own part of the work\nwent on very joyfully, notwithstanding occasional trying and painful\nincidents. Individual cases of greed and selfishness and vice brought\nus many a bitter pang. But the Lord never lost patience with us, and we\ndurst not therefore lose patience with them! We trained the Teachers,\nwe translated and printed and expounded the Scriptures, we ministered\nto the sick and dying; we dispensed medicines every day, we taught them\nthe use of tools, we advised them as to laws and penalties; and the\nNew Society grew and developed, and bore amidst all its imperfections\nsome traces of the 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 worshipper\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 worshipper leaves, at close of second Service, the bell is\nsounded twice very deliberately, and that is the signal for the opening\nof my Communicants\u2019 Class. I carefully expound the Church\u2019s 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\u2019s\nTable. This discipline accounts for the fact that so very few of our\nbaptized converts have ever fallen away\u2014as 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,\u2014a thing started of their own free accord,\u2014in which they invoke\nGod\u2019s 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,\u2014in 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 half\nan hour or so.\n\nAbout one o\u2019clock the School is closed, and we then start off in our\nvillage tours. An experienced Elder, with several Teachers, takes one\nside of the Island this Sabbath, I with another company taking the\nother side, 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\nwhen darkness begins to approach, the canoe drum is beat at every\nvillage, and the people assemble under the banyan-tree for evening\nvillage prayers. The Elder or Teacher presides. Five or six hymns are\njoyously sung, and five or six short prayers offered between, and thus\nthe evening hour passes happily in the fellowship of God. On a calm\nevening, after Christianity had fairly taken hold of the people, and\nthey loved to sing over and over again their favourite hymns, these\nvillage prayer-meetings formed a most blessed close to every day, and\nset the far-distant bush echoing with the praises of God.\n\nAt the Mission House, before retiring to rest, we assembled all the\nyoung people and any of our villagers who chose to join them. They sat\nround the dining-room floor in rows, sang hymns, read verses of the\nBible, and asked and answered questions about the teaching of the day.\nAbout nine o\u2019clock we dismissed them, but they pled to remain and hear\nour Family Worship in English:\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, we like the singing! We understand a little. And we like to be\nwhere prayer is rising!\u201d\n\nThus Sabbath after Sabbath flowed on in incessant service and\nfellowship. I was often wearied enough, but it was not a \u201cweary\u201d day\nto me, nor what some would call Puritanical and dull. Our hearts were\nin it, and the people made it a weekly festival. They had few other\ndistractions; and amongst them \u201cThe Worship\u201d was an unfailing sensation\nand delight. As long as you gave them a chance to sing, they knew not\nwhat weariness was. When I returned to so-called civilization, and saw\nhow the Lord\u2019s Day was abused in _white_ Christendom, my soul longed\nafter the holy Sabbaths of Aniwa!\n\nNor is our week-day life less crowded or busy, though in different\nways. At grey dawn on Monday, and every morning, the _Tavaka_ (= the\ncanoe drum) is struck in every village on Aniwa. The whole inhabitants\nturn in to the early School, which lasts about an hour and a half,\nand then the Natives are off to their plantations. Having partaken my\nbreakfast, I then spend my forenoon in translating or printing, or\nvisiting the sick, or whatever else is most urgent. About two o\u2019clock\nthe Natives return from their work, bathe in the sea, and dine off\ncocoa-nut, bread-fruit, or anything else that comes handily in the\nway. At three o\u2019clock the bell rings, and the afternoon School for\nthe Teachers and the more advanced learners then occupies my wife and\nmyself for about an hour and a half. After this, the Natives spend\ntheir time in fishing or lounging or preparing supper,\u2014which is amongst\nthem always _the_ meal of the day. Towards sundown the _Tavaka_ sounds\nagain, and the day closes amid the echoes of village prayers from under\ntheir several banyan trees.\n\nThus day after day and week after week passes over us on Aniwa; and\nmuch the same on all the Islands where the Missionary has found a home.\nIn many respects it is a simple and happy and beautiful life; and the\nman, whose heart is full of things that are dear to Jesus, feels no\ndesire to exchange it for the poor frivolities of what calls itself\n\u201cSociety,\u201d and seems to finds its life in pleasures that Christ cannot\nbe asked to share, and in which, therefore, Christians should have\nneither lot nor part.\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.\nI heard a father, for instance, at his hut door, with his family around\nhim, reverently blessing God for the food provided for them, and for\nall His mercies in Christ Jesus. Drawing near and conversing with them,\nI found that their meal consisted of fig leaves which they had gathered\nand cooked,\u2014a poor enough dish; but hunger makes a happy 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, we are very hungry.\u201d\n\nI replied,\u2014\u201cSo am I, dear children, and we have no more white food till\nthe _Dayspring_ comes.\u201d\n\nThey continued,\u2014\u201cMissi, 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.\u201d\n\nI answered,\u2014\u201cGladly, my children, take your fill!\u201d\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\nin the 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, _Tavaka jimra_!\u201d (= No vessel yet).\n\nBut at grey dawn of a certain day, we were awoke by the boys shouting\nfrom the shore and running for the Mission House with the cry,\u2014\u201c_Tavaka\noa! Tavaka oa!_\u201d (= The vessel, hurrah!)\n\nWe arose at once, and the boys exclaimed,\u2014\u201cMissi, she is not our own\nvessel, but we think she carries her flag. She has three masts, and our\n_Dayspring_ only two!\u201d\n\nI looked through my glass, and saw that they were discharging goods\ninto the vessel\u2019s boats; and the children, when I told them that boxes\nand bags and casks were being sent on shore, shouted and danced with\ndelight. As the first boat-load was discharged, the Orphans surrounded\nme, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, here is a cask that rattles like biscuits! Will you let us take\nit to the Mission House?\u201d\n\n\u201cI 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, have you forgotten what you promised us?\u201d\n\nI said,\u2014\u201cWhat did I promise you?\u201d\n\nThey looked very disappointed and whispered to each other,\u2014\u201cMissi has\nforgot!\u201d\n\n\u201cForgot what?\u201d inquired I.\n\n\u201cMissi,\u201d they answered, \u201cyou promised that when the vessel came you\nwould give each of us a biscuit.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d I replied, \u201cI did not forget; I only wanted to see if you\nremembered it!\u201d\n\nThey laughed, saying,\u2014\u201cNo fear of that, Missi! Will you soon open the\ncask? We are dying for biscuits.\u201d\n\nAt once I got hammer and tools, knocked off the hoops, took out the\nend, and then gave girls and boys a biscuit each. To my surprise, they\nall stood round biscuit in hand, but not one beginning to eat.\n\n\u201cWhat,\u201d I exclaimed, \u201cyou are dying for biscuits! Why don\u2019t you eat?\nAre you expecting another?\u201d\n\nOne of the eldest said,\u2014\u201cWe will first thank God for sending us food,\nand ask Him to bless it to us all.\u201d\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\u2019s hand. (Is there any child reading this, or hearing it read,\nwho never thanks God or asks Him to bless daily bread? Then is that\nchild not a _white_ Heathen?) We ourselves at the Mission House could\nvery heartily rejoice with the dear Orphans. For some weeks past our\nEuropean food had been all exhausted, except a little tea, and the\ncocoa-nut had been our chief support. It was beginning to tell against\nus. Our souls rose in gratitude to the Lord, who had sent us these\nfresh provisions that we might love Him better and serve Him more.\n\nThe children\u2019s sharp eyes had read correctly. It was not the\n_Dayspring_. Our brave little ship had gone to wreck on 6th January,\n1873; and this vessel was the _Paragon_, chartered to bring down our\nsupplies. Alas! the wreck had gone by auction sale to a French slaving\ncompany, who cut a passage through the coral reef, and had the vessel\nagain floating in the Bay,\u2014elated at the prospect of employing our\nMission Ship in the blood-stained _Kanaka_-traffic (= a mere euphemism\nfor South Sea slavery)! Our souls sank in horror and concern. Many\nNatives would unwittingly trust themselves to the _Dayspring_; and\nrevenge would be taken on us, as was done on noble Bishop Patteson,\nwhen the deception was found out. What could be done? Nothing but cry\nto God, which all the friends of our Mission did day and night, not\nwithout tears, as we thought of the possible degradation of our noble\nlittle Ship. Listen! The French Slavers, anchoring their prize in the\nBay, and greatly rejoicing, went ashore to celebrate the event. They\ndrank and feasted and revelled. 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 of\nthe waves, better for thee, as for thy human sisters, to die and pass\naway than to suffer pollution and live on in disgrace!\n\nDr. Steel had chartered the _Paragon_, a new three-masted schooner,\nbuilt at Balmain, Sydney, to come down with our provisions, letters,\netc.; and the owners had given a written agreement that if we could\npurchase her within a year we would get her for \u00a33,000. She proved in\nevery way a suitable vessel, and it became abundantly manifest that\nin the interests of our Mission her services ought to be permanently\nsecured.\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,\nor by the loss of our Mission Ship and my services being required to\nassist in providing another. Very strange, that in this one season\nboth of these events befell us. During the hurricanes, from January to\nApril, 1873, when the _Dayspring_ was wrecked, we lost a darling child\nby death, my dear wife had a protracted illness, and I was brought very\nlow with 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, Tanna, in their open\nboat and rowed and sailed thirty miles to visit us. But a few days\nbefore they arrived I had fallen into a long and sound sleep, out of\nwhich, when I awoke, consciousness had again returned to me. I had\ngot the turn; there was no further relapse; but when I did regain a\nlittle strength, my weakness was so great that I had to travel about on\ncrutches for many a day.\n\nBeing ordered to seek health by change and by higher medical aid,\nand if possible in the cooler air of New Zealand, we took the first\nopportunity and arrived at Sydney, anxious to start the new movement\nto secure the _Paragon_ there, and then to go on to the Sister Colony.\nBeing scarcely able to walk without the crutches, we called privately\na preliminary meeting of friends for consultation and advice. The\nconditions were laid before them and discussed. The Insurance Company\nhad paid \u00a32,000 on the first _Dayspring_. Of that sum \u00a31,000 had\nbeen spent on chartering and maintaining the _Paragon_; so that we\nrequired an additional \u00a32,000 to purchase her, besides a large sum\nfor alterations and equipment for the Mission. The late Mr. Learmouth\nlooked across to Mr. Goodlet, and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cIf you\u2019ll join me, we will at once secure this vessel for the\nMissionaries, that God\u2019s work may not suffer from the wreck of the\n_Dayspring_.\u201d\n\nThose two servants of God, excellent Elders of the Presbyterian Church,\nconsulted together, and the vessel was purchased next day. How I\ndid praise God, and pray Him to bless them and theirs! The late Dr.\nFullarton, our dear friend, said to them,\u2014\u201cBut what guarantee do you\nask from the Missionaries for your money?\u201d\n\nMr. Learmouth\u2019s noble reply was, and the other heartily re-echoed\nit,\u2014\u201cGod\u2019s 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.\u201d\n\nI answered,\u2014\u201cYou 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.\u201d\n\nHaving secured St. Andrew\u2019s Church for a public meeting, I advertised\nit in all the papers. Ministers, Sabbath School Teachers, and other\nfriends came in great numbers. The scheme was fairly launched, and\nCollecting Cards largely distributed. Some of our fellow-Missionaries\nthought that the Colonial Churches should now do all these things\nvoluntarily, without our personal efforts. But in every great emergency\nsome one must take action and show the way, else golden opportunities\nare apt to slip. Committees carried everything out into detail, and all\nworked 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.\n\nUnder medical advice, I next sailed for New Zealand in the S.S. _Hero_,\nCaptain Logan. A large number of fast men and gamblers were on board,\nreturning from the Melbourne Races, and their language was extremely\nprofane. Having prayed over it, I said on the second day at the dinner\ntable,\u2014\n\n\u201cGentlemen, will you bear with me a moment? I am sure no man at this\ntable wishes to wound the feelings of another or to give needless pain.\u201d\n\nEvery eye stared at me, and there was a general cry as to what I meant.\nI continued,\u2014\n\n\u201cGentlemen, we are to be fellow-passengers for a week or more. Now I\nam cut and wounded to my very heart to hear you cursing the name of my\nHeavenly Father, and taking in vain the name of my blessed Saviour.\nIt is God in whom we live and move, it is Jesus who died to save us,\nand I would rather ten times over you would wound and abuse me, which\nno gentleman here would think of doing, than profanely use those Holy\nNames so dear to me.\u201d\n\nThere was a painful silence, and most faces grew crimson, some with\nrage, some perhaps with shame. At last a banker, who was there, a man\ndying of consumption, replied with a profane oath and with wrathful\nwords. Keeping perfectly calm, in sorrow and pity, I replied, looking\nhim kindly in the face,\u2014\n\n\u201cDear Sir, you and I are strangers. But I have pitied you very\ntenderly, ever since I came on board, for your heavy trouble and\nhacking cough. You ought to be the last to curse that blessed Name,\nas you may soon have to appear in His presence. I return, however, no\nrailing word. If the Saviour was as dear to your heart as He is to\nmine, you would better understand me.\u201d\n\nLittle else was said during the remainder of that meal. But an hour\nlater Captain Logan sent for me to his room, and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cSir, I too am a Christian. I would not give my quiet hour in the Cabin\nwith this Bible for all the pleasures that the world can afford. You\ndid your duty to-day amongst these profane men. But leave them and\ntheir consciences now in the hands of God, and take no further notice\nduring the voyage.\u201d\n\nI never heard another oath on board that ship. The banker met me in New\nZealand and warmly invited me to his house!\n\nMy health greatly improved during the voyage, but I was sorely\nperplexed about this new undertaking. A sum of \u00a32,800 must be raised,\nelse the vessel could not sail free for the New Hebrides. I trembled,\nin my reduced state, at the task that seemed laid upon me again. One\nnight, after long praying, I fell into a deep sleep in my Cabin, and\nGod granted me a Heavenly Dream or Vision which greatly comforted me,\nexplain it how you will. Sweetest music, praising God, arrested me and\ncame nearer and nearer. I gazed towards it approaching, and seemed to\nbehold hosts of shining beings bursting into view. The brilliancy came\npouring all from one centre, and that was ablaze with insufferable\nbrightness. Blinded with excess of light, my eyes seemed yet to behold\nin fair outline the form of the glorified Jesus; but as I lifted\nthem to gaze on His face, the joy deepened into pain, my hand rose\ninstinctively to shade my eyes, I cried with ecstasy, the music passed\nfarther and farther away, and I started up hearing a Voice saying, in\nmarvellous power and sweetness, \u201cWho art thou, O great mountain? Before\nZerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.\u201d At this some will only smile.\nBut to me it was a great and abiding consolation. And I kept repeating\nto myself, \u201cHe is Lord, and they all are ministering Spirits; if He\ncheers me thus in His own work, I take courage, I know I shall succeed.\u201d\n\nReaching Auckland, I was in time to address the General Assembly of the\nChurch there also. They gave me cordial welcome, and every Congregation\nand Sabbath School might be visited as far as I possibly could. The\nministers promoted the movement with hearty zeal. The Sabbath Scholars\ntook Collecting Cards for \u201cshares\u201d in the new Mission Ship. A meeting\nwas 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\nany of my tours than in this happy intercourse with the Ministers and\nPeople of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand.\n\nI arrived back in Sydney about the end of March. My health was\nwonderfully restored, and New Zealand had given me about \u00a31,700 for the\nnew ship. With the \u00a31,000 of insurance money, and about \u00a3700 from New\nSouth Wales, and \u00a3400 from Victoria, besides the \u00a3500 for her support\nalso from Victoria, we were able to pay back the \u00a33,000 of purchase\nmoney, and about \u00a3800 for alterations and repairs, as well as equip and\nprovision her to sail for her next year\u2019s work amongst the Islands free\nof debt. I said to our two good friends at Sydney,\u2014\n\n\u201cYou 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\nthe honour and privilege of serving your Lord. I envy you the joy you\nmust feel in so using your wealth, and I pray God\u2019s double blessing on\nall your store.\u201d\n\nOur agent, Dr. Steele, had applied to the Home authorities for power\nto change the vessel\u2019s name from _Paragon_ to _Dayspring_, so that the\nold associations might not be broken. This was cordially granted. And\nso our second _Dayspring_, owing no man anything, sailed on her annual\ntrip to the New Hebrides, and we returned with her, praising the Lord\nand reinvigorated alike in spirit and in body.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n_PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS._\n\n The Gospel in Living Capitals.\u2014\u201cA Shower of Spears.\u201d\u2014The Tannese\n Refugees.\u2014Pilgrimage and Death of Namakei.\u2014The Character of\n Naswai.\u2014Christianity and Cocoa-Nuts.\u2014Nerwa the Agnostic.\u2014Nerwa\u2019s\n Beautiful Farewell.\u2014The Story of Ruwawa.\u2014Waiwai and his\n Wives.\u2014Nelwang and Kalangi.\u2014Mungaw and Litsi Sor\u00e9.\u2014The Maddening of\n Mungaw.\u2014The Queen of Aniwa a Missionary.\u2014The Surrender of Nasi to\n Jesus.\u2014Day-Light Prayer Meeting on Aniwa.\u2014Candidates for Baptism.\u2014The\n Appeal and Testimony of Lamu.\n\n\nIn Heathendom every true Convert becomes at once a Missionary. The\nchanged life, shining out amid the surrounding darkness, is a Gospel\nin largest Capitals which all can read. Our Islanders, especially,\nhaving little to engage or otherwise distract attention, become intense\nand devoted workers for the Lord Jesus, if once the Divine Passion\nfor souls stirs within them. Many a reader, not making due allowance\nfor these special circumstances, would therefore be tempted to think\nour estimate of their enthusiasm for the Gospel was overdone; but\nthoughtful men will easily perceive that Natives, touched with the\nmighty impulses of Calvary, and undistracted by social pleasures or\npolitics, or literature, or business claims, would almost by a moral\nnecessity pour all the currents of their being into Religion, and\nprobably show an apostolic devotion and self-sacrifice too seldom seen,\nalas, amid the thousand clamouring appeals of Civilization.\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\nfor him, 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\nto tell 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 around them, and though still only shining afar, they\ncannot but rejoice in its beams.\n\nBut even where the path is not so smooth, nor any welcome awaiting\nthem, Native Converts show amazing zeal. For instance, one of our\nChiefs, full of the Christ-kindled desire to seek and to save, sent\na message to an inland Chief, that he and four attendants would come\non Sabbath and tell them the Gospel of Jehovah God. The reply came\nback sternly forbidding their visit, and threatening with death any\nChristian that approached their village. Our Chief sent in response a\nloving message, telling them that Jehovah had taught the Christians to\nreturn good for evil, and that they would come unarmed to tell them\nthe story of how the Son of God came into the world and died in order\nto bless and save His enemies. The Heathen Chief sent back a stern and\nprompt reply once more:\u2014\u201cIf you come, you will be killed.\u201d On Sabbath\nmorning, the Christian Chief and his four companions were met outside\nthe village by the Heathen Chief, who implored and threatened them once\nmore. But the former said,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe come to you without weapons of war! We come only to tell you about\nJesus. We believe that He will protect us to-day.\u201d\n\nAs they steadily pressed forward towards the village, spears began\nto be thrown at them. Some they evaded, being all except one most\ndexterous warriors; and others they literally received with their bare\nhands, and turned them aside in an incredible manner. The Heathen,\napparently thunderstruck at these men thus approaching them without\nweapons of war, and not even flinging back their own spears which they\nhad caught, after having thrown what the old Chief called \u201ca shower of\nspears,\u201d desisted from mere surprise. Our Christian Chief called out,\nas he and his companions drew up in the midst of them on the village\nPublic Ground,\u2014\n\n\u201cJehovah 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.\u201d\n\nThe Heathen were perfectly over-awed. 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\nwon for Christ, where similar acts of heroism on the part of Converts\ncannot be recited by every Missionary to the honour of our poor Natives\nand to the glory of their Saviour.\n\nLarger and harder tests were sometimes laid upon their new faith.\nOnce the war on Tanna drove about one hundred of them to seek refuge\non Aniwa. Not so many years before their lives would never have been\nthus entrusted to the inhabitants of another Cannibal Island. But the\nChrist-Spirit was abroad upon Aniwa. The refugees were kindly cared\nfor, and 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\nIn claiming Aniwa for Christ, and winning it as a jewel for His\ncrown, we had the experience which has ever marked God\u2019s path through\nhistory,\u2014He raised up around us and wonderfully endowed men to\ncarry forward His own blessed work. Among these must be specially\ncommemorated Namakei, the old Chief of Aniwa. Slowly, but very\nsteadily, the light of the Gospel broke in upon his soul, and he was\never very eager to communicate to his people all that he learned. In\nHeathen days he was a Cannibal and a great warrior; but from the\nfirst, as shown in the preceding chapters, he took a warm interest in\nus and our work,\u2014a little selfish, no doubt, at the beginning, but soon\nbecoming purified as his eyes and heart were opened to the Gospel of\nJesus.\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,\nand brought nearly the whole inhabitants in relays to see the _white_\nChief of Aniwa! He would have him called Namakei the Younger, an honour\nwhich I fear we did not too highly appreciate. As the child grew, he\ntook his hand and walked about with him freely amongst the people,\nlearning to speak their language like a Native, and not only greatly\ninteresting them in himself, but even in us and in the work of the\nLord. This, too, was one of the bonds, however purely human, that drew\nthem all nearer and nearer to Jesus.\n\nThe death of Namakei had in it many streaks of Christian romance. He\nhad heard about the Missionaries annually meeting on one or other of\nthe Islands and consulting about the work of Jehovah. What ideas he had\nformed of a Mission Synod one cannot easily imagine; but in his old\nage, and when very frail, he formed an impassioned desire to attend\nour next meeting on Aneityum, and see and hear all the Missionaries of\nJesus gathered together from the New Hebrides. Terrified that he would\ndie away from home, and that that might bring great reverses to the\ngood work on Aniwa, where he was truly beloved, I opposed his going\nwith all my might. But he and his relations and his people were all set\nupon it, and I had at length to give way. His few little books were\nthen gathered together, his meagre wardrobe was made up, and a small\nNative basket carried all his belongings. He assembled his people and\ntook an affectionate farewell, pleading with them to be \u201cstrong for\nJesus,\u201d whether they ever saw him again or not, and to be loyal and\nkind to Missi. The people wailed out, and many wept bitterly. Those on\nboard the _Dayspring_ were amazed to see how his people loved him. The\nold Chief stood the voyage well. He went in and out to our meeting of\nSynod, and was vastly pleased with the respect paid to him on Aneityum.\nWhen he heard of the prosperity of the Lord\u2019s work, and how Island\nafter Island was learning to sing the praises of Jesus, his heart\nglowed, and he said,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, I am lifting up my head like a tree. I am growing tall with\njoy!\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, I am near to die! I have asked you to come and say farewell.\nTell my daughter, my brother, and my people to go on pleasing Jesus,\nand I will meet them again in the fair World.\u201d\n\nI tried to encourage him, saying that God might raise him up again and\nrestore him to his people; but he faintly whispered,\u2014\n\n\u201cO Missi, death is already touching me! I feel my feet going away from\nunder me. Help me to lie down under the shade of that banyan tree.\u201d\n\nSo saying, he seized my arm, we staggered near to the tree, and he lay\ndown under its cool shade. He whispered again,\u2014\n\n\u201cI am going! O Missi, let me hear your words rising up in prayer, and\nthen my Soul will be strong to go.\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cO my Missi, my dear Missi, I go before you, but I will meet you again\nin the Home of Jesus. Farewell!\u201d\n\nThat was the last effort of dissolving strength; he immediately became\nunconscious, and fell asleep. My heart felt like to break over him.\nHe was my first Aniwan Convert,\u2014the first who ever on that Island of\nlove and tears opened his heart to Jesus; and as he lay there on the\nleaves and grass, my soul soared upward after his, and all the harps\nof God seemed to thrill with song as Jesus presented to the Father\nthis trophy of redeeming love. He had been our true and devoted friend\nand fellow-helper in the Gospel, and next morning all the members of\nour Synod 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\nnew Creature. \u201cBehold, I make all things new.\u201d\n\nWe were in positive distress about returning to Aniwa without the\nChief, and we greatly feared the consequences. To show our perfect\nsympathy with them, we prepared a special and considerable present for\nLitsi his daughter, for his brother, and for other near friends\u2014a sort\nof object lesson, that we had in every way been kind to old Namakei,\nas we now wished to be to them. When our boat approached the landing,\nnearly the whole population had assembled to meet us; and Litsi and his\nbrother were far out on the reef to salute us. Litsi\u2019s keen eye had\nmissed old Namakei\u2019s form; and far as words could carry I heard her\nvoice crying,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, where is my father?\u201d\n\nI made as if I did not hear; the boat was drawing slowly near, and\nagain she cried aloud, \u201cMissi, where is my father? Is Namakei dead!\u201d\n\nI replied,\u2014\u201cYes. He died on Aneityum. He is now with Jesus in Glory.\u201d\n\nThen arose a wild, wailing cry, led by Litsi and taken up by all\naround. It rose and fell like a chant or dirge, as one after another\nwailed out praise and sorrow over the name of Namakei. We moved slowly\ninto the boat harbour. Litsi, the daughter, and Kalangi his brother,\nshook hands, weeping sadly, and welcomed us back, assuring us that we\nhad nothing to fear. Amidst many sobs and wailings, Litsi told us that\nthey all dreaded he would never return, and explained to this effect:\u2014\n\n\u201cWe knew that he was dying, but we durst not tell you. When you agreed\nto let him go, he went round and took farewell of all his friends, and\ntold them he was going to sleep at last on Aneityum, and that at the\nGreat Day he would rise to meet Jesus with the glorious company of the\nAneityumese Christians. He urged us all to obey you and be true to\nJesus. Truly, Missi, we will remember my dear father\u2019s parting word,\nand follow in his steps, and help you in the work of the Lord!\u201d\n\nThe other Chief, Naswai, now accompanied us to the Mission House, and\nall the people followed, wailing loudly for Namakei. On the following\nSabbath, I told the story of his conversion, life for Jesus, and death\non Aneityum; and God overruled this event, contrary to our fears, for\ngreatly increasing the interest of many in the Church and in the claims\nof Jesus upon themselves.\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\nwas quite a lady in look and manner as compared with all around her.\nShe was the first woman on the Island that adopted the clothes of\ncivilization, and she showed considerable instinctive taste in the\nway she dressed herself in these. Her example was a kind of Gospel in\nits good influence on all the women; she was a real companion to her\nhusband, and went with him almost everywhere.\n\nNaswai, after he became a Christian, had a touch of scorn in his\nmanner, and was particularly stern against every form of lying or\ndeceit. I used sometimes to let jobs to Naswai, such as fencing or\nthatching, at a fixed price. He would come with a staff of men, say\nthirty or forty, see the work thoroughly done, and then divide the\nprice generously in equal portions amongst the workers, seldom keeping\nanything either in food or wages for himself. On one occasion, the\npeople of a distant village were working for me. Naswai assisted and\ndirected them. On paying them, one of the company said,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, you have not paid Naswai. He worked as hard as any of us.\u201d\n\nNaswai turned upon him with the dignity of a prince, and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cI did not work for pay! Would you make Missi pay more than he\npromised? Your conduct is bad. I will be no party to your bad ways.\u201d\n\nAnd, with an indignant wave of his hand, he stalked away in great\ndisdain.\n\nNaswai was younger and more intelligent than Namakei, and in\neverything except in translating the Scriptures he was much more of a\nfellow-helper in the work of the Lord. For many years it was Naswai\u2019s\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 preaching was\nwonderfully happy in its graphic illustrations, and his prayers were\nfervent and uplifting. Yet his people were the worst to manage on all\nthe Island, 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\ndying breath that he had been \u201ca new creature\u201d since he gave his heart\nto Christ, and that he was perfectly happy in going to be with his\nSaviour.\n\nI must here recall one memorable example of Naswai\u2019s 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\nthe usual Public Worship, some of the leading Aniwans addressed the\nFotunese; and amongst others, Naswai spoke to the following effect:\u2014\n\n\u201cMen of Fotuna, you come to see what the Gospel has done for Aniwa. It\nis Jehovah the living God that has made all this change. As Heathens,\nwe quarrelled, 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\nand have happiness in all these things. When you go back to Fotuna,\nthey will ask you, \u2018What is Christianity?\u2019 And you will have to reply,\n\u2018It is that which has changed the people of Aniwa.\u2019 But they will still\nsay, \u2018What is it?\u2019 And you will answer, \u2018It is that which has given\nthem clothing and blankets, knives and axes, fish-hooks and many other\nuseful things; it is that which has led them to give up fighting, and\nto live together as friends.\u2019 But they will ask you, \u2018What is it like?\u2019\nAnd you will have to tell them, alas, that you cannot explain it,\nthat you have only seen its workings, not itself, and that no one can\ntell what Christianity is but the man that loves Jesus, the Invisible\nMaster, and walks with Him and tries to please Him. Now, you people of\nFotuna, you think that if you don\u2019t dance and sing and pray to your\ngods, you will have no crops. We once did so too, sacrificing and doing\nmuch abomination to our gods for weeks before our planting season every\nyear. But we saw our Missi only praying to the Invisible Jehovah, and\nplanting his yams, and they grew fairer than ours. You are weak every\nyear before your hard work begins in the fields, with your wild and bad\nconduct to please your gods. But we are strong for our work, for we\npray to Jehovah, and He gives quiet rest instead of wild dancing, and\nmakes us happy in our toils. Since we followed Missi\u2019s example, Jehovah\nhas given us large and beautiful crops, and we now know that He gives\nus all our blessings.\u201d\n\nTurning to me, he exclaimed, \u201cMissi, have you the large yam we\npresented to you? Would you not think it well to send it back with\nthese men of Fotuna, to let their people see the yams which Jehovah\ngrows for us in answer to prayer? Jehovah is the only God who can grow\nyams like that!\u201d\n\nThen, after a pause, he proceeded,\u2014\u201cWhen you go back to Fotuna, and\nthey ask you, \u2018What is Christianity?\u2019 you will be like an inland Chief\nof Erromanga, who once came down and saw a great feast on the shore.\nWhen he saw so much food and so many different kinds of it, he asked,\n\u2018What is this made of?\u2019 and was answered, \u2018Cocoa-nuts and yams.\u2019 \u2018And\nthis?\u2019 \u2018Cocoa-nuts and bananas.\u2019 \u2018And this?\u2019 \u2018Cocoa-nuts and taro.\u2019\n\u2018And this?\u2019 \u2018Cocoa-nuts and chestnuts,\u2019 etc., etc. The Chief was\nimmensely astonished at the host of dishes that could be prepared from\nthe cocoa-nuts. On returning, he carried home a great load of them to\nhis people, that they might see and taste the excellent food of the\nshore-people. One day, all being assembled, he told them the wonders\nof that feast; and, having roasted the cocoa-nuts, he took out the\nkernels, all charred and spoiled, and distributed them amongst his\npeople. They tasted the cocoa-nut, they began to chew it, and then\nspat it out, crying, \u2018Our own food is far better than that!\u2019 The Chief\nwas confused and only got laughed at for all his trouble. Was the\nfault in the cocoa-nuts? No; but they were spoiled in the cooking! So\nyour attempts to explain Christianity will only spoil it. Tell them\nthat a man must live as a Christian before he can show others what\nChristianity is.\u201d\n\nOn their return to Fotuna they exhibited Jehovah\u2019s yam, given in answer\nto prayer and labour; they told what Christianity had done for Aniwa;\nbut did not fail to qualify all their accounts with the story of the\nErromangan Chief and the cocoa-nuts, with its very practical lesson.\n\nThe two Chiefs of next importance on Aniwa were Nerwa and Ruwawa. Nerwa\nwas a keen debater; all his thoughts ran in the channels of logic. When\nI could speak a little of their language, I visited and preached at his\nvillage; but the moment he discovered that the teaching about Jehovah\nwas opposed to their Heathen customs, he sternly forbade us. One day,\nduring my address, he blossomed out into a full-fledged and pronounced\nAgnostic (with as much reason at his back as the European type!) and\nangrily interrupted me:\u2014\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s 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 cocoa-nut 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\nif you could make your ladder higher than our highest cocoa-nut tree,\non what would you lean its top? And when you get to its top, you can\nonly climb down the other side and end where you began! The thing is\nimpossible. You never saw that God; you never heard Him speak; don\u2019t\ncome here with any of your white lies, or I\u2019ll send my spear through\nyou.\u201d\n\nHe drove us from his village, and furiously threatened murder, if we\never dared to return. But very soon thereafter the Lord sent us a\nlittle orphan girl from Nerwa\u2019s village. She was very clever, and could\nboth read and write, and told over all that we taught her. Her visits\nhome, or at least amongst the villagers where her home had been, her\nchanged appearance and her childish talk, produced a very deep interest\nin 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\u2019s wife, a quiet and gentle woman, came\nto the Worship and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cNerwa\u2019s opposition dies fast. The story of the Orphans did it. He has\nallowed me to attend the Church, and to get the Christian\u2019s book.\u201d\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,\nand some of the men began to accompany them. The only thing in which\nthey showed a real interest was the children singing the little hymns\nwhich I had translated into their own Aniwan tongue, and which my wife\nhad taught them to sing very sweetly and joyfully. Nerwa at last got\nso interested that he came himself, and sat within earshot, and drank\nin the joyful sound. In a short time he drew so near that he could\nhear our preaching, and then began openly and regularly to attend the\nChurch. His keen reasoning faculty was constantly at work. He weighed\nand compared everything he heard, and soon out-distanced nearly all\nof them in his grasp of the ideas of the Gospel. He put on clothing,\njoined our School, and professed himself a follower of the Lord Jesus.\nHe eagerly set himself, with all his power, to bring in a neighbouring\nChief and his people, and constituted himself at once an energetic and\nvery pronounced helper 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, and heard him cry,\u2014\n\n\u201cOh, to have this treasure in my own words of Aniwa!\u201d\n\nWhen Matthew and Mark were at last printed in Aniwan, he studied them\nincessantly, and soon could read them freely. He became the Teacher in\nhis own village School, and delighted in instructing others. He was\nassisted by Ruwawa, whom he himself had drawn into the circle of Gospel\ninfluence; and at our next election these two friends were appointed\nElders of the Church, and greatly sustained our hands in every good\nwork on Aniwa.\n\nAfter years of happy and useful service, the time came for Nerwa to\ndie. He was then so greatly beloved that most of the inhabitants\nvisited him during his long illness. He read a bit of the Gospels\nin his own Aniwan, and prayed with and for every visitor. He sang\nbeautifully, and scarcely allowed any one to leave his bedside without\nhaving a verse of one or other of his favourite hymns, \u201cHappy Land,\u201d\nand \u201cNearer, my God, to Thee.\u201d On my last visit to Nerwa, his strength\nhad gone very low, but he drew me near his face, and whispered,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, my Missi, I am glad to see you. You see that group of young\nmen? They came to sympathize with me; but they have never once spoken\nthe name of Jesus, though they have spoken about everything else! They\ncould not have weakened me so, if they had spoken about Jesus! Read me\nthe story of Jesus; pray for me to Jesus. No! stop, let us call them,\nand let me speak with them before I go.\u201d\n\nI called them all around him, and he strained his dying strength, and\nsaid, \u201cAfter I am gone, let there be no bad talk, no Heathen ways.\nSing Jehovah\u2019s songs, and pray to Jesus, and bury me as a Christian.\nTake good care of my Missi, and help him all you can. I am dying happy\nand going to be with Jesus, and it was Missi that showed me this way.\nAnd who among you will take my place in the village School and in the\nChurch? Who amongst you all will stand up for Jesus?\u201d\n\nMany were shedding tears, but there was no reply; after which the dying\nChief proceeded,\u2014\n\n\u201cNow let my last work on earth be this:\u2014we will read a chapter of the\nBook, verse about, and then I will pray for you all, and the Missi will\npray for me, and God will let me go while the song is still sounding in\nmy heart!\u201d\n\nAt the close of this most touching exercise, we gathered the Christians\nwho were near-bye close around, and sang very softly in Aniwan, \u201cThere\nis a Happy Land.\u201d As they sang, the old man grasped my hand, and tried\nhard to speak, but in vain. His head fell to one side, \u201cthe silver cord\nwas loosed, and the golden bowl was broken.\u201d\n\nSoon after his burial, the best and ablest man in the village, the\nhusband now of the orphan girl already referred to, came and offered\nhimself to take the Chiefs place as Teacher in the village School;\nand in that post he was ably assisted by his wife, our \u201clittle maid,\u201d\nthe first who carried the news of the Gospel life to her tribe, and\ninclined their ears to listen to the message of Jesus.\n\nHis great friend, Ruwawa the Chief, had waited by Nerwa like a\nbrother till within a few days of the latter\u2019s death, when he also\nwas smitten down apparently by the same disease. He was thought to be\ndying, and he resigned himself calmly into the hands of Christ. One\nSabbath afternoon, sorely distressed for lack of air, he instructed\nhis people to carry him from the village to a rising ground on one of\nhis plantations. It was fallow; the fresh air would reach him; and all\nhis friends could sit around him. They extemporized a rest,\u2014two posts\nstuck into the ground, slanting, sticks tied across them, then dried\nbanana leaves spread on these and also as a cushion on the ground,\u2014and\nthere sat Ruwawa, leaning back and breathing heavily. After the Church\nServices, I visited him, and found half the people of that side of the\nIsland sitting round him, in silence, in the open air. Ruwawa beckoned\nme, and I sat down before him. Though suffering sorely, his eye and\nface had the look of ecstasy.\n\n\u201cMissi,\u201d he said, \u201cI 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\u2019s will, I would\nlike to live and to help you in His work. I am in the hands of our dear\nLord. If He takes me, it is good; if He spares me, it is good! Pray,\nand tell our Saviour all about it.\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cFarewell, Missi; if I go first, I will welcome you to Glory; if I am\nspared, I will work with you for Jesus; so all is well!\u201d\n\nOne of the young Christians followed me and said,\u2014\u201cMissi, our hearts\nare very sore! If Ruwawa dies, we have no Chief to take his place in\nthe Church, and it will be a heavy blow against Jehovah\u2019s Worship on\nAniwa.\u201d\n\nI answered,\u2014\u201cLet 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.\u201d\n\nWe did so, with earnest and unceasing cry. And when all hope had died\nout of every heart, the Lord began to answer us; the disease began to\nrelax its hold, and the beloved Chief was restored to health. As soon\nas he was able, though still needing help, he found his way back to the\nChurch, and we all offered special thanksgiving to God. He indicated\na desire to say a few words; and although still very weak, spoke with\ngreat pathos thus:\u2014\n\n\u201cDear 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\nto make and keep us well. I want you all to work hard for Jesus, and\nto lose no opportunity of trying to do good and so to please Him. In\nmy deep journey away near to the grave, it was the memory of what I\nhad done in love to Jesus that made my heart sing. I am not afraid of\npain,\u2014my dear Lord Jesus suffered far more for me and teaches me how to\nbear 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.\u201d\n\nThen he raised his right hand, and cried in a soft, full-hearted\nvoice,\u2014\u201cMy own, my dear Lord Jesus!\u201d and stood for a moment looking\njoyfully upward, as if gazing into his Saviour\u2019s face. When he sat\ndown, there was a long hush, broken here and there by a smothered sob;\nand Ruwawa\u2019s words produced an impression that is remembered to this\nday.\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,\na Teacher from Aneityum, and visited occasionally by our ever-dear\nand faithful friends, Mr. and Mrs. Watt, from Tanna, the good Ruwawa\ncarries forward all the work of God on Aniwa, along with others, in\nour absence as in our presence. The meetings, the Communicants\u2019 Class,\nthe Schools, and the Church Services are all regularly conducted and\nfaithfully attended. \u201cBless the Lord, O my soul!\u201d\n\nI am now reminded of the story of Waiwai, both because it was\ninteresting for his own personality, and also as illustrating our\ndifficulties about the delicate question of many wives. He was a man\nof great wisdom, and had in his early days displayed unwonted energy.\nHis assistance in finding exact and idiomatic equivalents for me, while\ntranslating the Scriptures, was of the highest value.\n\nHe had been once at the head of a numerous people, but was now\nliterally a Chief without a tribe. His son and heir was smitten down\nwith sunstroke, while helping us to get the coral limestone, and\nshortly thereafter died. His only daughter was married to a young\nChief. And at last, of all his seven wives only two remained alive.\n\nHe became a regular attender at Church, and when our first\nCommunicants\u2019 Class was formed, Waiwai and his two wives were enrolled.\nAt Communion time, he was dreadfully disappointed when informed that\nhe could neither be baptized nor admitted to the Lord\u2019s Table till he\nhad given up one of his wives, as God allowed no Christian to have more\nthan one wife at a time. They were advised to attend regularly, and\nlearn more and more of Christianity, till God opened up their way in\nregard to this matter; that it might be done from conscience, under a\nsense of duty to Christ, and if at all possible by peaceable and mutual\nagreement.\n\nWaiwai professed to be willing, but found it terribly hard to give\nup either of his wives. They had houses far apart from each other,\nfor they quarrelled badly, as is usual in such cases. But both were\nexcellent workers, both were very attentive to the wants of Waiwai,\nand he managed to keep on affectionate terms with both. After all the\nother men on the Island had, under the influence of Christianity, given\nup all their wives save one, Waiwai began to feel rather ashamed of\nbeing the conspicuous exception, or thought it prudent to pretend to be\nashamed; and so he publicly scolded them both, ordering one or other to\ngo and leave him, that he might be enabled to join the Church and be a\nChristian like the rest. But I learned privately that he did not wish\neither to go, and that he would shoot the one that dared to leave him.\nI remonstrated with him on his hypocrisy, warning him that God knew\nhis heart. At last he said, that since neither of them would depart,\nhe would leave them both and go to Tanna for a year, ordering one or\nother of them to get married during his absence. He did go, but on his\nreturn found both still awaiting him at their respective stations. He\npretended to scold them very vigorously _in public_; but his duplicity\nwas too open, and I again very solemnly rebuked him for double dealing,\nshowing him that not even men were deceived by him, much less the\nall-seeing God. He frankly admitted his hypocrisy. He loved both; he\ndid not want to part with either; and both were excellent workers!\n\nIn process of time the younger of the two women bore him a beautiful\nbaby boy, about which he was immensely uplifted; and a short while\nthereafter the elder woman died. At her grave the inveterate talking\ninstinct of these Islanders asserted itself, and Waiwai made a speech\nto the assembled people in the following strain:\u2014\n\n\u201cO ye people of Aniwa, I was not willing to give up either of my wives\nfor Jesus; but God has taken one from me and laid her there in the\ngrave; and now I am called to be baptized, and to follow Jesus.\u201d\n\nThe two now regularly attended Church, and learned diligently at\nthe Communicants\u2019 Class. Both seemed to be very sincere, and Waiwai\nparticularly showed a very gentle Christian spirit, and seemed to brood\nmuch upon the loss of family and people and tribe that had befallen\nhim. His had been indeed a crushing discipline, and it was not yet\ncomplete. For, shortly before the Communion at which they were to\nbe received into fellowship, his remaining wife became suddenly ill\nand died also. At her grave the old man wept very bitterly, and made\nanother speech, but this time in tones of more intense reality than\nbefore, as if the iron had entered his very soul:\u2014\n\n\u201cListen, all ye men of Aniwa, and take warning by Waiwai. I am now\nold, and ready to drop into the grave alone. My wives kept me back\nfrom Jesus, but now they are all taken, and I am left without one to\ncare for me or this little child. I tried to deceive the Missi, but I\ncould not deceive God. When I was left with only one wife, I said that\nI would now be baptized and live as a Christian. But God has taken\nher also. I pretended to serve the Lord, when I was only serving and\npleasing myself. God has now broken my heart all to pieces. I must\nlearn no longer to please myself, but to please my Lord. Oh, take\nwarning by me, all ye men of Aniwa! Lies cannot cheat the great Jehovah\nGod.\u201d\n\nPoor broken-hearted Waiwai had sorrow upon sorrow to the full. We\nhad agreed to baptize him and admit him to the Lord\u2019s Table. But a\nterrible form of cramp, sometimes met with on the Islands, overtook\nhim, shrinking up both his legs, and curving his feet up behind him. He\nsuffered great agony, and could neither walk nor sit without pain. In\nspite of all efforts to relieve him, this condition became chronic; and\nhe died at last from the effects thereof during our absence on furlough.\n\nHis married daughter took charge of him and of the little boy; and so\nlong as I was on Aniwa during his illness, I visited and instructed\nand ministered to him in every possible way. He prayed much, and asked\nGod\u2019s blessing on all his meals; but all that I could say failed to\nlead him into the sunshine of the Divine Love. And the poor soul often\nrevealed the shadow by which his heart was clouded by such cries as\nthese,\u2014\u201cI lied to Jehovah! It is He that punishes me! I lied to Jesus!\u201d\n\nReaders may perhaps think that this case of the two wives and our\ntreatment of it was too hard upon Waiwai; and those will be the most\nready to condemn us, who have never been on the spot, and who cannot\nsee all the facts as they lie under the eyes of the Missionary. How\ncould we ever have led Natives to see the difference betwixt admitting\na man to the Church who had two wives, and not permitting a member of\nthe Church to take two wives after his admission? Their moral sense is\nblunted enough without our knocking their heads against a conundrum in\nethics! In our Church membership we have to draw the line as sharply\nas God\u2019s law will allow betwixt what is Heathen and what is Christian,\ninstead of minimising the difference.\n\nAgain, we found that the Heathen practices were apparently more\ndestructive to women than to men; so that in one Island, with a\npopulation of only two hundred, I found that there were thirty adult\nmen over and above the number of women. As a rule, for every man that\nhas two or more wives, the same number of men have no wives and can\nget none; and polygamy is therefore the prolific cause of hatreds and\nmurders innumerable.\n\nBesides all this, to look at things in a purely practical light, as the\nso-called \u201cpractical men\u201d are our scornful censors in these affairs,\nit is really no hardship for one woman, or any number of women, to\nbe given up when the man becomes a Christian and elects to have one\nwife only; for every one so discarded is at once eagerly contended for\nby the men who had no hope of ever being married, and her chances of\ncomfort and happiness are infinitely improved. We had one Chief who\ngave up eleven wives on his being baptized. They were without a single\nexception happily settled in other homes. And he became an earnest and\ndevoted Christian.\n\nWhile they remain Heathen, and have many wives to manage, the condition\nof most of the women is worse than slavery. On remonstrating with\na Chief, who was savagely beating one of his wives, he indignantly\nassured me,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe must beat them, or they would never obey us. When they quarrel, and\nbecome bad to manage, we have to kill one, and feast on her. Then all\nthe other wives of the whole tribe are quiet and obedient for a long\ntime to come.\u201d\n\nI knew one Chief, who had many wives, always jealous of each other and\nviolently quarrelling amongst themselves. When he was off at war, along\nwith his men, the favourite wife, a tall and powerful woman, armed\nherself with an axe, and murdered all the others. On his return he made\npeace with her, and, either in terror or for other motives, promised to\nforego and protect her against all attempts at revenge. One has to live\namongst the Papuans, or the Malays, in order to understand how much\nWoman is indebted to Christ!\n\nThe old Chiefs only brother was called Kalangi. Twice in Heathen days\nhe tried to shoot me. On the second occasion he heard me rebuking his\ndaughter for letting a child destroy a beautiful Island plant in front\nof our house. He levelled his musket at me, but his daughter, whom we\nwere training at the Mission House, ran in front of it, and cried,\u2014\u201cO\nfather, don\u2019t shoot Missi! He loves me. He gives us food and clothing.\nHe teaches us about Jehovah and Jesus!\u201d\n\nThen she pled with me to retire into the house, saying,\u2014\u201cHe will not\nshoot you for fear of shooting me. I will soothe him down. Leave him to\nme, and flee for safety.\u201d\n\nThus she probably saved my life. Time after time he heard from this\nlittle daughter all that we taught her, and all she could remember\nof our preaching. By-and-bye he showed a strong personal interest in\nthe things he heard about Jesus, and questioned deeply, and learned\ndiligently. When he became a Christian, he constituted himself, along\nwith Nelwang, my body-guard, and often marched near me, or within safe\ndistance of me, armed with tomahawk and musket, when I journeyed from\nvillage to village in the pre-Christian days. Once, on approaching one\nof our most distant villages, Nelwang sprang to my side, and warned me\nof a man in the bush watching an opportunity to shoot me. I shouted to\nthe fellow,\u2014\n\n\u201cWhat are you going to shoot there? This is the Lord\u2019s own Day!\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cOnly a bird.\u201d\n\nI replied, \u201cNever mind it to-day. You can shoot it to-morrow. We are\ngoing to your Village. Come on before us, and show us the way!\u201d\n\nSeeing how I was protected, he lowered his musket, and marched on\nbefore us. Kalangi addressed the people, after I had spoken and prayed.\nIn course of time they became warm friends of the Worship; and that\nvery man and his wife, who once sought my life, sat with me at the\nLord\u2019s Table on Aniwa. And the little girl, above referred to, is now\nthe wife of one of the Elders there, and the mother of three Christian\nchildren,\u2014both she and her husband being devoted workers in the Church\nof God.\n\nLitsi, the only daughter of Namakei, had, both in her own career and\nin her connection with poor, dear Mungaw, an almost unparalleled\nexperience. She was entrusted to us when very young, and became a\nbright, clever, and attractive Christian girl. Many sought her hand,\nbut she disdainfully replied,\u2014\n\n\u201cI am Queen of my own Island, and when I like I will ask a husband in\nmarriage, as you told us that the great Queen Victoria did!\u201d\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\ndeath, she again returned to live with us at the Mission House. Her\nsecond marriage had everything to commend it, but it resulted in\nindescribable disaster. Mungaw, heir to a Chief, had been trained with\nus, and gave every evidence of decided Christianity. They were married\nin the Church, and lived in the greatest happiness. He was able and\neloquent, and was first chosen as a deacon, then as an Elder of the\nChurch, and finally as High Chief of one half of the Island. He showed\nthe finest Christian spirit under many trying circumstances. Once, when\nworking at the lime for the building of our Church, two bad men, armed\nwith muskets, sought his life for some revenge or another. Hearing of\nthe quarrel, I rushed to the scene, and heard him saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t call me coward, or think me afraid to die. If I died now,\nI would go to be with Jesus. But I am no longer a Heathen; I am a\nChristian, and wish to treat you as a Christian should.\u201d\n\nOthers now coming to the rescue, the men were disarmed; and, after much\ntalk, they professed themselves ashamed, and promised better conduct\nfor the future. Next day they sent a large present as a peace-offering\nto me, but I refused to receive it till they should first of all make\npeace with the young Chief. They sent a larger present to him, praying\nhim to receive it, and to forgive them. Mungaw brought a still larger\npresent in exchange, laid it down at their feet in the Public Ground,\nshook hands with them graciously, and forgave them in presence of all\nthe people. His constant saying was,\u2014\n\n\u201cI am a Christian, and I must do the conduct of a Christian.\u201d\n\nIn one of my furloughs to Australia I took the young Chief with me,\nin the hope of interesting the Sabbath Schools and Congregations by\nhis eloquent addresses and noble personality. The late Dr. Cameron, of\nMelbourne, having heard him, as translated by me, publicly declared\nthat Mungaw\u2019s appearance and speech in his Church did more to show\nhim the grand results of the Gospel amongst the Heathen than all the\nMissionary addresses 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.\nKilda Station, assuring the guard that they were friends of mine,\nand interested in our Mission. They took him, instead, to some den\nof infamy in Melbourne. On refusing to drink with them, he said they\nthrew him down on a sofa, and poured drink or drugs into him till he\nwas nearly dead. Having taken all his money (he had only two or three\npounds, made up of little presents from various friends), they thrust\nhim out to the street, 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. There\nhe stood for a whole day, offering his penny for a ticket by every\ntrain, and was always refused. At last a sailor took pity on him, got\nhim some food, and led him to the St. Kilda Station. Again he proffered\nhis penny, only to meet with refusal after refusal, till he broke down,\nand cried aloud in such English as desperation gave him,\u2014\n\n\u201cIf 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 more money. Bad\nfellow took all! Send me Kilda.\u201d\n\nSome gentle Samaritan gave him a ticket, and he reached our house at\nSt. Kilda at last. There for above three weeks the poor creature lay\nin a sort of stupid doze. Food he could scarcely be induced to taste,\nand he only rose now and again for a drink of water. When my wife\nwas able to be removed thither also, we found dear Mungaw dreadfully\nchanged in appearance and in conduct. Twice thereafter I took him\nwith me on Mission work; but, on medical advice, preparations were\nmade for his immediate return to the Islands. I entrusted him to the\nkind care of Captain Logan, who undertook to see him safely on board\nthe _Dayspring_, then lying at Auckland. Mungaw was delighted, and we\nhoped everything from his return to his own land and people. After some\nlittle trouble, he was landed safely home on Aniwa. But his malady\ndeveloped dangerous and violent symptoms, characterized by long periods\nof quiet and sleep, and then sudden paroxysms, in which he destroyed\nproperty, burned houses, and was a terror to all.\n\nOn our return he was greatly delighted; but he complained bitterly\nthat the white men \u201chad spoiled his head,\u201d and that when it \u201cburned\nhot\u201d he did 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cThe white men spoiled my head! I know not what I do. My head burns\nhot, and I am driven.\u201d\n\nOne day, in the Imrai, he leapt up with a loud-yelling war-cry, rushed\noff to his own house, set fire to it, and danced around till everything\nhe possessed was burned to ashes. Nasi, a bad Tannese Chief living on\nAniwa, had a quarrel with Mungaw about a cask found at the shore, and\nthreatened to shoot him. Others encouraged him to do so, as Mungaw\nwas growing every day more and more destructive and violent. When a\nperson became outrageous or insane on Aniwa,\u2014as they had neither asylum\nnor prison, they first of all held him fast and discharged a musket\nclose to his ear; and then, if the shock did not bring him back to his\nsenses, they tied him up for two days or so; and finally, if that did\nnot restore him, they shot him dead. Thus the plan of Nasi was favoured\nby their own customs. One night, after family worship,\u2014for amidst all\nhis madness, when clear moments came, he poured out his soul in faith\nand love to the Lord,\u2014he said,\u2014\n\n\u201cLitsi, I am melting! My head burns. Let us go out and get cooled in\nthe open air.\u201d\n\nShe warned him not to go, as she heard voices whispering under the\nverandah. He answered a little wildly,\u2014\n\n\u201cI am not afraid to die. Life is a curse and burden. The white men\nspoiled my head. If there is a hope of dying, let me go quickly and\ndie!\u201d\n\nAs he crossed the door, a ball crashed through him, and he fell dead.\nWe got 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\nbecame possessed with a great desire to go as a Missionary to the\npeople and tribe of Nasi, the very man who had murdered her husband.\nShe used to say,\u2014\n\n\u201cIs there no Missionary to go and teach Nasi\u2019s people? I weep and pray\nfor them, that they too may come to know and love Jesus.\u201d\n\nI answered,\u2014\u201cLitsi, if I had only wept and prayed for you, but stayed\nat home in Scotland, would that have brought you to know and love Jesus\nas you do?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly not,\u201d she replied.\n\n\u201cNow then,\u201d I proceeded, \u201cwould it not please Jesus and be a grand and\nholy revenge, if you, the Christians of Aniwa, could carry the Gospel\nto the very people whose Chief murdered Mungaw?\u201d\n\nThe idea took possession of her soul. She was never wearied talking\nand praying over it. When at length a Missionary was got for Nasi\u2019s\npeople, Litsi and her new husband placed themselves at the head of a\nband of six or eight Aniwan Christians, and planted themselves there to\nopen up the way and assist as Native Teachers the Missionary and his\nwife. There she and they have laboured ever since. They are \u201cstrong\u201d\nfor the Worship. Her son is being trained up by his cousin, an Elder of\nthe Church, to be \u201cthe good Chief of Aniwa\u201d; so she calls him in her\nprayers, as she cries on God to bless and watch over him, while she is\nserving the Lord in the Mission field. Many years have now passed; and\nwhen lately I visited that part of Tanna, Litsi ran to me, clasped my\nhand, kissed it with many sobs, and cried,\u2014\n\n\u201cO my father! God has blessed me to see you again. Is my mother, your\ndear wife, well? And your children, my brothers and sisters? My love to\nthem all! O my heart clings to you!\u201d\n\nWe had sweet conversation, and then she said more calmly,\u2014\n\n\u201cMy days here are hard. I might be happy and wealthy as Queen on Aniwa.\nBut the Heathen here are beginning to listen. The Missi sees them\ncoming nearer to Jesus. And oh, what a reward when we shall hear them\nsing and pray to our dear Saviour! The hope of that makes me strong for\nanything.\u201d\n\nMy heart often says within itself\u2014When, _when_ will men\u2019s eyes at\nhome be opened? When will the rich and the learned and the noble and\neven the princes of the Earth renounce their shallow frivolities,\nand go to live amongst the poor, the ignorant, the outcast, and the\nlost, and write their eternal fame on the souls by them blessed and\nbrought to the Saviour? Those who have tasted this highest joy, \u201cthe\njoy of the Lord,\u201d will never again ask,\u2014_Is Life worth living?_ Life,\nany life, would be well spent, under any conceivable conditions, in\nbringing one human soul to know and love and serve God and His Son, and\nthereby securing for yourself at least one temple where your name and\nmemory would be held for ever and for ever in affectionate praise,\u2014a\nregenerated Heart in Heaven. That fame will prove _immortal_, when all\nthe poems and monuments and pyramids of Earth have gone into dust.\n\nNasi, the Tannaman, 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cNasi, are you happy? Have you ever been happy?\u201d\n\nHe answered gloomily,\u2014\u201cNo! Never.\u201d\n\nI said,\u2014\u201cWould you like this dear little boy of yours to grow up like\nyourself, and lead the life you have lived?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo!\u201d he replied warmly; \u201cI certainly would not.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d I continued, \u201cyou must become a Christian, and give up all\nyour Heathen conduct, or he will just grow up to quarrel and fight and\nmurder as you have done; and, O Nasi, he will curse you through all\nEternity for leading him to such a life and to such a doom!\u201d\n\nHe was very much impressed, but made no response. After we had sailed,\na band of our young Native Christians held a consultation over the case\nof Nasi. They said,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe know the burden and terror that Nasi has been to our dear Missi. We\nknow that he has murdered several persons with his own hands, and has\ntaken part in the murder of others. Let us unite in daily prayer that\nthe Lord would open his heart and change his conduct, and teach him to\nlove and follow what is good, and let us set ourselves to win Nasi for\nChrist, just as Missi tried to win us.\u201d\n\nSo they began to show him every possible kindness, and one after\nanother helped him in his daily tasks, embracing every opportunity of\npleading with him to yield to Jesus and take the new path of life. At\nfirst he repelled them, and sullenly held aloof. But their prayers\nnever ceased, and their patient affections continued to grow. At last,\nafter long waiting, Nasi broke down, and cried to one of the Teachers,\u2014\n\n\u201cI can oppose your Jesus no longer. If He can make you treat me like\nthat, I yield myself to Him and to you. I want Him to change me too. I\nwant a heart like that of Jesus.\u201d\n\nHe took the ugly paint patches from his face; he cut off his long\nHeathen hair; he went to the sea and bathed, washing himself clean; and\nthen he came to the Christians and dressed himself in a shirt and a\nkilt. The next step was to get a book,\u2014his 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\u2019s Table\u2014my brother\nMissionary from Tanna baptizing and receiving him. Imagine my joy on\nlearning all this regarding one who had sullenly resisted my appeals\nfor many years, and how my soul praised the Lord who is \u201cMighty to\nsave!\u201d\n\nOn my recent visit to Aniwa, in 1886, God\u2019s 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 reads to the people! When I arrived on a visit to\nthe Island, after my last tour in Great Britain in the interests of\nour Mission, all the inhabitants of Aniwa seemed to be assembled at\nthe boat-landing to welcome me, except Nasi. He was away fishing at a\ndistance, and had been sent for, but had not yet arrived. On the way to\nthe Mission House, he came rushing to meet me. He grasped my hand, and\nkissed it, and burst into tears. I said,\u2014\n\n\u201cNasi, do I now at last meet you as a Christian?\u201d\n\nHe warmly answered, \u201cYes, Missi; I now worship and serve the only Lord\nand Saviour Jesus Christ. Bless God, I am a Christian at last!\u201d\n\nMy soul went out with the silent cry, \u201cOh, that the men at home who\ndiscuss and doubt about conversion, and the new heart, and the power\nof Jesus to change and save, could but look on Nasi, and spell out the\nsimple lesson,\u2014He that created us at first by His power can create us\nanew by His love!\u201d\n\nMy first Sabbath on Aniwa, after the late tour in Great Britain and\nthe Colonies, gave me a blessed surprise. Before daybreak I lay awake\nthinking of all my experiences on that Island, and wondering whether\nthe Church had fallen off in my four years\u2019 absence, when suddenly the\nvoice of song broke on my ears! It was scarcely full dawn, yet I jumped\nup and called to a man that was passing,\u2014\n\n\u201cHave I slept in? Is it already Church-time? Or why are the people met\nso early?\u201d\n\nHe was one of their leaders, and gravely replied,\u2014\u201cMissi, 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\u2019s 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\nthis day.\u201d\n\nI returned to my room, and felt quite prepared myself. It would be an\neasy and a blessed thing to lead such a Congregation into the presence\nof 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\u2019 Class, and they presented to\nme a 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe have been taught that whosoever believeth is to be baptized. We do\nmost heartily believe in Jesus, and try to please Jesus.\u201d\n\nI answered,\u2014\u201cHold on for another year, and then our way will be clear.\u201d\n\nBut he persisted,\u2014\u201cSome of us may not be living then; and you may not\nbe here. We long to be baptized by you, our own Missi, and to take our\nplace among the servants of Jesus.\u201d\n\nAfter much conversation I agreed to baptize them, and they agreed\nto refrain from going to the Lord\u2019s Table for a year; that all the\nChurch might 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\nnoteworthy. She was about twenty-five, and the Elders objected because\nher marriage had not been according to the Christian usage on Aniwa.\nShe left us weeping deeply. I was writing late at night in the cool\nevening air, as was my wont in that oppressive tropical clime, and a\nknock was heard at my door. I called out,\u2014\n\n\u201c_Akai era?_\u201d (= Who is there?)\n\nA voice softly answered,\u2014\u201cMissi, it is Lamu. Oh, do speak with me!\u201d\n\nThis was the rejected candidate, and I at once opened the door.\n\n\u201cOh, Missi,\u201d she began, \u201cI cannot sleep, I cannot eat; my soul is in\npain. Am I to be shut out from Jesus? Some of those at the Lord\u2019s 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?\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cMissi, you and the Elders may think it right to keep me back from\nshowing my love to Jesus at the Lord\u2019s Table; but I know here in my\nheart that Jesus has received me; and if I were dying now, I know that\nJesus would take me to Glory and present me to the Father.\u201d\n\nHer look and manner thrilled me. I promised to see the Elders and\nsubmit her appeal. But Lamu appeared and pled her own cause before them\nwith convincing effect. She was baptized and admitted along with other\nnine. And that Communion Day will be long remembered by many souls on\nAniwa.\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\naloud to God, Oh, what could not the Church accomplish if the educated\nand gifted Elders and others in Christian lands would set themselves\nthus to work for Jesus, to teach the ignorant, to protect the tempted,\nand to rescue the fallen!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n_LETTERS FROM ANIWA._\n\n Editorial Preface.\u2014_Letter for 1867._\u2014Not Tanna but Aniwa.\u2014\u201cMissi\n Paton _versus_ Teapots.\u201d\u2014The Humour of Taia.\u2014Evening\n Village-Prayers.\u2014\u201cMake him _Bokis_ Sing.\u201d\u2014My Sewing Class.\u2014\u201cThat\n no Gammon.\u201d\u2014\u201cTalk Biritania.\u201d\u2014The Marriage of Kahi.... _Letter\n for 1869._\u2014First Communicants on Aniwa.\u2014Mungaw and the Mission\n Boys.\u2014The Blessing of the _Dayspring_.... _Letter for 1874._\u2014Home\n to Aniwa.\u2014\u201cTaking Possession.\u201d\u2014\u201cAnother Soul Committed to our\n Care.\u201d\u2014Hutshi and her Lover.\u2014Six Missionaries on Aniwa....\n _Letter for 1875._\u2014Missi Paton and \u201cJoseph\u201d and the Tannese.\u2014A\n Tropical Hurricane.\u2014The Disgrace and Sale of Hutshi.\u2014Taia Baited\n by Nalihi.\u2014Earthquakes and Tidal Waves.\u2014Farewells.... _Letter for\n 1878._\u2014A Madman at Large.\u2014The Passing of Yawaci.\u2014The Madness and\n Death of Mungaw.\u2014Our Native Elders.\u2014Music on the Waters.\u2014A Wicked\n Vow.... _Letter for 1879._\u2014New Year\u2019s Day on Aniwa.\u2014A Miserable\n Slaver.\u2014Litsi Married Again.\u2014Mission Synod on Erromanga.\u2014Tragic and\n Holy Memories.\u2014Day-Light on Tanna.\u2014Pigs in Galore.\u2014Arrowroot for\n Jehovah.\n\n\n[The Editor takes upon himself the responsibility of presenting here a\npicture of life among the New Hebrideans, as portrayed by the graphic\nand gifted pen of Mrs. John G. Paton.\n\nHis only regret is that the exigencies of space compel him to give\nmere _fragments_ of these Letters, instead of the full-flowing\ndescriptions, which have led him to regard them as amongst the most\ncharming pieces of Missionary literature with which he has become\nacquainted.\n\nHe apologizes also to that dear lady herself for the liberty he is thus\ntaking with her \u201cFamily Epistles,\u201d\u2014written for the delight of her inner\ncircle of friends, and for their eyes alone. He is well aware that if\nshe were at his side, instead of being in the New Hebrides, while he is\nsending these pages to press, nothing would probably induce her to give\nher consent to this appearance in print. But he trusts that her wrath\nwill be assuaged, when she returns to the Colonies and learns how the\nChristian Public approve in this respect of what her friend has done.\n\nThe Editor makes no apology to the reader for this break in the flow\nof the story, or even for re-touching one or two scenes that are past,\nfor he already instinctively knows that even these fragments will be\nappreciated, as a great enrichment to the Autobiography which he has\nbeen privileged to introduce to them.]\n\n\n(1867.)\n\nTO REV. DR. MACDONALD, SOUTH MELBOURNE.\n\n\u201c... How much I enjoyed your kind letter which came by the _Dayspring_\nlast month! I was delighted indeed to hear that your Parish now extends\nto the New Hebrides,\u2014rather a scattered one certainly, nevertheless you\nare bound to look after your flock, and we shall soon be expecting _a\npastoral visit_....\n\n\u201cYou were, I dare say, surprised when you heard that we had been sent\nto Aniwa instead of Tanna. It was a blow which Mr. Paton has hardly\ngot over yet; but all the brethren were decidedly opposed to us going\nthere alone, and we feel now that we have been Divinely led hither. Mr.\nInglis, in his last kind letter, said to Mr. Paton that he believed\nhe was doing more real work for Tanna, by bringing the Aniwans to a\nknowledge of the truth and thus fitting them for by-and-bye spreading\nthe Gospel among the Tannese, than if he were now labouring alone\namong that dense mass of people. We are encouraged, therefore, to hope\nthat there may be many ambassadors for Christ from this little Island,\nfor the Aniwans are a superior people, and the work has made steady\nand rapid progress of late. I don\u2019t mean that half the people are\nconverted,\u2014very far from that! There is a great deal to be done, before\nthe soil is prepared even to receive the seed,\u2014they cling so to their\nold prejudices and superstitions. I believe, to many of them, it is\nlike taking a great leap into the dark to risk the anger of their gods\nby coming to the Worship. For what proof have they at first that we are\nleading them into the right way? True, they see we wish to be kind;\nbut the idea of any one coming among them simply for their good is a\ndoctrine they cannot understand.\n\n\u201cWe are very thankful to have so many regularly at Church; and Mr.\nPaton possessed a great advantage in being able to address them from\nthe first in Tannese, which some of them speak freely,\u2014hence the double\nhope of training them as helpers for Tanna. You would be surprised\nto see with what propriety the Services are conducted. The Native\nTeachers, two devoted men from Aneityum who have been here for years,\ntry to give short speeches. Then Mr. Paton usually invites one or\nother of the more enlightened of the Aniwans to speak, which he does\nby invariably pitching into his brethren in the most energetic terms,\ncomparing them to pigs, dogs, serpents, etc., the speaker not generally\nincluding himself, and asking how long they mean to continue their\n\u2018black-hearted conduct\u2019?\n\n\u201cThey are never at a loss for a text, and for a long time after we came\nit sounded to me something like \u2018Missi Paton and Teapots.\u2019 I supposed\nit to be, \u2018Missi Paton _versus_ Teapots,\u2019 but by-and-bye I discovered\nthat it was not Teapots, but Teapolo (= Devil), against which they\nstormed. Lately they have been choosing more sacred subjects, generally\na repetition of what they have heard from Mr. Paton before, or been\nhelping him to translate during the week. Last Sabbath, we were much\nstruck with the gentle, persuasive tones of the old Chief who was\naddressing them. Mr. Paton noted down two words he did not remember\nhaving heard before, and asked for the translation after worship.\nThe man took him by the hand and said in Tannese, \u2018Missi, I was only\ntelling them what you have been teaching us all this time about Jesus\npouring out His blood to wash away all our sins!\u2019\n\n\u201cTaia, and Namakei the Chief, two of our firmest friends, give very\ntelling speeches sometimes. The former is a tall and powerful fellow,\nquite a notoriety on account of his loquacious powers. He has a great\ndeal of ready wit too; and, though he does little else but talk, it\nis wonderful what influence he exerts. Some time ago, he prevented a\nviolent quarrel ending in probable bloodshed. The party who thought\nthemselves insulted ran home, seized their arms, and were rushing\npast Taia\u2019s house, where he was lying outside, basking in the sun and\nenjoying his pipe. He saw something was wrong, for they don\u2019t continue\nthe habit of carrying their arms constantly now, and he called out to\nthem (of course in their own language), \u2018Stop! stop! let me see what\nyou are carrying. Is it the book that Missi has been busy making?\u2019\nHis sly hit set them all a-laughing, and they turned into his house;\nthere he had a long and serious talk with them, and got them to give up\nthe idea of fighting, at least for that day. The next being Sabbath,\nhe came to Mr. Paton before the Service to ask him to let him speak;\nand, having both the offending parties present, he _did_ give it them,\nfinishing up by reminding them how difficult it had been to get a\nMissionary, and how he, Taia, had gone to Aneityum to plead for more\nNative Teachers after they had murdered Nemeyan and tried to kill\nNavalak, and how he had always been careful to give them food to do\nthe work of Jehovah! In that part of the speech referring to his own\nconduct, there were a few embellishments which in strict regard to\ntruth might have been omitted; but his advice seemed to do good, for we\nheard no more of that quarrel.\n\n\u201cTaia, however, does not always do as he professes, and Mr. Paton\nsometimes feels it incumbent on him to call Taia to account; but Taia\u2019s\nequanimity is never in the least ruffled. He sits listening with his\nchin resting upon his knees, looking up now and again with a bland\nsmile, saying, \u2018Ah, very good talk that, Missi! Very good talk that!\u2019...\n\n\u201cNamakei never fails, when well, to take Mr. Paton\u2019s Bible and lay it\non the desk every Sabbath and Wednesday before the Service, and to\nget the people in the village assembled for worship, which we have\nevery evening under a large banyan tree in the Imrai (= the public\nmeeting-ground), the great place of general rendezvous, which is close\nbehind our house.\n\n\u201cI particularly enjoy this Evening Service, when all Nature is at rest\nand looks so exquisitely beautiful, everything reflecting the gorgeous\nsunsets and nothing heard but the soft rustle of the leaves and what\nLongfellow calls \u2018the symphony of Ocean\u2019. I think the Natives, too,\nare inspired with it, for none of us seem inclined to move off after\nworship, and often, but especially on Sabbath evenings, we sit still\nand sing over all our hymns. They never tire of this, being all of them\nintensely fond of music...\n\n\u201cI was heartily amused, the first time I was called upon to perform on\nAniwa! We had just unpacked the harmonium, one day, about a fortnight\nafter our arrival. The news must have spread like wildfire; for,\ntowards evening, about forty or fifty people came marching towards the\nChurch (the house where we stayed till our new home was built), the\nforemost shouting in broken English, \u2018Missi, make him bokis (= box)\nsing! Plenty man come hear you make him bokis sing!\u2019\n\n\u201cI must not omit to tell you about my peculiar charge, and a very\npleasant one it is, I mean my own Sewing Class. Nearly fifty women\nand girls attend pretty regularly every morning, except Wednesday and\nSaturday, and we spend two hours (often more) together sewing and\nsinging. They are very tractable and willing to learn, having taken\na great fancy for sewing. I never dreamt it would be really such\ndelightful work teaching them, but my heart was drawn to them from the\nfirst, and I will always feel grateful to them for the kindly way they\nbehaved to me when I landed amongst them, timid and rather frightened\nat feeling myself the only white woman on these lonely shores....\n\n\u201cMr. Paton took the matter much more coolly, seeming to take for\ngranted that they were all his \u2018dear friends,\u2019 though most of the men,\nreally fine fellows we have since found them, thought it advisable to\nreceive us with a good deal of impudence, trying how far we could be\nimposed upon! Plenty of them talk a little English, and really it was\nalmost laughable to hear them telling the most monstrous lies with\nsuch a long innocent face, that one would suppose they believed them\nthemselves, and then gravely adding, \u2018That no gammon!\u2019...\n\n\u201cI feel the sewing, however, to be only a stepping-stone to something\nfar more important. It brings me into contact with them so as to learn\ntheir language. I so long to be able to talk freely to them; but it is\nslow work with me! How the Apostles must have appreciated the gift of\nTongues on the day of Pentecost! I wonder if it was accorded to their\nwives as well? It is so provoking, when you think you have mastered\nenough to venture on a little conversation with them, to see them\nlooking at each other wonderingly. Some time ago, in talking to a girl,\nI plunged a little deeper than usual, thinking to astonish her with my\nwisdom, but she looked up innocently and told me she \u2018did not savvy\ntalk Biritania!\u2019 I must have made awful blunders at first. But some of\nthe women can talk Tannese as well as the men; and I got Mr. Paton\u2019s\nhelp in any great difficulty, though he did not at all times enjoy the\ninterruption, especially if the point in question turned out to be only\nabout a needle and a thread, while he had been called away when setting\nup the type for our first Aniwan book!...\n\n\u201cBefore closing this long epistle, I want to tell you about our first\nChristian marriage here, especially as the Bride was decked out from\nyour Emerald Hill box, last sent,\u2014at least partly so. It was a deeply\ninteresting occasion. Kahi, the bride, was one of my scholars, a\npretty young widow of about seventeen; and Ropu, her lover, was such\na nice fellow, too, a great favourite of Mr. Paton\u2019s. They seemed\nreally attached; but Kahi\u2019s father-in-law demurred about giving her\naway, as he considered her still his property, having given a high\nprice (present?) for her when he bought her for his son. One morning,\nhowever, Ropu appeared with such a number of fat pigs, that they quite\ntook the old man\u2019s heart by storm, and he declared that he might have\nher that day, if the Missi thought it was right. The Missi did not\nobject, but advised them to get married in Church; and I determined\nto give Kahi a nice present, in order to tempt her young companions\nto follow her example; not a very high motive, to be sure, but if the\nprospect of a good present will induce them to alter their habits in\nregard to marriage, I have not the slightest objection that it should\nbe so. It\u2019s about the highest motive some of them can yet appreciate,\nand there is no vital principle, after all, at stake in the mere form.\nWe made the event as public as the time would permit, and there was\nquite a little gathering to witness the ceremony. Poor Kahi was brought\nto me in tears; but when we put on her nice skirt and jacket, and she\ncaught sight of the pretty hat which happened to be trimmed with orange\nblossom, she seemed to think she had indulged long enough in sentiment\nand dried her tears quite briskly, looking out from under her long\neyelashes from side to side with great admiration, and when at last I\nput a glaring red handkerchief into her hand she fairly laughed aloud!\nThere was a little trouble with them in Church, as they would not come\nnear enough to join hands till they were pushed; and then the poor girl\ngot her marriage vows repeated to her on the deafest side of her head,\nfor, being too bashful or something of the sort to give the response,\nit seemed to be the public opinion that Mr. Paton was letting her off\ntoo easily, and the men taking up the question thundered it in such a\nmanner as to elicit a pretty quick reply!\n\n \u201c... P.S.\n \u201c6th _December_.\n\n\u201cPlease send the _Dayspring_ quickly down this season; for I have found\nthis morning to my horror, that the whole stock of flour has gone\nuseless, and not a bit of bread shall we get till the Vessel returns!\nI suppose we are indebted to the climate and the weevil together for\nthis. We have plenty of other food,\u2014so no danger of starving.\u201d\n\n\n(1869.)\n\nTO A LADY.\n\n... \u201cTo spend such a day as we did a few Sabbaths ago when our little\nChurch of God on Aniwa was formally constituted, we felt to be worth\nmore than all the sacrifices connected with our isolated life. We had\na very good attendance, 180 being present, and an unusual solemnity\nand interest pervaded the Church throughout the whole Services. The\nCommunicants, twelve in number, were arranged in rows from the platform\nto my seat, so that they occupied the space in the centre; and, as\nthey stood up to answer the form of questions Mr. Paton put to them\nbefore receiving Baptism, you could scarcely have conceived a more\ninteresting group. Vasi, our eldest member, must we think be near to\nninety; but, aged and infirm as he is, he came every day to School with\nhis spectacles on, and is one of Mr. Paton\u2019s best writers as well as\nreaders. Our old chief, Namakei, was there, with his daughter Litsi.\nShe is his only child living, and is almost as great a comfort to me\nas to her father. She was the first girl who came to live with us,\nand, being the eldest on our Premises, she sets a good example to the\nothers. Her devotion to Mr. Paton amounts almost to idolatry. She seems\nas if she never could be grateful enough to him for being the means\nof her conversion. But the one I felt most interest in was Namakei\u2019s\nsister, a very gentle and delicate-looking woman. I knew what it had\ncost her to profess her faith in Jesus, and how her husband and son\nwere even then jeering and laughing at her. If I had time, I could tell\nyou something interesting about each of them, for of course it was our\nknowing all their little histories that made it so intensely gratifying\na sight to us. I can remember when one began to wear clothing, when\nanother cut off his long hair, and when one whom we had thought a\nvery hardened character came one day with the last of his idols,\nsaying,\u2014\u2018Now, Missi, these are the very last. I have no more.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt was a beautiful sight to see these all standing up neatly clothed,\nin the midst of their benighted brethren, to declare themselves on the\nLord\u2019s side; and more than one could witness without deep emotion.\nNever did I feel happier in any society on Earth, than when partaking\nof our Saviour\u2019s body and blood with these dark Sisters and Brothers,\nnow united with me in Jesus. It was a day long to be remembered. I\ntrust it will be so even in Eternity, with thanksgiving. Our dear\nfriend and sister Missionary, Mrs. McNair, was with us, paying a\nlong-promised visit; and I felt so glad she happened to be here at the\ntime, for she says she never witnessed a more beautiful and affecting\nspectacle. We have every reason to hope that the true work of grace is\nbegun in their hearts. Mr. Paton had much satisfaction in them while\nattending his Candidates\u2019 Class; and their own earnest inquiries were\nwhat delighted him most. How often have we had cause to set up our\nEbenezer since coming to this far-off land; and this is but a small\nbeginning, yet we have most emphatically reason to thank the Lord and\ntake courage....\n\n\u201cMungaw was so disgusted at having to wear a kilt, that I did not dare\nto mention about cutting his long hair; and Mr. Paton does not wish the\nNatives to be forced to these things, for he always says that, when\ntheir hearts are changed, they will be sure to give up these things of\ntheir own accord. I know that this is very true; but as I don\u2019t see\nthat there would be any harm in having the short hair first, I coaxed\nMungaw to cut his, and he looks very much more civilized.\n\n\u201cWe have a gathering of boys now on the Premises; for Mungaw had not\nbeen installed into his office two days, before a few others came and\nasked quite humbly that they might be allowed to do something for the\nMissi. We were truly amazed as well as gratified at this unexpected\nproposal; for the boys here, as a rule, are the idlest and most\nimpudent set I ever saw. They seem to be the \u2018masters\u2019 too, for no one\nthinks of contradicting a boy. Of course, Mr. Paton told them that he\nwas very glad to have them come, as he wanted to teach them a great\ndeal they ought to know. They are really doing tolerably well, and\nI feel so thankful to have a man-cook, as there are so many things\nconnected therewith that men or boys require to do and that they will\nnot do to help a _woman_; for instance, chopping wood and black-leading\nthe stove....\n\n\u201cThe _Dayspring_ is a great blessing to us all. There is little fear\nof any Missionary now on the most savage Islands being ill-treated,\nif they see that he is well looked after. Of course, I mean \u2018humanly\nspeaking,\u2019 the fear is _nil_; and if we be kept in safety, and our\nwork in the end begins to prosper, that dear little Vessel and her\nsupporters have more to do with it all than might by some be imagined.\nTwo of our Natives, one of them the wildest character on Aniwa, were\nengaged by Captain Fraser to go as boat\u2019s crew, the trip before last;\nand they came back in ecstasies, declaring there was never such a\nCaptain as the one on board the _Dayspring_. He was so kind and good to\nthem, for when they came to any Island without a Missionary, he would\nnot let them go on shore for fear of being killed, and that would have\ndamaged our work on Aniwa. Then they counted on their finger ends, with\ngreat glee, the things they had received in payment; and as these are\ngood and useful articles, it engenders a love for such things instead\nof the paint and stuffs they get from the Traders, while their huge\nambition for sailing and sight-seeing is gratified.\u201d\n\n\n(1874.)\n\nTO THE FAMILY CIRCLE\n\n\u201cMY DEAREST MOTHER, SISTERS, AND BROTHERS,\u2014 ... I must, however, arrive\nat Aniwa more by degrees, as this is to be the journalistic Family\nEpistle, and you have heard nothing of us since we left Sydney on\nthe 4th April, with dear Dr. Steele on board, who seemed like a link\nbetween us and Civilization. I felt \u2018strong to go,\u2019 as our Natives\nwould express it, for I realized as I never before had done the \u2018Lo,\nI am with you,\u2019 and some of God\u2019s dear ones with whom we had had such\nprecious Christian fellowship were with us till the last....\n\n\u201cWe had finished up at Fotuna soon after breakfast; and how intensely\ndelighted we were to hear the Captain\u2019s cheery voice shouting out that\nwe would be able to have a drink of milk at Aniwa to-morrow morning,\nas the wind was fair. We had all packed up in the afternoon, and the\nfirst sight which greeted me, on looking out at my port-hole next\nmorning, was the trees and rocks of dear old Aniwa! The first boat was\nsent ashore with eight or nine Fotunese and their cumbrous baggage,\nwho had insisted on coming to visit our Island, rather to the disgust\nof the Captain. Meantime we were having our breakfast, and Mr. Arthur,\nthe mate, brought back word that our Natives were in a-state of great\ndelight and excitement,\u2014dear Yawaci making the younger girls fly round\ntheir work,\u2014also that our six cows had increased to ten, and that our\ngoats no man could number! He had also heard that a number of our\nNatives had died, and some had been taken away by Traders.\n\n\u201cWhen we neared the shore, we could see that the great majority of the\npeople had turned out, and even the very cattle and goats been brought\nto meet us! There were my girls, standing in a group in bright pink\ndresses, sewed and shaped by themselves, and turkey-red turbans, and in\nshort, by one and another of the Natives all the colours of the rainbow\nwere well represented. Not one person, I am thankful to say, was\n_without clothing_. True, some of their garments were ragged and scanty\nenough,\u2014still they had them, and it was almost more than we expected\nfrom some of them, after being away from them so long. They do _so_\nlove to run naked!\n\n\u201cWhat a shaking of hands, and \u2018Alofa\u2019-ing there was! Two or three\nlittle groups were sitting apart sobbing for their dead; indeed, they\nfirmly believed that if we had been on the Island to attend to them\nthey would not have died. When we reached the house, everything looked\nbeautiful and the ground so well kept, new coral on the walks, a fine\nnew mat on the dining-room floor and another on the lobby, and last,\nbut not least in the estimation of weary sea-voyagers,\u2014a great jug\nof new goat\u2019s milk! When Dr. Steele and Mr. Robertson made playful\nspeeches about our Home-coming before drinking it, I could most truly\nsay, even after all the enjoyment and kindness of the Colonies and\ndelightful Christian fellowship with kindred spirits there,\u2014\u2018Home,\nsweet Home, no place like Home.\u2019...\n\n\u201cAmidst all my hurry, however, I had five minutes alone by my little\nLena\u2019s grave. The beautiful white coral was blackened, but the grass\nand shrubs had grown, and the lemon branches with their bright fruit\nwere bending over and shading it beautifully. How naturally one looks\n_up_ to the blue sky above, and wonders where the spirit is, or if she\ncan see the mourning hearts below. She would have been running on her\nown little feet now, had she been on Earth; but though my heart aches\nfor her still, I would not have it otherwise, for she was not sent in\nvain, and oh, what a little _teacher_ she has been! When John took Dr.\nSteele to see the grave, he said,\u2014\u2018You have thus taken possession\u2019; and\nI felt we had taken possession of more through her than that little\nspot of ground on Aniwa....\n\n\u201cOur visitors and Vessel left us in the afternoon, and on my return\nfrom seeing them off (John was too exhausted to go), I met a very nice\nman, one of the Church members, who stopped me and said,\u2014\u2018Missi, I\u2019ve\ngiven my boy up to you and Missi the man, and you\u2019re to feed and clothe\nand teach him, as you do the other children.\u2019 I could hardly believe my\nears, and you would need to know how boys are prized here to appreciate\nas we did the sacrifice made,\u2014at least as John did, for I must confess\nthat the thought of their bodily sustenance comes between me and the\nfervent thanksgiving of my earnest little man for \u2018another soul being\nadded to our care!\u2019 We\u2019ve got ten of these souls, with bodies attached,\nat the present time, besides several outsiders who come during the day,\nand it taxes all my ingenuity to keep them in work and \u2018Kai-Kai,\u2019\u2014their\ncapacity for the latter being of no mean order. Their clothes are no\nconcern beyond the making of them, and that they soon learn to do for\nthemselves; for we have always been abundantly supplied from kind\nMission friends.... Although I _do_ sometimes think how nice it would\nbe to be in Civilization with a small house of our own and with the\ncare of only one or two servants at most, yet we are more than re-paid\nfor all our love to these dear Darkies. They are just like our very\nchildren, and such we always call them, and they are so confiding and\nloving with us and tell us everything, especially the elder girls, who\nhave lived with us now for more than five years.\n\n\u201cBy the way, we have just had an _affaire de c\u0153ur_ amongst them, and\nas Hutshi is the young lady, you will be interested to hear. You\nknow she was given away, when an infant, by her parents, to Nelwang,\nanother infant about the same age, but who is now one of the best and\nmost intelligent boys on the Island,\u2014the only drawback being that his\nlimbs are rather diseased, and he is so fearfully timid that he won\u2019t\nlet John apply anything to cure them. Well, when we were in Sydney, a\nmiddle-aged man, a returned labourer, whose betrothed wife is yet a\nbaby, came trying to curry favour with Hutshi\u2019s guardians (her parents\nare dead long ago) by bringing them large presents, and finally got\nthem talked over to give him Hutshi when she returned with us,\u2014so it\nwas settled, only awaiting her and our consent. Now, her guardian has\nalways been most honourable with us. He gave up Hutshi to us, when\nshe was of the greatest use in his village (but I took care to let\nher go and help them pretty often), and when we asked if she might go\nwith us to the Colonies, he and his wife said,\u2014\u2018She is more your child\nthan ours, Missi; do as you like.\u2019 So, when they explained matters to\nJohn one evening in the study, and said that both Hutshi and Nelwang\nwere agreeable to the change, he felt he could not interfere much, but\nwarned them not to be too rash and to ask God about it.\n\n\u201cHutshi, the mischief, flirted with her new admirer when she could\nget a chance, and I felt it would be a great relief to have her\nmarried; but we could see, from Nelwang\u2019s looks (he is one of our\nboys), that there was a pain at his heart. I set him a piece of work\nin the dining-room one day, and, sitting down to help him, got all\nhis confidence. The poor boy\u2019s heart was breaking, and he wound up by\nsaying,\u2014\u2018I can\u2019t tell _them_ my heart, Missi, for they would but laugh,\nand I am only one; but if my father had been alive, they would not have\n_dared_ to give Hutshi away before my eyes.\u2019 Seeing his lady-love,\nhowever, who at that moment came in at the open window and evidently\ncomprehended matters, he tossed his head proudly and said,\u2014\u2018It\u2019s very\ngood that she takes him!\u2019\n\n\u201cJohn and I espoused Nelwang\u2019s cause from that moment, and he soon\nfound an opportunity for saying a word on his behalf. I also got Hutshi\nalone, and told her what Nelwang had said. She replied that she did not\nknow what to do, as they were all urging her to take Sarra (the new\nlover); but she said,\u2014\u2018I would cry more to give up Nelwang than that\nold fellow!\u2019\n\n\u201cShe came to me the other day, and said she had finally made up her\nmind to keep by Nelwang. I answered,\u2014\u2018But I thought, Hutshi, you seemed\nfor the while to prefer the other.\u2019 \u2018Yes, Missi,\u2019 she replied, \u2018when\neverybody was praising him and telling me to take him, I thought it\nwould be nice; but Nelwang and I have had a talk. We told each other\nwhat our dead parents said about our being married when we were big,\nand then we both cried, and we are going to be true to each other!\u2019 So,\nyou see, there is sentiment in blacks as well as whites!...\n\n\u201cHere I am at the end of my fourth sheet, and have not even begun to\ntell you of the nice Ladies\u2019 Meeting we had at Aniwa, or the lively\ntime we have had with visitors ever since the Vessel returned with the\nMissionaries on board for the annual Synod....\n\n\u201cThat was a refreshing visit on the return of the Vessel from the\nSynod; and we had a cheery houseful, for in addition to our four\nhusbands, whom as canny Scots say, \u2018we were _not sorry_\u2019 to see after a\nthree weeks\u2019 absence, Mr. and Mrs. Inglis and Dr. Steele (the latter to\nremain with us) came and stayed from the Saturday till the Monday,\u2014the\nvessel going out to sea with the rest of the Missionaries, who declared\nit would kill me outright to have any more! Those who came tried to\nmake me promise just to give them a pillow and a blanket on the floor,\nbut we got them snugly stowed away in beds and on sofas, and we so\nenjoyed their society. It is especially delightful to hear their voices\nmingling in the Psalm at Family Worship. It makes one think of the\ngreat company of the redeemed, singing the \u2018New Song.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Sabbath was such a blessed day too, and it was quite an event in\nthe Church history of Aniwa to see six Missionaries on the platform,\nand five ladies in the Missionary\u2019s pew. Mr. Inglis preached at the\nfirst service, Mr. Annand at the second (John of course translating),\ngood Gospel truth; and Dr. Steele gave us a _white_ sermon in\nthe evening in the drawing-room, upon the \u2018Prayer of Jabez.\u2019 The\nlanguage was very beautiful, and the Doctor suited himself to his\naudience,\u2014leaving out his appeal to _unconverted Sinners_!...\n\n\u201cEvery one in the house is asleep, and my eyes will hardly keep open;\nso I must say Good-night to you all, with heart\u2019s love from your\never-loving daughter and sister,\n\n \u201cMAGGIE WHITECROSS PATON.\u201d\n\n\n(1875.)\n\nTO THE FAMILY CIRCLE.\n\n \u201cMY DEAREST SISTERS AND BROTHERS,\u2014\n\n\u201cIf I could only put one of the Earthquakes we\u2019ve had into this journal\nit would produce a sensation,\u2014descriptions seem so very tame after one\nhas experienced the awful feelings they produce! But I must begin and\ngo forward as best I can, there being no possibility of gratifying you\nin that direction.\n\n\u201cYou know, it was not till very near the time of the Vessel\u2019s sailing\nthat we decided last year to remain; and I sent my last \u2018Journal\u2019 on\nboard with an aching heart. We had been so nearly going to see our\nprecious boys, and till I saw the _Dayspring_ slowly disappear in the\ndistance I did not know how intensely my heart had been set upon seeing\nthem!...\n\n\u201cTo crown all, John got very ill, and sunk so low we feared he might\nnot live to see the return of the _Dayspring_. But all the time I had\nan inward conviction that God had not kept him on Aniwa just to die,\nafter giving us such encouragement to remain, and we had waited so\nconfidingly upon Him just to show us the way. And He did not keep us\nlong in suspense, for one event transpired after another to show how\nwisely we had been guided.\n\n\u201cThe first of these happened about a month after the vessel left, and\nas John was slowly recovering from his illness. We heard, one lovely\nday, as I was setting the copies for afternoon School (I managed to\nkeep it going all the time), a cry of \u2018Sail O!\u2019 which set us all into\na fine pitch of excitement. School was the last thing to be thought\nof, and the Natives scampered off towards the other end of the Island,\nwhere the vessel lay. John was unable to walk so far; but you may\nbe sure we were quite on the _qui vive_ for news, and I waylaid the\nfirst returning Native, who shouted to me in Aniwan, \u2018Missi, what _do_\nyou think has happened? A whole shipload of Tannese, men, women, and\nchildren, have been driven off their own Island by war, and have come\nover to live on this little Island, because the Worship is strong,\nand they know they are safe. They are many in number for the people\nof Aniwa; and where are we to get food for them, Missi? for they had\nto escape at night with what little baggage they could bring in the\nvessel.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnother Native soon arrived with letters from Mr. and Mrs. Neilson,\nconfirming the report, and we were rather dumbfounded at this turn of\nevents; but, like most of the other Missionaries, when they heard of\nit, we were also deeply impressed with God\u2019s mysterious ways. Tanna was\nthe Island upon which John\u2019s whole heart was set; and it was one of the\nbitterest disappointments of his life when the Mission Synod would not\nallow him to return there, instead of coming to Aniwa nine years ago;\nbut we both felt we were following God here, and now He had brought\nthe Tannese to Aniwa; for those who had come were from around Port\nResolution, and some of them were John\u2019s old friends!\n\n\u201cSome of the Islanders themselves were as much struck with the event\nas we were. And at last Mission Synod, Mr. Neilson amused all the\nMissionaries by giving the outline of a speech made upon the occasion\nby one of the Aneityumese Teachers on Tanna, apt as all Natives are\nin drawing illustrations from daily life to point their addresses on\nSabbath. He took the story of Joseph for his subject, and made out\n\u2018Missi Paton\u2019 to be Joseph driven from Tanna by his wicked brethren the\nTanna men, but that God had gone with him to Egypt, _alias_ Aniwa, and\nprospered him and the land for his sake, and prepared it for them to go\nand live upon, and thus save much people alive!...\n\n\u201cJohn immediately set to work revising his Tannese, which he had\nwell-nigh forgotten, so that when the Tanna gentry declined to come\nto Church he was soon able to go to them and first read his addresses\nand then preach to them in Tannese. How it did remind us of the early\nAniwan days, when our worthy parishioners used to enjoy a pipe or a\nnap, as they lay on their backs listening to the sermon!...\n\n\u201cThe Hurricane began in earnest about noon on January 14th, after a\nheavy thunderstorm which had blackened the air all the morning. As we\nsat at dinner the wind suddenly became furious; we had to jump up and\nmake preparations, as the house was shaking and creaking, the thatch\nstanding on end, and the rain pouring in. Immediately trees, fences,\netc., began to occupy a horizontal position; so the children and I took\nrefuge in the Study, which seemed to stand firmer than the rest of\nthe house, and from the windows watched the progress of the storm,\u2014a\nmagnificent sight, tall trees bending and falling before the awful\nforce of the wind. John came in greatly dejected, saying that if it\ncontinued much longer the Church would go, as it was already bending,\nnotwithstanding its being so strongly propped. There was a lull just\nthen in the storm, which cheered me; but his more experienced eye led\nhim to pronounce it the stillness that precedes a great storm, it\nwas still so black and ominous. And sure enough, just before dark, a\nterrific blast sent us flying down to the Cellar, our usual place of\nrefuge.\n\n\u201cJohn and a couple of the girls made a final attempt to get into the\nhouse for one or two loaves, and whatever else they could grab,\u2014we\nwere now awfully hungry, having been so unceremoniously interrupted at\nour dinner. My faithful little cook was precipitated into the Cellar\nbefore a great blast, puffing and panting and holding on to a kettle of\nboiling water, which was an unexpected luxury in the circumstances. So\nwe managed to make a very jolly meal off the top of a box; and all our\nstores being in the Cellar, we got hold of a tin of salmon.\u2014the girls\nhad thoughtfully brought a great basin of milk for the children,\u2014and\nwhen F. found we were all to eat the salmon out of one plate, his joy\nknew no bounds, and he stuck his fork into the biggest bit in the dish,\nwhich proved too large for his wee mouth, causing great merriment!\n\n\u201cThe storm raged till midnight, when we were all thankful to get up to\nour beds, and found our own room, fortunately, the only habitable part\nof the house. But oh, what utter desolation the morning light revealed!\nOur fine large Church a mass of ruins, with one great pillar standing\nsolitary and upright through the rubbish against the clear blue sky.\nThe School House in the same condition, at the other side of the\n_Imrai_ (= public meeting ground). With the exception of our cook-house\nand printing-office, not an outhouse was left standing on the Mission\nPremises; but oh, how thankful we felt that our dwelling-house stood\nsecure, as John was in no condition to have attempted building another.\nNot even a pane of glass was broken, though of course the roof could\nnot escape, and consequently everything was soaked. The day proved\nfortunately very hot, and we got all the mats lifted, and mattresses,\nblankets, etc., washed and dried. The pigs were in their glory, running\nriot over all the plantations, and I am sure if they could have spoken\nthey would have said in Scotch, \u2018It\u2019s an ill wind that blaws naebody\nguid!\u2019\n\n\u201cAlmost every Native on the Island was at work before daylight at his\nfences; dwelling-houses\u2014and there were not a dozen standing uninjured\non the Island\u2014being left till the plantations were secured. School\nduties were not even thought of. It was so sad to see the destruction\nof food,\u2014fine large breadfruit and cocoa-nut trees torn up by the\nroots, and bananas with the fruit half formed lying useless on the\nground. But the greatest lamentation seemed to be about the _Tafari\nMor\u00e9_ (= House of Worship), though the general Public were complacently\nviewing it as a judgment from \u2018_Teapolo_\u2019 (= His Satanic Majesty,\nin Aniwan), for their being \u2018so strong for the Worship.\u2019 This is a\npopular error; and John guarded them against it next Sabbath, preaching\nan impressive sermon from the text, \u2018Labour not for the meat which\n_perisheth_,\u2019\u2014rather _apropos_ to the occasion!...\n\n\u201cIt was altogether a sad time, that, for we had been so tried with\nHutshi, the girl I had last time with us in Australia, and who turned\nout a complete _vixen_; the first of my girls, I am thankful to say,\nwho has not turned out well. She was married to one of our best young\nlads, and went quite gracefully through the whole affair\u2014I think I\nwrote you all about it before\u2014but all the while she was dying for my\nhandsome young cook, who is engaged to the little table-maid. She\nbegan, soon after the marriage, to persecute her husband and flirt\nwith the other, going from bad to worse, notwithstanding all we could\nsay to her; and one day she behaved so frightfully, that, when we\nwere told of her guilt, John and I sank down on the nearest seats,\nperfectly overpowered with disappointment and horror. I could hardly\nhave believed that any woman, either black or white, could have so\ndeliberately planned to lead others so young and innocent into sin.\n\n\u201cThe young Chief came to ask John how she ought to be punished, as\nsomething would have to be done; but he hesitated to give advice, never\nhaving been called upon to legislate in a similar case, being indeed\ntoo vexed to collect his thoughts; only he strongly forbade them to\nshoot her, as one or two of the enraged fathers proposed, and advised\nthem to be guided by the Aneityumese Teachers, two wise Christian men\nfrom Mr. Inglis\u2019s Station. They said that the punishment inflicted on\nAneityum by the Chiefs was to tie up the guilty parties, collect all\nthe goods of those most deeply involved, and distribute them among the\npeople at the other side of the Island, so as not to tempt those around\nto bring false accusations against neighbours for the sake of their\nproperty.\n\n\u201cThis was accordingly done in the case of Hutshi; and we had an\ninvitation to be present at the ceremony, which we declined, as John\ntold them it was better he should not be too much mixed up in these\nthings. The only way in which he did interfere was to shorten the time\nto _three_ hours, instead of the twenty-four they were determined to\nkeep her tied, and which, in my opinion, she richly deserved! Two\nor three Tannese happened to arrive at her village before she was\nunloosed, and expressed their disgust at the consequences entailed by\nthe Worship, saying they could have as much \u2018fun\u2019 on Tanna as they\nliked without being punished for it. But one of our Aniwans answered,\nwith a sly wink at his neighbours, that bad as the Worship might be, it\nhad at least not driven them from their own land!...\n\n\u201cI wish I could say that was the last of the trouble we had with\nMistress Hutshi; for she professed great repentance, and sent one of\nthe girls, two or three weeks afterwards, to say she wanted to tell me\nall her badness, as that would make her feel better. She had not been\nallowed to come near the Mission Premises, nor had we since taken any\nnotice of her. We had very little faith in the young lady\u2019s repentance,\nbut feared to crush any yearning after amendment, if it _did_ exist;\nand I thought that God might give me a word for her. So we had a long\ninterview; but I felt all the time there was no change in her, as was\nimmediately proved, for she went back tossing her head and telling the\nothers they might talk as much as they liked, she didn\u2019t care, for the\nMissi was quite satisfied with her now!\n\n\u201cShe did not improve, but the Church members round kept such a watch\nupon her that she did not do anything very flagrant. She did, however,\nlead her husband a miserable life; and I never believed that a Native\ncould have borne with patience what he did; at last, being able to\nstand it no longer, he came to bid us Good-bye, saying he was going to\nlive about three miles distant (it was as far away almost as he could\nget on Aniwa, either in one direction or the other, as his lady-love\nlived close to us in the centre of the Island!) and that he freely\nbestowed her upon any man who might be fool enough to take her, as\nhenceforth he would have nothing to do with her.\n\n\u201cShe had, out of pure bravado, professed to elude their vigilance and\nimplicated a Tanna man, as well as Rangi (the wildest man on Aniwa),\nwho both proved their innocence. Perhaps Rangi agreed with me that he\nhad enough sins of his own to account for without being blamed for\nwhat he really did not do; and being an out and out Savage in his\ndisposition, we feared trouble when he came with all the Tanna men at\nhis heels to inquire about it one morning after her husband had left\nher. We little expected, however, the scene there really was enacted,\nright outside our gate too, for it was there Rangi caught hold of her.\nShe gave one spring to John for protection, but the gate was between\nthem, and Rangi wrenched her from it, and the savage yells that got up\nnearly sent me frantic with terror.\n\n\u201cJohn stood leaning carelessly against the gate, viewing it all\u2014the\ncalmest person there! He felt that his presence would be a sufficient\ncheck, though it would have been folly to interfere. My girls\nwere groaning and crying; and Yawaci (the girl I have here) was\nunconsciously doing her best to wrench the handles off the dining-room\ndoor in her despair, groaning out, \u201cMissi, blood will be spilt!\u201d while\nI was on my knees in the middle of the floor calling upon God to\ninterfere. But my little F. stopped me, saying, \u201cMamma, Mamma, I don\u2019t\nlike to see you look up and talk like that! Are you ill?\u201d So I tried\nto be myself again to the wee man, and felt comforted in having left\nthe case with the Lord. Only I _must_ see Rangi, though I had very\nslender hope of influencing him; and I put my careful husband into a\nfine consternation, as he would rather have seen an apparition than\nme coming on such a scene. I had only a very dim notion, then, of his\ngestures and entreaties, being deaf and blind to everything except\nRangi, who came nearest my idea of a _demon_ of anything I had ever\nseen!\n\n\u201cThe poor girl was tied, with her arms backward, to a cocoa-nut tree,\npale with terror, and a hundred muskets bristling round her. The\nTannese were in full Heathen costume, which means paint instead of\nclothing; and the Church members stood calmly, like John, looking on,\nexcept two or three of them, who kept guard around her with loaded\nmuskets for her defence from murder, if necessary. Her life was all\nthey or we wished to see spared, for she richly deserved any punishment\nshort of death. I caught Rangi\u2019s eye at last. At a sign he came quietly\nforward, and I began to tell him he should not dare to shoot my girl,\nbut being too excited I ended in sobs and was marched off,\u2014but not\nbefore Rangi earnestly assured me that he would not touch a hair of her\nhead, or let any one else do it, only, he said, she deserved to be tied\nand ought to be well beaten for blackening his character! We could not\nkeep from smiling, even in the excitement, at Rangi\u2019s care for _his_\nreputation, which was truly as black as it well could be.\n\n\u201cWell, here was mistress Hutshi practically put up for public sale;\nfor, according to Native law, whoever dared to unloose her from that\ntree had to take her for his wife, her husband having renounced all\nclaim to her. Rangi reminded them of this when he tied her up, saying\nthat the Missi only could alter that law if he wished. The Missi did\nnot feel inclined to do any such thing, having devoutly wished her at\nJericho ever since she commenced her pranks, as she was proving a curse\nto the place, and now only hoped that the most tyrannical unmarried\nman on the Island would take her off bodily as far away as the limited\ncircumference of Aniwa would permit (so did the Church members); but\nfor John to _say_ so would only be the beginning of mischief. He was so\nanxious they would not appeal to him for advice, for we both felt that\nfor her Native law was the best. But though a score of young men would\nhave gone down on their knees for her before she was married, there she\nstood for about three hours without a single bidder!\n\n\u201cJohn had got the whole crowd dispersed to go and cut wood for the lime\npits (you know he is of a rather practical turn of mind and likes to\nutilize the most unlikely occasions), which they did with great energy,\nhaving the steam up; so she was left alone, as the women had all to\nrun and cook food. I had a grand donation for the labourers besides\nthe tea, that day, as we had a calf killed the evening before, and I\nwas giving orders about it when I saw John waving me to the study with\nsuch an amused face. It seems that Hutshi\u2019s _old_ sweetheart had rushed\nto him in eager haste, saying, \u2018Missi, I never will have such a chance\nfor a wife! Will you marry me to Hutshi, if I untie her?\u2019 John said he\ncertainly could not, and that if he took her it must be _\u00e0 la Native_,\nand that he would have to discontinue his attendance at the Candidates\u2019\nClass, of which he was a member. He explained, at the same time, that\nit was not like running away with another man\u2019s wife, as her behaviour\n(which in Britain would have divorced her) had led her husband to give\nher up; only that, for the sake of example, he could not countenance\nsuch proceedings on the part of intending Communicants. Sarra said,\nin that case he would have nothing to do with her. But, alas, female\ninfluence prevailed, and he unloosed her an hour or two after, amid the\nHurrahs of the passers-by and our intense though secret delight; for\nthough Sarra is obliged to confess he has \u2018caught a Tartar,\u2019 yet he\nmanages to keep her in tolerable check, being a determined fellow.\n\n\u201cWe heartily re-echoed the sentiments of one of our Church members,\nwhen speaking of Hutshi, viz., \u2018that it was awful what a _woman_ could\ndo, when she was bent upon mischief!\u2019 Indeed, according to the Natives,\nwe have her, along with the two murderers, to thank for those awful\nEarthquakes which nearly frightened us out of our senses, though on\nAniwa very little damage accrued from them.\n\n\u201cThe first, at least the first to speak of, occurred near midnight on\nthe 28th March (the second anniversary of our Lena\u2019s birth), and woke\nus up with a vengeance, being the worst we ever had, the Earth heaving\nso awfully that we expected every moment to be swallowed up, and were\nalmost paralyzed with terror, but M. and F. slept through it all. After\nit, _a tremendous_ rush of the sea seemed to take place, from the noise\nit made, and which we found next morning was the case, carrying our\nboat from where it lay, high and dry about one hundred yards inland,\nalso canoes, two of which were smashed.\n\n\u201cI lay in awful terror after the Earthquake till three o\u2019clock, and\nwas dropping off to sleep, when another terrible one sent us flying\nout of the house in our night gowns, John dragging the children out of\ntheir beds, and the girls rushing out of their house. There was not a\nbreath of wind, and it was awful to see in the bright moonlight the\ngreat trunks of the trees swaying back and forward, and to feel the\nground going to and fro with such force. We had one or two slight ones\nafter that, and then just at daybreak an awful repetition,\u2014every one\nof us simultaneously rushing out of doors! This was number _five_; and\nbefore breakfast we went to see the damage done to the boat (but it was\nuninjured); and we had two more violent shocks ere we got home, making\n_seven_ in all before breakfast, after which we had a commotion of\nanother kind.\n\n\u201cJohn felt so exhausted, and had just got fast asleep on the study sofa\n(a most unusual occurrence with him), when I heard high words between\nTaia, one of our Church members, and Nalihi, an Erromangan. I knew not\nwhat to do, for Natives never waste time on high words\u2014they at once\nrush to arms; and I was unwilling to wake John to more excitement, as\nit was exactly that day two years since he had been seized with that\nawful fever, and I had been in fear of its return, as people predicted\nit would, about the same time of the year. Well, I actually made up my\nmind to show my wifely devotion,\u2014and it was a good test for me, I beg\nleave to say, I always had such a foolish terror of a loaded musket\nanywhere, and infinitely more so in the hands of an enraged Savage,\u2014by\ngoing between the combatants myself. To make matters worse, all the\nmen about had gone that morning to bring lime-coral, and only a few\nwomen had collected, and one or two timid fellows who stood at a safe\ndistance.\n\n\u201cNalihi was flourishing his musket in Taia\u2019s face, as an accompaniment\nto an eloquent harangue he was delivering in Erromangan, not being able\nto speak Aniwan; and Taia, who understood and could speak it perfectly,\nseemed to be paying him back with interest. They subsided for a few\nmoments, when it was whispered the Missi was there; but on finding that\nit was only the \u2018Missi fin\u00e9,\u2019 they went at it with renewed vigour. I\ntook no notice of the Erromangan, knowing my only chance was with Taia;\nso I went over to him, and implored him not to utter another word,\nwhatever provocation he might receive; and though reluctant at first,\nhe behaved nobly and stood what I think few white men would have done\nin the circumstances. I kept close beside him all the time, and though\nfor three quarters of an hour that villain stood heaping insults upon\nhim, and at last, in his rage, cut down his bananas and fences before\nhis eyes, he never spoke, though his muscles twitched and he clutched\nat his great club sometimes\u2014one that I knew had done good (?) service\nin Heathen days under the great brawny arms that wielded it; for Taia\nis a perfect Hercules, and such a contrast to the little treacherous,\nsharp-nosed Erromangan, who was dying for an excuse to get a shot at\nhim. When I thought Taia was going to give way, I put my cold white\npaw (it _did_ feel so cold) on his black arm, and every time I did so\nhe turned and looked down at me with a grim smile, saying, \u2018Don\u2019t fear,\nMissi, I\u2019ll not speak.\u2019\n\n\u201cNow I maintain, that though John sometimes fears Taia\u2019s Christianity\nis not of the highest type, yet he is undoubtedly a _perfect\ngentleman_, or he would not have stood there, the greatest living\norator on Aniwa, silent at the bidding of any woman! When I saw the\ngood food being destroyed and so little left from the Hurricane,\nindignation mastered every other feeling, and I felt it was high time\nfor John to interfere with Nalihi; as no one else dared to speak to\nhim, except master F., who had, by the way, found us out just then,\nand proceeded without hesitation to deal with him in plain terms. His\nlittle figure heaved with indignation, and he drew such a long breath\nbefore calling out, \u2018O you naughty, _naughty_ man! You\u2019re a wicked man!\nJehovah, _so_ angry at you!\u2019 Every one was so amused, and a general\ntitter went round, while Nalihi, with whom F. had been a favourite,\nbegan vigorously to defend himself to the child in broken English, at\nthe same time wielding his axe to some purpose amongst Taia\u2019s bananas.\nSo, feeling my own strength would not hold out much longer, I sped\noff and brought John, who quietly went up to Nalihi and relieved him\nof his musket and axe (Oh, I was glad to see that musket in dear old\nJohn\u2019s trusty fingers, for Nalihi held it in a horizontal position, and\nit always _would_ point at me the whole time I stood there!) clapped\nhim on the shoulder and had him sobbing like a child in a minute and\noffering payment to Taia for the damage done, which, however, Taia was\ntoo seriously offended to receive, and I do not wonder at it.\n\n\u201cThe crowd began to disperse, and John was taking Nalihi off for a\nday\u2019s work under his own eye, in case of his coming in contact with\nTaia again, when I put a graceful finish to the proceedings by going\noff into a fainting fit under the cocoa-nut trees! John said I managed\nbravely, all except that; but I do think that after _seven_ Earthquakes\nand such a scene, I had a good right to get up some demonstration, and\nit was the first I ever perpetrated for the public benefit!\n\n\u201cWe had three more Earthquakes that day, but slight, making _ten_ in\nall; and I took care at night to provide for emergencies by putting a\nsupply of blankets on the verandah, as there is not a moment to snatch\nclothes when they come, and we had felt chilly the night before. I\ngot laughed at for what was termed my needless precaution; but we had\nhardly got into our first sleep, when another violent Earthquake turned\nus out, and we were thankful for them. It was not so bad as some,\nhowever, and we got a sleep till morning without further disturbance,\nas the grand performance did not come off till next evening at nine\no\u2019clock.\n\n\u201cJohn was busy in the bath-room, with the girls, damping paper for next\nday\u2019s printing, I was in the dining-room, jotting in my journal the\nevents of the day, when we all had to rush out with the most frightful\nEarthquake that had yet taken place. The house danced, the windows\nrattled awfully, and F. woke up with the first of it screaming in\nterror, but M. took it more gently, telling him it was _nice_. It might\nhave been nice to feel ourselves rocked on the bosom of mother Earth\n(we lay down on the ground at a safe distance from the house, which we\nexpected to fall every moment), could we have been sure she would not\nopen up and receive us into a closer embrace!\n\n\u201cThe heaving must, I think, have continued nearly five minutes, and\nwe had just got into the house again, still trembling with agitation,\nwhen a terrible gust of wind and roar of the sea half prepared us\nfor the shouting of the Natives, who called to us that the sea had\nactually come close to our gate! We went out and found Natives up to\nthe waist in water, where it had been bush two or three minutes before.\nWe heard something flapping, and Yawaci picked up a large fish about\ntwelve feet from our gate; and as the tidal wave receded, they were\nleft in hundreds, which the Natives spent most of that night and next\nday in gathering. An enormous turtle was found too among a lot of\n_d\u00e9bris_,\u2014\u2018Jehovah\u2019s turtle,\u2019 the Natives called it, owing to the way\nin which it was found.\n\n\u201cNo serious accident occurred from the wave on our Island, as in most\nof the others, though some Natives fishing at Tiara were nearly carried\naway, and our boat which lay at anchor there was lifted, anchor and\nall, and carried a long way inland, but to a sandy place, where it got\nno damage; yet not a canoe, if I remember rightly, was left whole.\n\n\u201cFrom that time we had a constant succession of Earthquakes, and were\nkept in continual dread, though none of them so violent as those I have\nmentioned. We had to sleep with our doors open, and at last John went\nto bed in his clothes to be ready to run! I suppose you have heard\nthat the tidal wave swept right through Mr. Inglis\u2019s, doing terrible\ndamage and half drowning them, and the Earthquakes kept knocking down\nhis walls and chimneys as fast as he could rebuild them. Dr. Geddie\u2019s\nfine Church, too, is all but destroyed. But I think the greatest damage\ndone is to the nerves of the poor Missionaries\u2019 wives (the Missionaries\nthemselves would be indignant if you accused them of having any!) It is\nsuch an awful sensation to feel the very Earth trembling and heaving\nbeneath one, and such an _eerie_ feeling comes on at night.\n\n... \u201cI must pass over everything else that happened until we turned up\nin Civilization, and it is close upon Mail time. I would have liked to\ntell you about our pretty new Church, with its snow white walls, which\nwas finished just before our beloved friends, Mr. and Mrs. Inglis, paid\nus their farewell visit, which was like to break our hearts, for they\nhave been a father and mother to us and to the Mission. Our parting\ntoo with our Darkies was intensely trying, as we are to be away from\nthem a longer visit than the last; but the society of our dear friends,\nthe Murrays, was an unexpected treat, and made the voyage so pleasant\nnotwithstanding the sea-sickness....\n\n\u201cThe Home Mail closes in the morning; and I must close, with fervent\nlove, from your loving sister,\n\n \u201cMAGGIE WHITECROSS PATON.\u201d\n\n\n(1878.)\n\nTO THE FAMILY CIRCLE.\n\n \u201cMY DEAREST SISTERS AND BROTHERS,\u2014\n\n\u201c_Sons and daughter_, I should almost have added, as the biggest half\nof our little flock are separated from Aniwa, and will as eagerly look\nfor the \u2018family billet\u2019 now as the rest of you....\n\n\u201cNow that I have sat down to write, so much comes crowding upon me\nthat I hardly know where to begin; but I cannot put down a word of\nnews before testifying of the Lord\u2019s goodness to us, which has just\nbeen vouchsafed during this last hot season. He has encompassed us\nround as with a shield and preserved us safe and well, though from the\nday after the _Dayspring_ left for the Colonies on the 14th November\nlast until the 30th March we have lived in daily\u2014I might almost say\n_hourly_\u2014terror of our lives. We have seen\u2014especially John has\u2014the rage\nof the Heathen, and passed through Earthquake and Hurricane; but all\nseems as nothing compared with coming into constant contact with an\nunrestrained _madman_, and this we have had to do with poor Mungaw....\n\n\u201cYou must not think of us as pining in solitude, however. Indeed, poor\nMungaw took care to keep us all in lively exercise, and acted his first\nscene the day after the _Dayspring_ left for Sydney with our mails. You\nknow that he married Litsi, one of my best girls (and how delighted we\nwere at the time that she was getting such a good young man!), who was\nwith me on my first visit to Australia from Aniwa, and you remember\nhow pleased you all were with her. Well, he spent the night beating\nthat gentle girl (who was near her confinement) and their little boy\nabout two years of age; and when John met him in the Imrai and quietly\nremonstrated with him, he stalked off in high dudgeon; and in two\nminutes more, a tremendous crackling and roar of fire made us rush to\nthe window, where we saw his nice house and all that was in it one mass\nof flame. Not content with setting it on fire, he tore off Litsi\u2019s\njacket and flung it in too. We quite expected that our own house would\ngo, as there were only two light fences betwixt some of our outhouses\nand his, but providentially the wind carried everything the other way.\n\n\u201cHe then took Litsi and Nomaki, their little boy, to a distant village;\nand, oh! how we hoped he would remain, as Litsi had friends there,\nbut back he dragged them, terror-stricken and breathless from having\nto keep pace with his tremendous strides. I sent Litsi an old jacket\n(she begged me not to send a good one, as it might go the same way),\nand a blanket to sleep or rather to roll herself in\u2014for there was no\nsleep for any one near that night. He had threatened to murder some of\nthe villagers, and was stalking round and round our Premises with his\nloaded musket; but an Aneityumese Teacher kept watch over our house all\nthe night.\n\n\u201cIt so happened that next day had been appointed for a \u2018Members\u2019\nMeeting.\u2019 These meetings are held monthly, for John to appoint them\ntheir work, and change it from one to another, so that it might not\nalways devolve upon a few. You know there is no paid door-keeper,\nor paid service of any kind connected with the Church, so the women\ntake it in turns, two by two, every Saturday morning, to clean the\nChurch and enclosure. One man is appointed bell-ringer, another to\ntake off and on the pulpit coverings and carry in the Bible, etc., two\nto stand at the doors and see there are no loiterers outside, and so\nforth. Cases of sickness or wickedness are also reported, and Church\nmatters generally talked over. At this meeting one woman was scored\noff for absconding from her legal husband and living with another;\nand Mungaw, who came in with the greatest blandness, as if nothing\nhad happened, got a thorough \u2018talking to,\u2019 and was suspended till it\nshould be proved whether he was more rogue or fool\u2014for at that time\nwe could scarcely tell. That he had become decidedly cracked and his\nmind to a certain extent unhinged, no one who saw and heard him could\ndoubt\u2014especially knowing what a dear good fellow he was before; still\nhe seemed sane enough at times; and when he did break out, it was more\nlike being possessed with evil spirits. All his madness took the form\nof wickedness, and when he saw people afraid of him he was the more\nemboldened. It was very difficult to know how to treat him. He was\nrather cowed at the meeting, though, and kept pretty quiet till the\nfull moon, while meantime we had peace to get all our machinery into\nworking order again....\n\n\u201cJohn has had great comfort with his big boys, however, especially\nthe one we were most averse to take in,\u2014a great ugly-looking fellow\nof about eighteen, couldn\u2019t speak without a growl, and scowled\nat everybody from under his black wool, which hung down over his\neyebrows. To crown all, he had been with the slavers\u2014and that is no\nrecommendation!\n\n\u201cAfter keeping with our boys a day or two and coming to evening class,\non the third evening he sent in for a blanket, as he was \u2018going to\nstay.\u2019 We looked aghast. John was for receiving him; but I was at the\ncrying point, and declared I could not feed more Natives or make food\ngo further than other people. John said, \u2018Then am I to send him away?\u2019\nWell, no! I was hardly prepared to do that either; so, after talking\nover it a few minutes, we felt sure the Lord had sent him; and though\nI did not feel particularly grateful at the time, I have often thanked\nHim since. We went to the blanket box, got a nice warm blanket (the\nNatives feel chilly at night), called him in, and John had a talk with\nhim about certain rules, after which he took his gift with a very\npleasant grin. He looked like a different creature with his hair cut;\nand a more faithful, helpful, warm-hearted Native lad we never had.\nIn times of danger from Mungaw, he stuck by John like his shadow\u2014no\nostentation with it, but quietly getting some pretext for keeping close\nto him when there was any fear. A capital worker too\u2014for John does not\napprove of keeping his boys idle, and they help him with whatever he is\nat, fencing, roofing, gardening, house-building, etc.\n\n\u201cOne day he and another big boy (a great wag\u2014keeps the others in roars\nof laughter, and himself the picture of solemnity) had been planing\nwood very nicely, and John praised them, calling them his \u2018Carpenter\u2019\nand \u2018Joiner.\u2019 In the afternoon a slate full of writing was sent in,\ninforming us that they wished from henceforth to drop their old names\nand be called \u2018Carpenter\u2019 and \u2018Joiner.\u2019 Nor would they answer to any\nother. We often forgot, at first, but were reminded by their paying\nnot the slightest attention, till we came out with the new name\u2014when\nthey would instantly wheel round with a smile and be at our service!...\n\n\u201cOne day, before John was quite recovered, Mungaw put a lot of\nimpudence on his copy for my special benefit. I took no notice\u2014he\nlooked so wild\u2014but pointed out a mis-spelt word, wrote a fresh line,\nand telling him to follow it closely passed quickly on to the next\nwriter. I told John, when I went in, I was sure he would do some\nmischief ere long; and just an evening or two after, we heard him\nshouting and scolding from his house in an awful voice. John limped\noff, in spite of my entreaties to let them fight it out, and found\nMungaw flourishing an axe over a poor woman, whose husband was from\nhome and who had been helping Litsi to cook his fish, but had been\nunfortunate enough not to divine that on that particular evening he\nwanted it wrapped in a different kind of leaf from what was usual.\nHe had brought the axe within a few inches of her shoulder, when two\nor three Natives, attracted to the spot just before John, stayed his\narm and wrenched it from him. He got his musket next, but poor Sibo\nand Litsi both ran to our house for protection, while John and the\nNatives tried to calm him down. They got his musket from him, and I\nsaw a Teacher slip it behind a tree in our lawn; but Mungaw was sharp\nenough to notice, and got it away again when the affray was over, and\nordered poor Litsi back to her cooking. Sibo went to a distant village\nto be out of his way, declaring she was half dead with fright; and I\nwould very much have liked to get away from the Island altogether!\nJohn\u2019s spirit always rises equal to the emergency, but I get perfectly\nfaint with terror, and the longer the worse. This was merely a little\nprelude, however, to what followed.\n\n\u201cNext morning he had the audacity to appear at one of the dining-room\nwindows, as the girls were clearing away the breakfast things; and\nhe demanded the keys from John, as he wanted to sharpen his axe at\nthe grindstone. John said, \u2018No, Mungaw, you\u2019ll learn to put your axe\nto a better use first; and I want you to return the two you have of\nmine.\u2019 He looked the picture of innocent wonder, and replied, \u2018What do\nyou mean, Missi?\u2019 John replied, \u2018I just mean that I want you to give\nup your bad conduct.\u2019 \u2018My bad conduct! What have I done?\u2019 protested\nMungaw. John said pointedly, \u2018Do you not _know_, Mungaw?\u2019 That was all\nthe provocation he got; but he went off for his musket, muttering,\n\u2018I\u2019ll let you know who you\u2019re talking to.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhen he was gone, John went out to his Printing Office for something,\nand on leaving it saw Mungaw just inside our fence taking deliberate\naim at him with his musket. John turned round to lock the door, showing\nno signs of fear, but feeling that all was over, and that he was to\nbe shot down so near us all and yet none near enough to save; but God\nwas watching! The next instant he heard a rush of feet, a scuffle,\nand looked round to see the musket pointed high in the air, and four\nstrong arms grappling with the intended murderer. Two men had been\naccidentally (!?) coming up the path, took in the scene at a glance,\nand my husband was saved.\n\n\u201cI knew nothing of what was passing, but, feeling restless after\nMungaw\u2019s parting look, went out to hurry John in for worship. I met\nhim coming in, and stopped short at sight of his pale face to ask\nif he were ill, and he told me all. We had just begun to sing at\nworship, when he re-appeared flourishing his musket, trying the doors\nand windows (you may believe I had them securely fastened by this\ntime), and demanding entrance. We went on, taking no notice, but the\n_celestial quaver_ was plentifully introduced into the music, and the\ngirls rushed into the dining-room in great fear. Meanwhile the news had\nspread like wildfire, and the Church members near came running to order\nhim out of the Premises, which only made him wilder; so they seized\nhim, took him to the Imrai, and bound him hand and foot with ropes. It\nwas a terrible noise and scuffle, for he had the strength of ten men,\nand yelled like a demon.\n\n\u201cTwo of his brothers so-called (not real ones) arriving on the spot,\nhe thought to get up some sympathy, changed his voice to a whine, and\nbewailed his hard fate,\u2014\u2018bound and persecuted for doing nothing at\nall!\u2019 Litsi, gentle Litsi, took her boy in her arms, and walked up to\nhim before the crowd, saying in a loud voice, \u2018Look at the marks of\nyour brutality on me and my helpless child, and say whether you deserve\nto be tied or not!\u2019 It was an imprudent speech for her to make, poor\ngirl, for which he did not forget to repay her. It was a terrible day\nfor us all\u2014poor little F. white to the lips with fear, I lying in a\nfainting state, and John walking up and down the room trying to keep up\nour spirits, and wee J.\u2014oh! how we envied him\u2014running about, playing\n\u2018Peep-bo\u2019 in happy unconsciousness of all. The Church members feared\nthat some of the wilder young fellows, whom he had been favouring of\nlate, would come to his aid; but when it was known he had attacked the\nMissi, not a finger was lifted in his defence.\n\n\u201cThey did not know what to do with him, now they had him bound,\u2014nothing\nin the shape of a prison or secure place on all the Island! They\nproposed our Cellar, but we didn\u2019t want him quite so near as that; so\nthey let him off at the end of four hours, and Litsi and little Nomaki\ntook refuge with us. Mungaw got a little boy to tell him where they\nhid his musket; and, once more possessed of it, he flew all round the\nIsland till towards sunset, when he divested himself entirely of his\nclothing, stuck on paint, and with musket shouldered walked sentry\nbefore our front gate for more than an hour. He seemed to be imitating\nthe sentinels he had seen before Government House in Melbourne\u2014a slight\ndifference in the circumstances! But it was thought necessary to have a\ncounter-guard over our Premises that night. The only good thing he did\nwas to send his gracious permission to Litsi to stay in our house for\nthe night, which she thankfully accepted.\n\n\u201cNext morning (Sunday) he met her pleasantly, called her to speak to\nhim (our fence was between them), and threw a large stone at her head,\ninforming her that was the price of her yesterday\u2019s speech. We bound\nup the deep wound and advised her to lie quiet, but she preferred\ngoing to Church with us as the safest plan, for he had been caught\nseveral times during the night stealthily approaching our house to burn\nit, as they thought. None of the villagers slept, two of their lives\nbeing to danger. It was a most anxious Sabbath, and we had worship\nunder difficulties\u2014guards being placed at our house and the principal\napproaches to the Church. Oh, how regretfully I thought of the peaceful\nSabbaths and quiet walks to Church in Melbourne, none making us afraid!\nBut we tried to realize that the Lord Jesus was encompassing us around,\nand that He stood between us and Mungaw. The people begged John to be\nshort, as they were in terror, so we had only one Service in Church,\nand, instead of Sunday School, a prayer meeting on the Imrai. Mungaw\nemployed the time during Church service in ransacking the villagers\u2019\nboxes for ammunition, but they had it hid away; and at the prayer\nmeeting he was reclining, with folded arms, eyeing us from our back\nverandah! After the prayer-meeting, John urged the different villagers\nto take it in turns to sleep near Mungaw\u2019s house for the protection of\nLitsi who was being killed by inches, and at last they agreed; but as\nsoon as we were in the house, he went and patched up a sort of peace\u2014a\nsham to get the people away\u2014and then abused the people near for tying\nhim, and dragged Litsi home. We were half the night praying for the\nhelpless girl, so completely at the mercy of that madman.\n\n\u201cNext morning, he came into the Imrai in grand style\u2014musket in hand,\nof course\u2014and scolded the people, working himself up into a frenzy and\nkeeping us all on the rack, for _we_ could see from one of the Study\nwindows,\u2014when, to our great joy, \u2018Sail O\u2019 rang out, and it was comical\nto see how quickly he had to subside before this counter-excitement,\nand slink away! We felt it was in answer to prayer, more especially\nwhen a little afterwards he stood before our gate painted frightfully,\nand told our herd-boys that he was going in the Vessel if she called\nhere. How earnestly we asked the Lord to let him go, if it were His\nwill, but prayed above all for submission to bear what was appointed\nus, for we had the feeling he would stay. Poor fellow! he drove us\ncloser into the Saviour\u2019s arms than all Dr. Somerville\u2019s meetings in\nAustralia, for we had Him alone to look to. Natives were kind, but not\ncapable of giving much help\u2014they rather look to us for it\u2014and poor\nthings, we did pity them, when it was known that he had bought a large\nstock of ammunition, including balls, and that he stayed behind!\n\n\u201cIt turned out to be the schooner _Daphne_ for Fiji; and the Government\nagent sent half a sovereign in a note, begging for opium, as he had\nseventy-five people on board, and one case of \u2018assured sickness.\u2019 John,\nof course, returned the money, but sent opium pills, laudanum, and\nchlorodyne, having no opium. We were glad of the opportunity of sending\na few hurried notes, bearing a month\u2019s later date than the _Dayspring_,\nwhich left on the 14th November. This is the only other Vessel that has\ncalled at our Island, since we returned, except the _Dayspring_....\n\n\u201cChristmas came next in order. The little stockings had been duly\nfilled the night before, as F. took care to have J.\u2019s and his hung\nup, with dim eyes at the thought of the other three which had been\nfilled the year before. It turned out to be a bright day; the bairns\nwere jubilant over their gifts; and there was a general rejoicing over\ndear Litsi\u2019s re-appearance at the Evening Class\u2014her lord and master\nhaving gone out in a canoe with some boys for a night\u2019s fishing by\ntorch-light. Litsi\u2019s face beamed at having an hour or two with us\nall, for Mungaw did not allow her over her own fence, or any one to\ngo near her; and, as all the women were frightened, his commands were\nobeyed to the letter, except by us, and for her sake even I had to go\nstealthily with food (he starved her), as he beat her when he found it\nout. Our girls did not require two biddings to put a plentiful supper\nbefore her, and were cheering her under breath with the hope that his\ncanoe might turn bottom up and he get eaten with a shark, when the\nmost unearthly yell from the shore turned us all pale with terror, and\n\u2018Mungaw!\u2019 was gasped from every lip. Litsi flew home, in terror lest\nhe should find her _out_. The villagers seized their muskets and ran\nto protect their boys, and John and I to our knees in the Study. But\nthe whole turned out to be a hoax! The boys\u2019 canoe had upset among the\nreefs, and though they could swim like corks, and were in no danger,\nit was their pleasure thus to exercise their lungs while splashing\nabout....\n\n\u201cMungaw made rather a sad New Year\u2019s Day for us, though. While we were\nat breakfast, more people assembled in the Imrai and high words ensued.\nJohn went out to them, determined to sift the matter to the bottom;\nand at last it came out that Mungaw had gone the day before to the\nvillage of Towleka, and said that the people of Inahutshi were going to\nshoot them on the morrow, and then he deliberately walked to Inahutshi\nand told them the same thing about the people of Towleka. He was bent\nupon war; wanted, in his own words, \u2018to see blood run.\u2019 Burning houses,\nand he had burnt several, was becoming rather tame work; and he wanted\nsomething more exciting. He boastfully acknowledged the part he had\nacted the day before, declaring that if they had not _said_ they were\ngoing to fight they _meant_ it, which was worse\u2014better to have it out\nand done with\u2014why else were they carrying their muskets? This was a\nlittle too much for their patience, and they did lay about him with\ntheir tongues, saying it was he and he alone who had introduced this\ncarrying of muskets, by flying about with his own and threatening to\nkill everybody. He then said, that if they were not going to fight they\nought to come out boldly for the Worship (he certainly did not approve\nof doing things by halves), singling out by name those whom he knew to\nhave little differences with each other, and ordering them to shake\nhands and exchange pigs there and then!\n\n\u201cWhen John thought they\u2019d had enough of it, for Mungaw was getting\nexcited with his nonsense, he suggested that one of them should engage\nin prayer and let them then get home. A fine old Chief stood up under\nthe banyan tree, and, waving his hand with a majesty a Native can\nassume at times, offered a simple, earnest prayer, and the people\nquietly dispersed. But Mungaw tried hard to get them together again,\nand insisted upon everybody being converted on the spot. He kept on\nthis religious tack for about a fortnight, which was very pleasant, as\nit allowed us to sit with open windows and doors, and get fresh air and\nfreedom.\n\n\u201cOne day, when he was unusually gushing and had presented a pig and\nfood to the very men he had sought to murder,\u2014his speech indicating\nthat the Millennial Reign was about to commence on Aniwa under his\nauspices,\u2014a Church member said, \u2018I think, Mungaw, the people will\nunderstand us better, if we burn our muskets and show that we\u2019ll not\nfight, whatever they may do; here goes mine!\u2019 And suiting the action\nto the word, he broke and flung his musket into the flames. Mungaw\nimmediately followed suit, with a grand flourish, to the intense relief\nof all around, for he was a much less formidable personage without the\nmusket, though he still fancied himself a great king. He sent in for a\nblack suit, and permission to conduct the Worship next Sunday, which of\ncourse he did not get.\n\n\u201cJohn sent for him and had long talks with him; but saw it was\nlittle use,\u2014he was so crazed, and thought every one in the wrong but\nhimself. His standing grievance against John was\u2014that he kept all the\ncollections (!) taken at the close of Mission addresses (he insisted\nthey went into his private pocket), and did not halve them with him,\nthough he helped him to speak.\n\n\u201cHe never forgot the scenes he saw in that den of iniquity to which\nsome wretches took him in Melbourne, under pretence of kindness, when\nJohn was unable from my sudden illness in the country to take him home.\nIt bamboozled his then simple mind, how in a land of Gospel light such\nappliances could be deliberately and systematically set on foot for\nthe on-carrying of evil. I do think, that for their light,\u2014mind, I say\n_for their light_\u2014our black Christianity is superior to the white. The\nNatives often said,\u2014\u2018How is it, Missi, that he was so good and strong\nfor the Worship before he went to your good Land, and has been nothing\nbut a plague since he returned?\u2019 John, of course, emphatically cleared\nthe \u2018good Land\u2019 from all blame, adding that he would take care not\nto give any of the rest of them a chance of going daft by a trip to\nAustralia! They don\u2019t pursue the argument after that, as all are eager\nto go, and perfectly willing, they say, to accept the risk.\n\n\u201cIt was a blessing the Natives were so kind, and oh, how we experienced\nthat \u2018God stayeth His rough wind in the day of His east wind\u2019; for\nexcept the trouble with Mungaw, we had no other serious ones to contend\nwith, and He gave us to realize as I at least never did in the same\nway how entirely the work was His. It looked so mysterious, that after\nwe had come down at such a sacrifice to health and family ties to\ndevote our whole time to the work, it should be so retarded by one\nindividual; for often, at his worst, only eight or ten had the courage\nto come to School, and we could as well have taught fifty. But we could\nleave it trustingly to the Lord, feeling that all we had to do was the\nwork He laid to our hands from day to day. What a restful feeling it\ngives one to be \u2018only an instrument in His hand.\u2019...\n\n\u201cLitsi was the one most in danger, her house standing a little below\nours, and I having been roused at three o\u2019clock to attend her only the\nmorning before, John was very averse to my going, in the circumstances;\nand I fain would have contented myself with sending her comforts, but\nI could not think to leave her with her mad husband, who had still\nsternly refused to let any one go near her; so I hurriedly dressed,\nroused the cook to boil the kettle, and took one of my girls with\na lamp. We found to my intense relief the baby already born, and\nMungaw so delighted at having another _son_ that he was inclined to\nbe tolerably kind. I took advantage of his mood\u2014as it was through\nhim I could reach Litsi\u2014praised him for being such a clever doctor,\nand advised him to get her into the house out of the raw cold air,\nand offered him the services of my girl to light a fire, which he\ngraciously condescended to accept! When I went back with some tea and\nthings for the baby, they looked much more comfortable, Litsi sitting\nin the house by a bright fire, with the lamp beside her. Urging her to\nlie down, I returned home and looked into the girls\u2019 house to see how\nit was faring with my other invalid,\u2014for dear Yawaci had been carried\nto us at her own request in a dying state.\u201d...\n\n\u201cAll that day was spent running betwixt the invalids. Dangerous\nsymptoms ensued with Litsi. Mungaw got fearfully excited at a lot of\nwomen coming to see her, and stood over her with his loaded musket (he\nhad stolen another, as the pious fit did not last long), appealing to\nme whether his word as Chief should be obeyed or not. I seconded his\nefforts, as they were doing no good, and got them cleared to a little\ndistance\u2014at hand if they were needed, and by deferential behaviour got\nhim to let me come and go with food, etc. He attributed her illness to\nan absurd crotchet of his own, and held to it that she would be better\nat sundown. Meanwhile, the time was being wasted, and we had so many\nanxious thoughts. Was it right that her life should be sacrificed to\na madman\u2019s freaks? Was it right to give in to him, or how far was it\nright to risk his wrath? We took it all to our ever-present Counsellor;\nand then John decided that if I found her no better he would go\nhimself, whatever the consequences.\n\n\u201cOn my way I met Mungaw coming in at the gate with the empty dishes,\nand he said quite humbly that he was wrong in his supposition, and\nwould like exceedingly if the Missi tan\u00e9 (= man Missi) would go and see\nher, for he did not know what to do. John soon put matters all right,\ntelling them there was no cause for alarm,\u2014gave directions about one\nor two things that had been neglected, and ordered fomentations. She\nhad no more relapses, and he really seemed grateful the next morning\nwhen he came for her breakfast, as I could not go to her very early on\naccount of the tidal wave.\n\n\u201cPoor Yawaci was our chief care after that. It seemed strange that\nLitsi, who so longed for death, should survive so much ill usage,\nfor I could not pen a fiftieth part of the cruelty\u2014the refinement of\ncruelty\u2014with which he treated her. One instance will suffice. We missed\nhim from Church one Sabbath, and found that he had spent the time\n_skinning_ the lower part of her face and _pinching_ little bits of\nflesh out of her chest from shoulder to shoulder, threatening her with\nhis club if she dared to cry out. You will wonder that the Natives did\nnot interfere. We began to lose all patience with them. I remember Mr.\nInglis once saying, \u2018It was worth living twenty years on the Islands\njust to know what we owed to Christianity,\u2019 and how I thought they were\nstupid who did not find out all that in six months or less! I myself\nhave had to live twelve years on Aniwa, however, to know what we owe to\nLunatic Asylums, and also to learn how _exclusively_ a man\u2019s wife is\nregarded as his own peculiar property\u2014that is, to be used exactly as\nhe likes. They would as soon think of interfering with a man\u2019s conduct\nto his wife, as we would if in civilization a man chose to burn his\nown carpet or smash his own timepiece. They would break out into the\nmost amused smile, when John was begging them to protect her, and\nsay, \u2018But, Missi, it\u2019s his own wife!\u2019 Of course, they were mad enough\nat him, Litsi being a general favourite, but could not well see their\nright to interfere.\n\n\u201cYawaci\u2019s breathing was rather easier; and about eight o\u2019clock, after\ngetting all she could want for the night, we were so thankful to see\nher lie down for the first time, and fondly hoped she was beginning to\nrecover. She called the girls round her, telling them to sing; and,\nafter beginning the translation of \u2018Nearer, my God, to Thee,\u2019 I slipped\naway leaving them singing it, and got to my bed thoroughly exhausted.\nThrough the night, her husband knocked at our bedroom window, saying\nshe was dying. John sprang up and went to her side, offering a short\nprayer, but her spirit fled before he had done, and she was buried amid\nheart-felt lamentations before Church Service on Sabbath, 3rd February.\nOur hearts were like to break, for she had been a faithful attached\nservant\u2014_daughter_, rather\u2014to us for ten years; a sweet little thing\nabout eight or nine when she first came, and every year we liked her\nbetter. She had a great lump of _heart_, and I can never forget her\ndevoted care of us all at that time when we were both laid up and our\nprecious baby died. It was she I trusted to put the little form in\nits last resting-place, myself too weak to move! It was so sad to see\nher friends going about the next few days, their eyes red and swollen\nwith weeping. Weeks after, on putting her Photo. into the hands of one\nof the sewing women, her head sank lower over it till the heavy sobs\nwelled up; and as it was passed from one to another, there was hardly a\ndry eye\u2014so generally was she beloved. You have all the same likeness,\na true one, taken in Melbourne. Mungaw\u2019s was not so good\u2014at least it\ndid not do him justice in his best days; but it is charming to what he\nlooked like in his last few months\u2014his face was so wild and ghastly.\n\n\u201cPoor fellow, I would fain pass over his sad end; but I must hasten on\nand have done with him, as I daresay you are as tired of the subject as\nI. The last open break out with his wife was on the day that her baby\nwas three weeks old. He was in a very excited state in the morning,\nthrew off his clothing, stuck on paint (he supplied himself with balls\nof blue from our washing-house!), and seizing his musket, said he was\ngoing to shoot some one ere he returned. The alarm spread, and John\ncame to me at the sewing class to warn the women; but he soon came\nback, and I dismissed the School, feeling anxious to get the children\ninto the house (John would not budge from his usual work, but he had\nalways Natives with him), and get doors and windows shut. They had\nhardly gone when terrible screams came from his house, and I flew to\nimplore our cooks to protect Litsi. Just then John rushed past me,\ntelling me I must not hinder him, as he could not hear that poor girl\nbeing killed. Our boys ran with him, and met Litsi running from her\nhouse covered with blood streaming from the back of her head. John\ncaught her as she fell forward in a fainting fit, and a woman caught up\nher baby; they were carried to the Imrai, where John bound up her head\nand revived her with brandy and water. I sent her some fresh clothes,\nas John would not let me see her till she was revived and doctored, and\nI followed with some dinner. Her tormentor was coming too, but John\ngave him a look which made him disappear into the bush in quick style.\nHe re-appeared with the utmost coolness in a nice clean shirt about\nhalf an hour afterwards, and walked right into the Mission Premises,\nhelping about a score of men to carry a huge log of wood which John\nhad asked them to bring for some purpose.\u2014I forget what. During the\nafternoon School he sat eyeing Litsi and grinning from the opposite\nside of the Imrai, and chatting with the passers-by, as if he had done\nno wrong!\n\n\u201cPoor Litzi sat leaning against the Church fence, too weak to notice\nanything, but thought she was safer there when John had to be in\nSchool. He told the Natives that she must not be left to her husband\u2019s\ntender mercies any longer, but that they must take her to one of their\ndistant villages, and if need be protect her with their muskets. Our\nhouse was too near; and besides, if he burnt it to get her it would\nsimply mean death to us all,\u2014our food was in it, and neither of us\nbeing extra strong, we could not exist on roots and leaves like\nNatives,\u2014whereas any of their houses could be replaced in a few days.\nHe said also that it would never do for him to use arms,\u2014his work was\nto teach, theirs to protect each other when necessary. They all saw\nthe force of his words and heartily agreed with him, but all managed to\nback out of it, one after another, Litsi being too high-spirited to ask\nprotection from any of them.\n\n\u201cWhen we heard that she was left with only a few women we both felt it\nour duty to shelter her, regardless of consequences, and ran out to\nfetch her; but the poor girl had fled with her two little ones to hide\nfor the night in a plantation, one or two women keeping her company.\n\n\u201cAmid all her own danger, she was mindful of us, and sent a messenger\nto warn us that Mungaw would be sure to burn the house that night if\nhe could. We had a few necessaries selected, a cask of flour, hops for\nyeast, changes of clothing, etc., to put into the Printing Office,\nwhich would not burn so easily with its zinc roof; but when our\nAneityumese Teacher came after dark for their quiet removal, Mungaw\naccompanied him as far as the door! We all laughed. It was no use,\nwith such a vigilant spy upon all our movements. But we were specially\nreminded of some One watching over us.\n\n\u201cIt began to pour torrents of rain, as it so often did when there was\nimminent danger, and I sent coverings for the wanderers, hot tea, etc.,\nby a circuitous path, with orders to take them to another invalid\nshould Mungaw meet them. Our girls entered eagerly into it, and poor\nLitsi was made tolerably comfortable in body for the night, there\nbeing an old deserted hut in the plantation. Next morning, her cousin\nwhispered to me that two men had taken her under protection to Towleka,\na village a mile off, and that Mungaw had no idea of her whereabouts,\nsupposing her to be with us, as he had sent word the evening before\nthat he would kill her if she went anywhere else.\n\n\u201cHe got fearfully roused at not finding her by the afternoon, and\nsprang up after writing a line or two of his copy (he insisted on\nattending School) to go in search, beginning at the nearest villages,\narmed with club and killing-stone, and nearly frightening the life out\nof a dumpy little virago, who was in the habit of hen-pecking her own\nhusband. It was capital to see her thoroughly cowed for once! His wrath\ngrew with his want of success; and, returning after school, he told our\nboys in a tone of suppressed rage that he was now going to Towleka to\nkill Litsi if he found her there. One of them flew through the bush to\nwarn her of his approach, and John and I went to the Study to commit\nher to God. I think I would have gone mad myself, if we had not had our\nnever-failing Refuge in these troublous times!\n\n\u201cWe heard after retiring for the night an infant\u2019s piteous wail, and\nfound that, failing to get the mother (for the Natives would not let\nhim finish her quite, though he dragged her out of the house by her\nhair, _wool_ rather), he had torn the baby from her and rushed home\nwith it, knowing that she would follow it at any risk. It was _awfully_\nhard to keep John in the house, but I felt there was not the slightest\nuse in going. We heard other voices remonstrating, and the cries\nceasing we knew that Litsi had come. About midnight, what seemed to\nbe the death wail in Litsi\u2019s voice made us think he had murdered the\nbaby. It continued for about three hours, and rose to a perfect agony\nof distress before stopping. On inquiry at daybreak, for which we\nanxiously waited, it turned out that he had tied her arms and legs in\nthe most savage manner, only loosing her when two or three Natives went\nto the rescue. It was at the risk of their lives they did it, and all\nwarned us not to go to their house that morning, as he was raving mad\nand would not hesitate to kill any one coming near.\n\n\u201cWe just felt that poor Litsi had all the more right to our sympathy,\nwhen no one else would go. They insisted that she was dead and the baby\ntoo, there was such silence round all the place. John would not let\nme go alone, and I would not let him go alone, so we compromised the\nmatter by going together, and took a plentiful breakfast as an excuse\nfor intruding on his lordship\u2019s privacy, the Natives looking after\nwith wistful eyes, but not one offering to accompany us to the lion\u2019s\nden! I trembled violently, though I felt the Lord was with us, and\nwas almost relieved when we found the house deserted; but John called\naloud for Litsi several times, and at last she came staggering from an\nenclosure opposite, from which the occupant had fled when Mungaw first\nwent mad. She was trembling with pain and weakness, and when we were\ngoing over the stile, she looked back alarmed and said, \u2018You\u2019d better\nnot, Missi,\u2019 so we spoke a few cheering words as we stood, and told her\nagain that our house was open to her, night or day, whenever she needed\nshelter.\n\n\u201cSome of the Church members came to ask what was to be done with him.\nTieing only made him worse; confining or shooting were the only other\nalternatives. To confine him was impossible. Were they to shoot him?\nJohn, of course, would not hear of that, and they asked if there\nwas no sort of medicine to cure madness! A near friend got him away\nto his village, where they had a long talk, and warned him of the\nconsequences. The moment he went, I ran off to sit awhile with Litsi.\nWe feared she would sink under her trials, and wished she had access to\nthe rich consolations with which we were upheld every day in our little\nreadings both of the Bible and other books. It seemed as if the Words\nwere printed for our express circumstances and comfort. My own morning\nReading was in the Psalms, and I never felt them so suitable. The very\nones I used to think David had written in a fit of indigestion were\nfraught with the deepest comfort and meaning, and favourite passages\nwere more precious than ever. I never noticed before that the passage,\n\u2018Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I,\u2019 begins with \u2018From _the end\nof the Earth_ will I cry unto Thee,\u2019\u2014so applicable to us! John and I\nhave often remarked to each other that we had to come all the way to\nthe South Seas to understand some bits of the Bible; and I see Bowen in\nhis \u2018Daily Meditations\u2019 says the same in reference to India, where he\nlaboured so devotedly as a Missionary. We have another precious book\nwhich we were reading aloud and enjoyed next to the Bible,\u2014Boardman\u2019s\n\u2018In the Power of the Spirit,\u2019 given us also before leaving Australia.\n\n\u201cHow we wished poor Litsi could share all these privileges, and\nwondered if her faith were keeping alive at all, but her spirit was\nbeautifully submissive. When I told her that, however difficult it\nmight be for her to believe it, her Saviour God was tenderly caring\nfor her every moment and would not let her have one more trial than\nshe could bear, and that it would relieve her to take all her sorrows\nto Him, she replied, \u2018Oh, I know it, Missi; my whole words now are\nprayer; for I have no one else to speak to, and would have gone mad if\nI could not have told my Saviour! I tell Him everything, and know that\nit is all right even if Mungaw should kill me, for he can\u2019t harm me\nbeyond the grave.\u2019 I told her not a single night passed that we were\nnot engaging in prayer for her, and she said,\u2014\u2018These prayers have been\nanswered; for he has had the wish to kill me and burn your house, and\nhe could easily have done both had not God prevented.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe whole provocation (I forgot to say) he had for laying her head\nopen at this time, was her saying, \u2018Oh, don\u2019t do that!\u2019 when he got up\nto burn the fine new house he had nearly completed. She learned never\nagain to contradict him, even when he made the wildest proposals. The\nnext house he burnt, a neighbour\u2019s, he told her with a diabolical grin\n(he had such a beautiful smile in his sane days!) of his purpose,\nand she merely said, \u2018Are you?\u2019 and slipped round to take everything\nvaluable out of it, as the owners were living a week or two on a lonely\nlittle islet adjoining this, where the Natives often go for change and\nfishing. Of course, they said nothing about it on their return; no one\nin the Island was prepared to tackle such a character, and he presumed\naccordingly, turning his attentions more to the general public after\nthis, and dividing his favours pretty equally over the whole Island. He\nplundered the plantations in rotation, and shot all the pigs which came\nin his way, bringing Litsi part of the spoil; but she suddenly seemed\npossessed of the spirit of half a dozen, sternly refusing to touch one\nmorsel of stolen food, and took their eldest little boy to the furthest\nvillage, begging the people to keep him as he was too young to refuse\nwhat was stolen. She then came to beg of me for a dose of poison\u2014she\nthought the stuff we killed the rats with would do\u2014as he was too wicked\nto live, and would bring a judgment on the whole Island. She had such a\nchance through the night when he fell into a deep sleep (the first time\nhe was known to sleep for many weeks), and she had a great wish to take\nhis life, but was afraid God would not like it.\n\n\u201cI confirmed her fears and counselled patience a little longer, as the\nMissi was getting the boat repaired to go to Tanna, and it was well\nknown Mungaw wanted to go there and stay a while. This was the last\nhope of the whole Island, and all were eager to see the boat finished,\nnone more so than I, having an additional reason, viz., that it took\nJohn away to a distance nearly the whole day, and though he always left\nme with a body-guard he was not so careful of himself. I must say, the\nNatives were very thoughtful about him, however, and would not let him\ncontinue to take his nightly turns in watching our house. They begged\nhim to arm himself, but that, of course, he would not do. He and our\nAneityumese Teacher were the only ones who would not carry a weapon of\nany kind, or give in to him when it was right to be firm, and they were\nthe only two Mungaw had the slightest fear of; but he kept prowling\nabout our Premises day and night, for what intent he best knew. When\nhe used to set off on his peregrinations, it was such a relief to\nthrow windows and doors open for air; but back he would come with the\nrapidity of a race horse. Many a fainting fit he gave me; and F. used\nto get white to the lips when he appeared. Even little J. began to\nlisp,\u2014\u2018I frightened Mungaw!\u2019\n\n\u201cAbout the only time I was thankful to see him come was after he had\nbeen tracking John\u2019s footsteps closer than I liked. I was watching\nhim from our front verandah as he went off to his boat, the two lads\na little before, when Mungaw suddenly appeared close behind him\u2014axe\nin hand. I could see a long way, and when John stooped to examine a\nbush or fern Mungaw stopped too, always keeping right at his back.\nVisions of the murdered Gordons rose vividly before me, and I felt\ndistracted. I knew that John and the boys were on their guard, and\nplenty of Natives were about, but a blow could be so easily struck!\nI went in-doors and told my God and then our Aneityumese Teacher (we\nshowed as little fear as possible before our Natives), so that if he\nthought there was real danger he would go to him. He looked anxious and\nquestioned me minutely, but went on quietly with his work, and I tried\nto follow his example; but my feet _would_ carry me to the verandah,\ntill the welcome sight of that usually dreaded form, tossing his axe in\nthe air and catching it by the handle, allayed all fears, for I knew\nthat had he done any harm he would have rushed into hiding.\n\n\u201cHis last days were spent pulling up the people\u2019s bananas and\nsugar-cane, destroying what he could not devour. He took our boys\u2019\nblankets and boxes, and walked off with the lookingglass from the\ngirls\u2019 house. Just the Sunday morning before he was shot he turned out\nall the girls\u2019 boxes while we were at breakfast, and pranced up and\ndown our front verandah. We had just finished our own Family Worship,\nand John was going off for a little quiet to his Study, when we heard\nthe Church bell being furiously rung a full hour before the time! The\nNatives already gathered stood staring at each other in consternation,\nothers hurried forward, thinking they were late, and the usual\nbell-ringer came panting to know why the work was so unceremoniously\ntaken out of his hands! The more they begged Mungaw to leave off the\nquicker he rang, till John ran out and ordered him to stop instantly,\nwhich he did.\n\n\u201cHe did not trouble us another Sunday, poor fellow, but he gave me two\nor three thorough frights through the week, once surprising me suddenly\non the verandah, when mounted on a high box, and oil-painting the\nwoodwork of the house. On the following Saturday morning, as we were in\nthe garden, Litsi passed the fence and I ran to her. She said, \u2018When\nwill the boat be ready, Missi?\u2019 I told her that there was just a little\npaint to finish to-day, and it would sail on Monday, so she would have\nonly two days more of endurance. She jumped and clapped her hands,\nsaying, \u2018My heart sings, for he\u2019s sure to go!\u2019\n\n\u201cBut that same evening, as we sat at a late tea, our spirits brighter\nthan usual, feeling that relief was near (though it came not in the way\nwe expected), for the _Dayspring_ was to leave Sydney on Monday and\nwould be getting nearer us every day, we heard the fatal shot go off\nclose beside us! We have heard as loud reports and even nearer, when\nthey were killing flying foxes or birds, which caused us nothing more\nthan a start and a laugh; but there was something in that which made us\nspring simultaneously from our seats and stand in awe. John said, \u2018Some\none is shot! Either Mungaw, or some one by his hand.\u2019 He had barely\nuttered the words, when the awful death-wail in Litsi\u2019s voice confirmed\nour fears. Our girls rushed in from the bath-room, where they had\nbeen filling baths and getting all ready for Sunday, and said, \u2018That\u2019s\nMungaw, Missi, for the Inahutshi people told us not to be alarmed if we\nheard a shot after dark, as we would know it was Mungaw killed.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt had all been deliberately arranged, and we knew not a word about\nit. John said, \u2018Then I must run and see what I can do for the poor\nfellow,\u2019 and was off; but another loud report made me implore him to\ncome back, till we ascertained certainly what the matter was, as he\nmight be shot in the dark without any one meaning it, and F. decided\nthe matter by saying in a faint voice, \u2018Papa, will you stay and take\ncare of us?\u2019 His papa put his arm round him and said, \u2018Yes, my boy,\nI\u2019ll not leave the room again.\u2019\n\n\u201cTwo or three Natives came to tell us that Mungaw was shot dead, and\nthat John\u2019s going would be no use now. He engaged in prayer, and oh,\nhow our hearts bled for the poor fellow! Now that his sad end had\ncome, we could only think of him as he once was; as, for instance, we\nsaw him one evening years before stand calm and tranquil, with three\nenraged men pointing their muskets at him for spoiling some Heathen\nperformance, and telling them he would not fight, and that the worst\nthey could do would only send him to Heaven. Or again, as he used to go\nabout pleading with the young boys (a mere boy himself) not to follow\nthe footsteps of their fathers, but come out decidedly for the Lord\nJesus. Or again, we thought of the time when he was John\u2019s right hand\nman, and would almost have laid down his life to serve him. His two\nnearest friends, on coming to ask if they would bury him at once, laid\ndown their heads and sobbed aloud, though, like all the Aniwans, they\nhad wished for his death. It was a sad, sad night; the hurried and\nmidnight burial, the suppressed excitement, the fear and uncertainty\nabout the real murderers and what would follow next, and last of all\nthat young and once noble fellow cut down in the midst of his days.\n\n\u201cHe had just left our Premises and gone home for supper, and then had\nworship (!) with Litsi, after which she told him not to go outside, as\ntwo or three men had been watching for three nights to get a good aim\nat him. He courted death and _would_ go out, saying to Litsi, \u2018You\ncome with me.\u2019 She went out first and thought she saw a man standing;\nbut next moment the attention of both was suddenly directed to a meteor\nin its transit, and while gazing at it the musket went off, going\nthrough Mungaw\u2019s body from arm to arm. He fell down by his own door,\ncrying, \u2018_Awai!_\u2019 (= Alas!), and died immediately, the murderers making\ntheir escape as they shot the other musket into the air....\n\n\u201cYou may be sure, after these trying times and seven months\u2019 utter\nsilence regarding our absent ones, we were intensely delighted to\nwelcome the dear old _Dayspring_ once more. But strange as it may seem,\nthis is our most trying time; for all the anxiety of the past months\nseems to accumulate into an agony of suspense, from the time her sails\nare discerned till we have opened the most desired-for letters of our\nmail and found all well. She arrived at Aniwa just two days after we\ncalculated upon seeing her, April 24th. The first announcement of her\napproach came as we were assembled in Church at three o\u2019clock for\nthe prayer-meeting; and I\u2019m afraid the Services had not their usual\ninterest for me! How John could proceed quietly with his address, under\nthe excitement, was a puzzle; for I saw him start, and we exchanged\nearnest looks, as the well-known cry greeted our ears, and then two\nNatives came panting in with beaming faces, darting intelligent looks\nall around.\n\n\u201cThe Service _did_ come to an end at last, and then every one\u2019s tongue\nwas loosed. It _was_ the _Dayspring_ without doubt; but was there\nwind enough to bring her in that day? I made an agreement with the\nherd who went for the goats to shout again if it were very near, and\nsoon a dozen voices yelled back the answer. I flew to give orders for\nall sorts of preparations, but not a girl was to be found, all having\nrushed up the hill to see for themselves; and when they came, they were\nso mad with joyful excitement, that instead of their usual respectful\ndemeanour they tumbled heels over head on the verandah two or three\ntimes, before they could compose themselves to work; and so many little\nthings waiting to be done!...\n\n\u201cWe gathered round such a happy tea-table; for it is the most\nexquisite treat to have intercourse with kindred spirits in our own\ntongue, after jabbering so many months to the Darkies, and to get all\nthe news from the civilized world. Such a Mail too! Over one hundred\nletters, and no end of papers. We simply looked at all your different\nhandwritings, but devoured our bairns\u2019 monthly budgets that night after\nour visitors had retired to their rooms....\n\n\u201cThe second Communion since our return also took place at this time,\nand was a season of great refreshing and comfort; but the sight of that\nlittle group of Communicants is always too much for me, especially when\nthey stand up to sing so heartily! I could fain lay down my head and\nsob, were it not that I have the harmonium to attend to and must crush\nmy heart down as best I can. All our trials and privations, looked at\nin the light of that little _sable band_ (glancing back at what they\nonce were) now sitting at their Lord\u2019s Table, seem as nothing\u2014as less\nthan nothing.\n\n\u201cA stranger might simply have his _risibles_ excited by the somewhat\ngrotesque costume of the congregation. Indeed, I had to turn away my\nown head, as our two worthy Elders came in for the \u2018Elements\u2019 before\nthe Service, with the most imposing gravity, with manifest devotion\nin their looks, but in all the dignity of their office, and with\nspecial hats to grace the occasion. The one had his white shirt done\nup round his hat so as to represent a puggaree, and, as it hung a\nlong way behind, he had to keep his head well-balanced for fear of it\nfalling back. As for the other, who or what his hat had been originally\nintended for, we were at a loss to divine! It has always been our\ndifficulty to get them large enough to include their _wool_; but this,\na light grey chimney-pot, overtopped wool and all till it rested on the\ntip of his nose, which fortunately being a very large one prevented his\nface from disappearing altogether!...\n\n\u201cThe Captain\u2019s plan was to land us on Sunday morning, lie off and\non till Monday to land our luggage and some wood John had bought on\nAneityum, and then return for the McDonalds at Port Resolution on his\nway northward. Mrs. Milne and I lay pillowed on deck, enjoying the\nmoonlight till quite late, and having such a musical treat from Mr.\nMichelsen, who sings and accompanies himself on the guitar with great\ntaste. He had been playing it on deck in the afternoon, and we begged\nhim to bring it up again after tea. The moon was brilliantly reflected\non the water, and the ship lying so still, when he began with the\nexquisite guitar accompaniment to sing \u2018Jesus, lover of my soul,\u2019\u2014the\nMissionaries standing round and joining softly in parts, while we were\nquietly crying. I have heard Oratorios in the old country rendered\nso that they almost took one out of the body, but never anything\nthat went to my heart like this! You would need to take in the whole\ncircumstances to know how we felt it. The Vessel, with her little band\nof Missionaries so far from kindred and country, and about to separate\nfor their lonely homes, and we knew not how much trial awaiting them!...\n\n\u201cWe have already 600 lbs. of Arrowroot (to pay for the Gospel-books)\nput up, mostly in 10 lb. bags. The Natives are still making more, and\nthe demands upon me for calico have been endless. After ransacking\nboxes for every inch that could be got to dry it upon and to make bags,\nI had to sacrifice all my common sheets and table-cloths; and, while\ntrying to bear up under this calamity with Christian fortitude, John\nroused all the old Adam in me, by coolly bidding me be quick and get\nout my _linen_ ones and best table-cloths, as it was a splendid day for\ndrying! I emphatically declared that my few best things should remain\nuntouched, though the Natives should never get their books; and, by a\nlittle management in making the others do, I have kept to my _wicked_\nvow....\n\n\u201cIt is now the 1st of August, though I see that I began this on the 8th\nof July, and I have not begun to write a single _private_ letter, and\nso many to answer; and the huge piles, which made our eyes dance with\njoy on receiving them, are regarded rather ruefully, now that we have\ngot to reply to them! I must leave out, therefore, all other items of\ninterest which I intended writing, as this is already far too long,\u2014and\nclose with warmest love from\n\n \u201cYour ever-loving Sister,\n \u201cMAGGIE WHITECROSS PATON.\u201d\n\n\n(1879.)\n\nTO THE FAMILY CIRCLE.\n\n \u201cMY DEAREST SISTERS AND BROTHERS,\u2014....\n\n\u201cOur next bit of excitement was on New Year\u2019s Day, when the usual\nshooting match came off, and prizes were awarded to the winners.\nThe most amusing part to us was the racing amongst younger boys and\ngirls. The Chief, whom John had placed in charge of the prizes, would\nput a belt, necktie, or bit of red calico on a post at a certain\ndistance off, and then the word of command was given to the eager\nlittle monkeys, and they made such a scramble as they neared it! The\ngrand entertainment, however,\u2014the Magic Lantern, was reserved for the\nevening, and was quite a success. Everybody on the island that was able\nto crawl at all put in an appearance, including two old bed-ridden\nwomen, who set out in the early morning and managed a journey of two\nmiles by the time it got dark! John had all Mr. Watt\u2019s slides, as well\nas his own, and the Natives were in perfect ecstasies of delight the\nwhole evening; but when he finished off with \u2018the revolving light,\u2019\nthey fairly yelled with delight and amazement, declaring it must be\n\u2018Tetovas\u2019 (= gods) who made that!...\n\n\u201cThe Vessel turned out to be a _Slaver_, and sent in a boat with\nNative crew and two white men in search of Natives. The boat kept in\ndeep water just outside the reef, and some Aniwans waded out and were\nshouted to in \u2018Sandal-wood English.\u2019 They wanted men or boys, and\nwould give a musket for every one they got. Our Natives shouted back\nthat they were \u2018Missi\u2019s worshipping people,\u2019 and did not want to go\nwith Traders. One of the white men stupidly (it must have been in fun)\nlevelled a musket at one of our Natives, when the cap snapped and set\nthe Natives in a great rage, believing that he tried to kill some of\nthem. The man levelled at, a fiery fellow, a returned labourer, flew\nfor his musket and would have made short work with the white man, had\nnot John and the Church members interfered,\u2014John actually standing\nright between him and the boat to prevent shots being fired. He waved\nthe boat off with his hat, pointing to the armed men, which they seemed\nto comprehend, and after returning hats they made for the ship, which\nsoon disappeared in the horizon.\n\n\u201cI was annoyed enough at John exposing himself, not that a person\non Aniwa now would harm him, for I often wish that they loved their\nSaviour as much as they do their Missionary, but it is seldom one\u2019s\nduty to stand in the way of loaded muskets! You would hardly believe,\nthough, the kind of thanks he got from the wretches he tried to save.\nThey went to Fat\u00e9, wrote out a paper to the effect that \u2018they had\ncalled at Aniwa for labourers, but that the Missionary, Mr. Paton,\nhad come out to attack them at the head of an armed party. The man in\ncharge of the boat, however, had Mr. Paton covered with his rifle,\nso that had a single shot been fired into it he would have fallen in\nrevenge.\u2019 And the paper has been posted up on the door of the principal\nstore in Havannah Harbour! Those are the sort of men, authorized by\nour British Government to scour these Islands. We were perfectly\nthunderstruck when Mr. McDonald happened to mention it to John, after\nhe had decided to go North, in case he should see it himself. Mr.\nMcDonald sees enough of the Traders and their doings, and treated it\nwith amused contempt as it deserved.\n\n\u201cIt is nearly as bad as the Nguna case, where the chief mate of the\n_Jason_ swore in a Queensland law-court that the Rev. P. Milne caused\nthe Natives to fire into his boat. A Man-of-war was despatched to\ninquire into the proceedings of this dreadful Missionary, and it was\nproved that poor Mr. Milne was sound asleep in his bed (it was early\nmorning), and did not even know of the affray till months after it\nhappened. It was the two husbands of two Native women, that this honest\nmate was trying to make off with (and did make off with), that owned\nto having fired the shots! It is not the first time that John has\ninterfered to save the worthless lives of these Slavers; but the whole\nfraternity may be riddled with bullets before I consent to his stirring\nhis finger again in their miserable quarrels....\n\n\u201cLitsi has since consoled herself with another husband,\u2014related to\npoor Mungaw, and a real love-match, as they both freely confessed.\nLitsi was as playful and coy over it as a young lassie; though,\nwhen she stood up for the ceremony, she whisperingly informed the\nbystanders with a giggle that she didn\u2019t want to get married! I suppose\nshe thought some appearance of an apology necessary for her third\npresentation in that Church as a bride. We felt thankful when the\nmarriage was past, for there had been the usual scramble to get her and\nconsequent bitterness of feeling by the rejected ones, some of them\nfar handsomer and better men than the prize winner, but Noopooraw had\nshown the depth of his affection by threatening _to kill her_ if she\ndid not have him, which according to Native is the strongest expression\nof devotion, and is precisely the same as a wildly-enthusiastic admirer\nat home threatening _to kill himself_ in similar circumstances. The\ndespairing lover in these Seas never dreams of taking away his own\nlife, but hers instead, finding that probably the more powerful\nargument of the two!...\n\n\u201cIt is getting very late and I must pass over all else and tell you\nwhat a charming time we had at Erromanga, where the Mission Synod was\nheld this year. Mrs. McDonald and I were the only ladies to keep Mrs.\nRobertson company; and I was complimented upon now being the \u201cmother\u201d\nof the Mission, and carrying my honours quite becomingly\u2014having become\nplump and vigorous since the Hurricane.... It seemed like fairy\nland to enter dear Mrs. Robertson\u2019s pretty, shady, cool house after\nenduring two days\u2019 suffocation with the horrid bilge water on board the\n_Dayspring_.... Every day brought us fresh pleasures, afternoon rambles\non the mountains and walks by the river course up that beautiful\nvalley, when \u2018the brethren\u2019 were at liberty to dance attendance on us,\nhaving all their Synod business over before dinner.... How pleasantly\nthose days flew past, only they can understand who have been cut off\nfrom kindred spirits as we are! We three ladies were, of course, all\nthat could be wished for (?); and every one of the Missionaries was\nkinder than another. Even in Synod, where Ministers are apt to indulge\nin the grace of _candour_ to an uncalled-for degree, there was not a\njarring word\u2014owing, perhaps, to that bilge water having taken all the\nbile out of them on the voyage!... The house is charmingly situated\non terraced ground at the foot of a high mountain, near the centre of\nthe Bay, with that lovely river to the right flowing past within a few\nyards of the enclosure.... Our eyes were constantly wandering off to\nthe lovely scene before us,\u2014and one with a history too! That very river\nwas once reddened with the blood of Williams and of Harris; and the\ngrass-covered mountain towering up from it was the scene of the Gordon\ntragedy,\u2014while their grave-stones gleam white through the greenery on\nits opposite banks. Dear Mr. McNair\u2019s grave is close beside them. All\nlooked so peaceful now, with the _Dayspring_ lying quietly at anchor in\nthe Bay, and canoes manned by _Christian_ Natives paddling about in its\nblue waters!\n\n\u201cWhat a contrast to these former days of blood; and even a contrast,\nas the Robertsons told us, to what they had to suffer only in January\nlast. The Heathen Chiefs were getting fierce at the rapid strides\nChristianity was making all round the Island, and laid a deep plot to\ntake the Missionaries\u2019 lives. They chose their time well, when nearly\nall Mr. Robertson\u2019s young men were away at Cook\u2019s Bay; and you may\nimagine his and Mrs. Robertson\u2019s feelings, when the alarm got up one\nnight as they sat quietly reading. They went into their bedroom and\ntook their stand beside their three sleeping children. Escape by sea\nwas impossible, even could they get to their boat, the night being\nstormy. Mrs. Robertson turned to her husband and said,\u2014\u2018Do you think\nthey could touch those sleeping lambs?\u2019 He smiled bitterly,\u2014\u2018What do\nthey care for our sleeping lambs?\u2019 Yomit, a devoted Erromangan Teacher,\ncame in to them, and she turned to him, saying,\u2014\u2018O Yomit, do you think\nthey could have the heart to kill those little sleeping darlings?\u2019 He\nraised his arm and said,\u2014\u2018Missi, they\u2019ll have to cut this body of mine\nin pieces ere ever they get near them!\u2019 He started off and collected\nall the available help necessary, sending secret messages overland\nin different directions to their friends, so that before morning the\nMission House was surrounded by 200 warriors, ready to give their\nlives in defence of their Missionary. And these were the very men\nwho murdered the Gordons;\u2014explain the change! Jesus has been amongst\nthem!...\n\n\u201cOur visit there was all too short, as the Synod lasted only a week. We\ncommemorated the Lord\u2019s Supper together, on the Sabbath evening before\nwe broke up. One evening too there was an interesting Bible Society\nmeeting, at which John was Chairman; and, in response to an urgent\nappeal from London, Mr. Copeland proposed that Missionaries and seamen\nshould all add a day\u2019s wages to their usual subscription\u2014which was most\nwillingly agreed to....\n\n\u201cWe tore across from Erromanga with a good wind, landing about sundown,\nand got a warm welcome from our dear old Darkies, who had all turned\nout in their best garments to meet us, though it was pouring rain.\nJohn went on in the _Dayspring_ to be left on Tanna for a fortnight at\nKwamera, to make some small return for the Watts\u2019 great kindness to our\nNatives while we were in Melbourne.... He enjoyed his fortnight there\nintensely. The Mission Premises were like a new pin, and the Tannese\nlonging for Mr. and Mrs. Watts\u2019 return with their whole hearts. Their\nlittle boys and girls at the Station attended to John so faithfully,\nand continually followed him about, asking daily and often in a day the\nsame question,\u2014\u2018When will our Missis be back?\u2019 There are more than the\nTannese longing for their return, and it will be a glad day when we see\ntheir dear faces again....\n\n\u201cJohn has decided not to make any change for another year, if at all\nable to hold on. It is no use now for me to pretend I\u2019m delicate, as\nappearances so tell against me! But I insist that I\u2019ve got _heart_\ndisease, and that only the sight of my bairns can cure it....\n\n\u201cIt is only a week yesterday since John returned from Kwamera, and\nwas overwhelmed with such an ovation as he never yet got from our\nNatives. They opened their hearts to the most unheard-of generosity,\nand actually parted with their precious _pigs_ to show their love for\nhim, besides a great quantity of yam. They also gave a present about\nhalf the size of ours to the Captain of the _Dayspring_,\u2014pigs, yams,\ncocoa-nuts, and bananas. His were laid on the centre patch of grass\nbefore the house, and John\u2019s to the side, in front of the Study door.\nThe pigs (thirteen in number!), all tied and laid out to be seen to\nthe best advantage (they were _heard_ too), so that when Captain and\nMrs. Braithwaite and John arrived they were greeted with\u2014\n\n \u2018Pigs to the right of them,\n Pigs to the left of them,\n Pigs in front of them,\n Guzzling and grunting.\u2019\n\nHow they did grunt! The Captain growled out his thanks in sailor\u2019s\nphraseology, which having translated, John walked round to the side,\nfollowed by his grinning Parishioners, and politely thanked them for\ntheir kind gifts to us,\u2014telling them that it was the feeling which\nprompted it more than the gift itself which he valued! I felt that he\nwas telling the truth in all sincerity, for he hates the very sight of\npork, and whispered aside to me,\u2014\u2018What on earth are we to do with all\nthese beasts?\u2019...\n\n\u201cWe expect the _Dayspring_ in about a fortnight to call for our mail,\nand as I\u2019ve a very large one to answer it is time it were begun, for\nwe\u2019ll be very much interrupted by the arrowroot making. The whole of\nthe Natives are busy digging it up at present, and the Premises will be\nlike a beehive in a few days when they begin to grate it. We were so\npleased to be able to tell them that the last sold so very well through\nthe great kindness of Melbourne friends. The calico in the South Yarra\nboxes\u2014worth its weight in gold\u2014is being sewed up into sheets and bags\nfor drying and packing it, as fast as ever we can; but we hardly expect\nit to be ready to go till the December trip of the vessel. They are to\nhave _another book of the Bible_ printed in the Aniwan language.\n\n \u201cEver, with warmest love,\n \u201cYour loving Sister,\n \u201cMAGGIE WHITECROSS PATON.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n_LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN._\n\n \u201cWanted a Steam Auxiliary.\u201d\u2014Commissioned Home to Britain.\u2014English\n Presbyterian Synod.\u2014United Presbyterian Synod.\u2014The \u201cVeto\u201d\n from the Sydney Board.\u2014Dr. J. Hood Wilson.\u2014The Free Church\n Assembly.\u2014Neutrality of Foreign Mission Committee.\u2014The Church\n of Scotland.\u2014At Holyrood and Alva House.\u2014The Irish Presbyterian\n Assembly.\u2014The Pan-Presbyterian Council.\u2014My \u201cPlan of Campaign.\u201d\u2014 Old\n Ireland\u2019s Response.\u2014Operations in Scotland.\u2014Seventy Letters in a\n Day.\u2014Beautiful Type of Merchant.\u2014My First 100 at Dundee.\u2014Peculiar\n Gifts and Offerings.\u2014Approach to London.\u2014Mildmay\u2019s Open Door.\u2014Largest\n Single Donation.\u2014Personal Memories of London.\u2014Garden-Party\n at Mr. Spurgeon\u2019s.\u2014The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer.\u2014Three New\n Missionaries.\u2014\u201cRestitution-Money.\u201d\u2014The Farewell at Mildmay.\u2014Welcome\n to Victoria.\u2014The Dream of my Life.\u2014The New Mission Ship\n Delayed.\u2014Welcome back to Aniwa.\u2014Parting Testimony.\u2014Fare-thee-well.\n\n\nIn December 1883, I brought a pressing and vital matter before the\nGeneral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. It pertained\nto the New Hebrides Mission, to the vastly increased requirements of\nthe Missionaries and their families there, and to the fact that the\n_Dayspring_ was no longer capable of meeting the necessities of the\ncase,\u2014thereby 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\nfrom treacherous 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\nthe several Presbyterian Churches in Great Britain and Ireland. And\nthey empowered and authorized me to lay our proposals about a new\nSteam-Auxiliary Mission Ship before all these Churches, and to ask and\nreceive from God\u2019s people whatever contributions they felt disposed to\ngive towards the sum of \u00a36,000, without which this great undertaking\ncould not be faced.\n\nAt Suez, I forwarded a copy of my commissions from Victoria, from South\nAustralia, and from the Islands Synod, to the Clerks of the various\nChurch Courts, accompanied by a note specifying my home-address, and\nexpressing the hope that an opportunity would be given me of pleading\nthis special cause on behalf of our New Hebrides Mission. On reaching\nmy brother\u2019s residence in Glasgow, I found to my deep amazement that\nreplies awaited me from all the Churches, except our own,\u2014_i.e._, the\nFree Church, which I call our own, as having taken over our South Seas\nMission when it entered into Union with the Reformed Presbyterian\nChurch, to which I originally belonged, though now I was supported\nby the Church of Victoria. This fact pained me. It is noted here. An\nexplanation will come in due course.\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. Again, however, another indication\nof a rift somewhere, unknown to me, was consciously or otherwise\ngiven, when both the Moderator and Professor Graham, in addressing the\nDeputies and referring to their Churches and speeches individually,\nconspicuously omitted all reference to the New Hebrides and the special\nproposal which I had brought before them. Again I made a note, and my\nwonder deepened.\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,\u2014it 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\nI found it possible to visit, and hoped that their generous-hearted\npeople would contribute freely to so needful and noble a cause. My soul\nrose in praise; and I may here say, in passing, that every Minister of\nthat Church whom I wrote to or visited treated me in the same spirit\nthrough all my tour.\n\nHaving been invited by Mr. Dickson, an Elder of the Free Church, to\naddress a mid-day meeting of children in the Free Assembly Hall,\u2014and\nthe Saturday before the Meeting of Assembly having now arrived without\nbringing any reply to my note to be received and heard, I determined\nto call at the Free Church Offices, and make inquiries at least. They\ntreated me with all possible kindness and sympathy, but explained to\nme the strange perplexity that had been introduced into my case. A\nletter had been forwarded to them from the _Dayspring_ Board at Sydney,\nintimating that the Victorian Church had no right to commission me to\nraise a new Steam-Auxiliary Ship without consulting them, and that they\nplaced their direct veto upon the Free Church Authorities in any way\nsanctioning that proposal or authorizing me to raise the money. Here,\nthen, was the rift; and many things that had recently perplexed me\nwere explained thereby.\n\nHere is not the place to discuss our differences, nor shall I\ntake advantage of my book to criticize those who have no similar\nopportunity of answering me. But the facts I must relate, and exactly\nas they occurred, to show how the Lord over-ruled everything for the\naccomplishment of His own blessed purposes. Doubtless the friends at\nSydney had their own way of looking at and explaining everything; and\nthe best of friends must sometimes differ, even in the Mission field,\nand yet learn to respect each other and work so far as they can agree\ntowards common ends in the service of the Divine Lord and Master.\n\nMy commission was publicly intimated. Communication had also been\nmade to the Church of New South Wales as to appointing me their\nsecond representative to the Pan-Presbyterian Council, in connection\nwith my mission to Britain, but they replied that one would serve\ntheir purpose. And South Australia and Tasmania were both written to\nregarding the object of my visit to the home countries. But no note of\ndissent, no hint of disapproval from any quarter, was intimated to the\nVictorian Church, or in any sense, directly or indirectly, reached me\ntill I heard of that so-called _veto_ in the Free Church Offices at\nEdinburgh.\n\nThis intimation, just as I was entering the Assembly Hall to address a\ngreat congregation of children and their friends, staggered me beyond\nall description. The Free Church alone, in Scotland, now supported our\nNew Hebrides Mission. From it I expected the principal contributions\nfor the sorely-needed new Mission Ship. And now, by the action of\nthe _Dayspring_ Board at Sydney, the Free Church was debarred from\nacknowledging my three-fold commission or in any direct way sanctioning\nmy appeals. No sorer wound had ever been inflicted on me; and when I\nsat down on the platform beside Mr. Dickson, my head swam for several\nminutes, and faintishness almost overpowered me. But, by the time my\nname was called, the Lord my Helper enabled me to pull myself together;\nI committed this cause also with unfailing assurance to Him; and by all\nappearances I was able greatly to interest and impress the Children. At\nthe close, my dear and noble friend, Professor Cairns, warmly welcomed\nand cheered me, and that counted for much amid the depressions of the\nday. But when all were gone and we two were left, Mr. Dickson under\ndeep emotion said,\u2014\n\n\u201cMr. Paton, that veto has spoiled your mission home. The Free Church\ncannot take you by the hand in face of the _veto_ from Sydney!\u201d\n\nHaving letters from Andrew Scott, Esquire, Carrugal, my very dear\nfriend and helper in Australia, to Dr. J. Hood Wilson, Barclay Free\nChurch, Edinburgh, I resolved to deliver them that evening; and I\nprayed the Lord to open up all my path, as I was thus thrown solely on\nHim for guidance and bereft of the aid of man. Dr. Wilson and his lady,\nneither of whom I had ever seen before, received me as kindly as if I\nhad been an old friend. He read my letters of introduction, conversed\nwith me as to plans and wishes (chiefly through Mrs. Wilson, for he was\nsuffering from sore throat), and then he said with great warmth and\nkindliness,\u2014\n\n\u201cGod 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.\u201d\n\nThereafter, I was with equal kindness received by Mr. Balfour, having\na letter of introduction from his brother, and he offered me his\npulpit for the evening of the day. I lay down blessing and praising\nHim, the Angel of whose Presence was thus going before me and opening\nup my way. That Lord\u2019s Day I had great blessing and joy; there was an\nextraordinary response financially to my appeals; and my proposal was\nthus fairly launched in the Metropolis of our Scottish Church life. I\nremembered an old saying, Difficulties are made just to be vanquished.\nAnd I thought in my deeper soul,\u2014Thus our God throws us back upon\nHimself; and if these \u00a36,000 ever come to me, to the Lord God alone,\nand not to man, shall 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,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe must have you to address the Assembly on the evening devoted to\nMissions.\u201d\n\nBut the rest insisted that, to keep straight with the Board at Sydney,\nno formal approval should be given of my proposals. This I agreed to,\non condition that the Committee did not publish the Sydney veto, but\nallowed it simply to lie on their table or in their minutes. Thus I had\nthe pleasure and honour of addressing that great Assembly; and though\nno notice was taken of my proposals in any \u201cfinding\u201d of the Court,\nyet many were thereby interested deeply in our work, and requests now\npoured in upon me from every quarter to occupy pulpits and receive\ncollections for the new Ship.\n\nStill I had occasional trouble and misunderstanding through that veto\nduring all my tour in Britain and Ireland. It prevented me particularly\nfrom getting access to the Free Church Foreign Missions Committee,\nor addressing them on one single occasion, though I pled hard to be\nallowed to do so and to explain my position. This I felt all the more\nkeenly, as I laboured freely and for weeks, along with their noble\nMissionaries then at home on furlough, in addressing meetings in\nGlasgow, Aberdeen, Greenock, etc., chiefly for Sabbath Scholars, but\nfrom which I received no help directly in the matter of the Mission\nShip. Doubtless they were trying to do their duty, and refusing to take\neither side; and that they thought they had succeeded appears from the\nfollowing fact. When rumour reached Australia that my Mission home\nhad been under God a great success, a letter came to them from their\nCommittee\u2019s agent in Sydney as to the \u201capplication\u201d of the sum that had\nbeen raised by me, to which they replied,\u2014\n\n\u201cThe Foreign Missions\u2019 Committee of the Free Church of Scotland, in\naccordance with the action of the _Dayspring_ Committee at Sydney, have\nfrom the first abstained from assisting Mr. Paton in this movement,\nbelieving that the question is one entirely for the Australian\nChurches.\u201d\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.\nFrom that night he took the warmest personal interest, not only\nby generously contributing to my fund, but by organizing meetings\nat his own Mansion House, and introducing me to a wide circle of\ninfluential friends. Every member of his family took \u201cshares\u201d in the\nnew Steam-Auxiliary Mission Ship, and by Collecting Cards and otherwise\nmost liberally aided me; and that not at the start only, but to the day\nof my departure,\u2014one of the last things put into my hand on leaving\nBritain being a most handsome donation from Lord and Lady Polwarth\nto our Mission Fund,\u2014\u201ca thankoffering to the Lord Jesus for precious\nhealth restored in answer to the prayer of faith.\u201d\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\nthat region, and from Minister to Minister arranging for me a series of\nhappy meetings. I shared also the hospitality of his beautiful Home,\nand added himself and his much-beloved wife to the precious roll of\nthose who are dear for the Gospel\u2019s sake and for their own.\n\nHer Majesty\u2019s Commissioner to the General Assembly for the year\nwas that distinguished Christian as well as nobleman, the Earl of\nAberdeen. He graciously invited me to meet the Countess and himself at\nancient Holyrood. After dinner he withdrew himself for a lengthened\ntime from the general company and entered into a close and interested\nconversation about our Mission, and especially about the threatened\nannexation of the New Hebrides by the French.\n\nThere also I had the memorable pleasure of meeting, and for a long\nwhile conversing with, that truly noble and large-hearted lady, his\nmother, the much-beloved Dowager Countess, well known for her life-long\ndevotion to so many schemes of Christian philanthropy. At her own home,\nAlva House, she afterwards arranged meetings for me, as well as in\nHalls and Churches in the immediately surrounding district; and not\nonly contributed most generously of her own means, but interested many\nbesides and incited them to vie with each other in helping on our\ncause. I was her guest during those days, and never either in high\nor in humble station felt the ties of true fellowship in Christ more\nclosely drawn. Despite frost and snow, she accompanied me to almost\nevery meeting; and her letters of interest in the work, of sympathy,\nand of helpfulness, from time to time received, were amongst the\nsustaining forces of my spiritual life. When one sees noble rank thus\nconsecrating itself in humble and faithful service to Jesus, there\ndawns upon the mind a glimpse of what the prophet means, and of what\nthe world will be like, when it can be said regarding the Church of God\non Earth,\u2014\u201cKings _have become_ thy nursing fathers, and their Queens\nthy nursing mothers.\u201d\n\nMy steps were next directed towards Ireland, immediately after the\nChurch meetings at Edinburgh; first to \u2019Derry, where the Presbyterian\nAssembly was met in annual conclave, and thereafter to Belfast, where\nthe Pan-Presbyterian Council was shortly to sit. The eloquent fervour\nof the Brethren at \u2019Derry was like a refreshing breeze to my spirit;\nI never met Ministers anywhere, in all my travels, who seemed more\nwhole-hearted in their devotion to the work which the Lord had given\nthem to do.\n\nBut the excitement over the Organ and Hymn question was too intense\nfor me; the debate threatened to degenerate into a wrangle, and\nthe marvellous way in which a stick or an umbrella was flourished\noccasionally by an impulsive speaker, to give action to his eloquence,\nwas not a little suggestive of blows and broken heads. All ended\nquietly, however, and the decision, though not final, gave hope of an\nearly settlement, which will secure alike the liberty and the peace of\nthe Church. A trip to the South Seas, and a revelation of how God used\nthe Harmonium and the Hymn, as wings on which the Gospel was borne into\nthe homes and hearts of Cannibals, would have opened the eyes of many\ndear fathers and brethren, as it had opened mine! No one was once more\nopposed, especially to instrumental music in the worship of God, than\nI had been; but the Lord who made us, and who knows the nature He has\ngiven us, had long ago taught me otherwise.\n\nI addressed the Assembly at \u2019Derry and also the Council at Belfast.\nThe memory of seeing all those great and learned and famous men\u2014for\nmany of the leaders were literally such\u2014so deeply interested in the\nwork of God, and particularly in the Evangelizing of the Heathen World\nand bringing thereto the knowledge of Jesus, was to me, so long exiled\nfrom all 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\nhad often been said to me, after my addresses in the Assemblies and\nelsewhere,\u2014\n\n\u201cHow do you ever expect to raise \u00a36,000? It can never be accomplished,\nunless you call upon the rich individually, and get their larger\nsubscriptions. Our ordinary Church people have more than enough to do\nwith themselves. Trade is dull,\u201d 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\nI would not do so now. I would make my appeal, but leave everything\nelse to be settled betwixt the individual conscience and the Saviour,\u2014I\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,\u2014going,\nindeed, wherever an occasion was afforded me of telling my story and\nsetting forth the claims of the Mission, 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\nand His servants exclusively.\n\n\u201cOn what then do you really rely, looking at it from a business point\nof view?\u201d\u2014they would somewhat appealingly ask me.\n\nI answered,\u2014\u201cI 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 Sabbaths; I will ask the whole collection,\nless expenses, at week night meetings; I will issue Collecting Cards\nfor Sabbath Scholars; I will make known my Home-Address, to which\neverything may be forwarded, either from Congregations or from private\ndonors; and I will go on, to my utmost strength, in the faith that\nthe Lord will send me the \u00a36,000 required. If He does not so send it,\nthen I shall expect that He will send me grace to be reconciled to the\ndisappointment, and I shall go back to my work without the Ship.\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll never succeed! Money cannot be got in that unbusiness-like way.\u201d\n\nI generally added nothing further to such conversations; but a Voice,\ndeep, sweet, and clear, kept sounding through my soul,\u2014\u201cThe silver and\nthe gold are Mine.\u201d\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 \u00a3600 had been contributed to our\nMission Fund. And there was not, so far as my knowledge went, one\nsingle large subscription; there were, of course, many bits of gold\nfrom those well-to-do, but the ordinary collection was made up of the\nshillings and pence of the masses of the people. Nor had I ever in\nall my travels a warmer response, nor ever mingled with any Ministers\nmore earnestly devoted to their Congregations or more generally and\ndeservedly beloved.\n\nNo man, however dissevered from the party politics of the day, can\nsee and live amongst the Irish of the North, without having forced on\nhis soul the conviction that the Protestant faith and life, with its\ngrit and backbone and self-dependence, has made them what they are.\nRomanism, on the other hand, with its blind faith and its peculiar\ntype of life, has been at least _one_, if not the main, degrading\ninfluence amongst the Irish of the South and West, who are naturally\na warm-hearted and generous and gifted people. And let Christian\nChurches, and our Statesmen who love Christ, remember\u2014that no mere\noutward changes of Government or Order, however good and defensible\nin themselves, can ever heal the miseries of the people, without a\nchange of Religion. Ireland needs the pure and true Gospel, proclaimed,\ntaught, and received, in the South as it now is in the North; and no\nother gift, that Britain ever can bestow, will make up for the lack of\nChrist\u2019s Evangel. Jesus holds the Key to all problems, in this as in\nevery land.\n\nReturning to Scotland, I settled down at my headquarters, the house\nof my brother James in Glasgow; and thence began to open up the main\nline of my operations, as the Lord day by day guided me. Having the\naid of no Committee, I cast myself on Minister after Minister and\nChurch after Church, calling here, writing there, and arranging for\nthree meetings every Sabbath, and one, if possible, every week-day,\nand drawing-room meetings wherever practicable in the afternoons. My\ncorrespondence grew to oppressive proportions, and kept me toiling at\nit every spare moment from early morn till bedtime. Indeed, I never\ncould have overtaken it, had not my brother devoted many days and hours\nof precious time, answering letters regarding arrangements, issuing the\n\u201cShare\u201d receipts for all moneys the moment they arrived, managing all\nmy transactions through the bank, and generally tackling and reducing\nthe heap of communications and preventing me falling into hopeless\narrears.\n\nI represented a Church in which all Presbyterians are happily united;\nand so, wherever possible, I occupied on the same Sabbath day, an\nEstablished Church pulpit in the morning, a Free Church in the\nafternoon, and a United Presbyterian Church in the evening, or in\nany order in which the thing could be arranged to suit the exigences\nof every town or village that was visited. In all my addresses, for\nI nowhere attempted ordinary sermonizing, I strove to combine the\nEvangelist with the Missionary, applying every incident in my story to\nthe conscience of the hearer, and seeking to win the sinner to Christ,\nand the believer to a more consecrated life. For I knew that if I\nsucceeded in these higher aims, their money would be freely laid upon\nthe altar too.\n\nI printed, and circulated by post and otherwise, ten thousand copies\nof a booklet, \u201cStatement and Appeal,\u201d\u2014containing, besides my Victorian\nCommission and my Glasgow address, a condensed epitome of the results\nof the 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\nall the money came to me by letter. On one day, though no doubt a\nlittle exceptional, as many as seventy communications reached me by\npost; and every one of these contained something for our fund,\u2014ranging\nfrom \u201ca few stamps\u201d and \u201cthe widow\u2019s mite,\u201d through every variety\nof figure up to the wealthy man\u2019s fifty or hundred pounds. I was\nparticularly struck with the number of times that I received \u00a31, with\nsuch a note as, \u201cFrom a servant-girl that loves the Lord Jesus\u201d; or\n\u201cFrom a servant-girl that prays for the conversion of the Heathen.\u201d\nAgain and again I received sums of five and ten shillings, with\nnotes such as,\u2014\u201cFrom a working-man who loves his Bible\u201d; or \u201cFrom a\nworking-man who prays for God\u2019s blessing on you and work like yours,\nevery day in Family Worship.\u201d I sometimes regret that the graphic,\nvaried, and intensely interesting notes and letters were not preserved;\nfor by the close of my tour they would have formed a wonderful volume\nof 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.\nAt the close of the meeting, at which I had the privilege of speaking,\nan American gentleman introduced himself to me. We talked and entered\ninto each other\u2019s confidence, as brothers in the Lord\u2019s service. He had\nmade a competency for himself and his family, though only in the prime\nof life; and he still carried on a large and flourishing business\u2014but\nwhy? to devote _the whole profits_, year after year, to the direct\nservice of God and His cause among men! He gave me a cheque for the\nlargest single contribution with which the Lord had yet cheered me.\nGod, who knows me, sees that I have never coveted money for myself or\nmy family; but I did envy that Christian merchant the joy that he had\nin having money, and having the heart to use it as a steward of the\nLord Jesus! Oh, when will men of wealth learn this blessed secret, and,\ninstead of hoarding up gold till death forces it from their clutches,\nput it out to usury now in the service of their Master, and see the\nfruits and share the joy thereof, before they go hence to give in\ntheir account to God? One of the most appalling features in the modern\nChristian World, considering the needs of men and the claims of Jesus,\nis this same practice of either spending all for self, or hoarding all\nfor self, alone or chiefly. Christians who do so seem to stand in need\nof a great deal of converting still!\n\nThereafter I was invited to the annual Christian Conference at Dundee.\nA most peculiar experience befell me there. Being asked to close the\nforenoon meeting with prayer and the benediction, I offered prayer,\nand then began\u2014\u201cMay the love of God the Father\u2014\u2014\u201d but not another\nword would come in English; everything was blank except the words in\nAniwan, for I had long begun to _think_ in the Native tongue, and\nafter a dead pause, and a painful silence, I had to wind up with a\nsimple \u201cAmen!\u201d I sat down wet with perspiration. It might have been\nwiser, as the Chairman afterwards suggested, to have given them the\nblessing in Aniwan, but I feared to set them a-laughing by so strange\na manifestation of the \u201ctongues.\u201d Worst of all, it had been announced\nthat I was to address them in the afternoon; but who would come to\nhear a Missionary that stuck in the benediction? The event had its\nsemi-comical aspect, but it sent me to my knees during the interval in\na very fever of prayerful anxiety. A vast audience assembled, and if\nthe Lord ever manifestly used me in interesting His people in Missions,\nit was certainly then and there. As I sat down, a devoted Free Church\nElder from Glasgow handed me his card, with \u201cI.O.U. \u00a3100.\u201d This was my\nfirst donation of a hundred pounds, and my heart was greatly cheered.\nI praised the Lord, and warmly thanked His servant. A Something\nkept sounding these words in my ears, \u201cMy thoughts are not as your\nthoughts;\u201d and also, \u201cCast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will\nsustain thee.\u201d\n\nDuring my address at that meeting three coloured girls, not unlike our\nIsland girls, sat near the platform, and eagerly listened to me. At\nthe close, the youngest, apparently about twelve years of age, rose,\nsalaamed to me in Indian fashion, took four silver bangles from her\narm, and presented them to me, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cPadre, I want to take shares in your Mission Ship by these bangles,\nfor I have no money, and may the Lord ever bless you!\u201d\n\nI replied,\u2014\u201cThank you, my dear child; I will not take your bangles, but\nJesus will accept your offering, and bless and reward you all the same.\u201d\n\nAs she still held them up to me, saying, \u201cPadre, do receive them from\nme, and may God ever bless you!\u201d a lady, who had been seated beside\nher, came up to me, and said,\u2014\n\n\u201cPlease, do take them, or the dear girl will break her heart. She has\noffered them up to Jesus for your Mission Ship.\u201d\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,\nhad adopted 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\u2019s guidance.\n\nThe most amazing variety characterized the gifts and the givers. In\nGlasgow a lady sent me an anonymous note to this effect:\u2014\n\n\u201cI have been curtailing my expenses. The first \u00a35 saved I enclose, that\nyou may invest it for me in the Bank of Jesus. I am sure He gives the\nbest interest, and the most certain returns.\u201d\n\nFrom Edinburgh a lawyer wrote, saying,\u2014\u201cI herewith send you \u00a35. Take\nout for me two hundred shares in the Mission Ship. I never made any\ninvestment with more genuine satisfaction in all my life.\u201d\n\nA gentleman, whose children had zealously collected a considerable sum\nfor me by the Cards, at length sent me his own subscription, saying,\u2014\u201cI\nenclose you \u00a325, because you have so interested my children in Missions\nto the Heathen.\u201d The same friend, after hearing me plead the cause in\nFree St. George\u2019s, Edinburgh, sent me a most encouraging letter, and\nanother contribution of \u00a3100.\n\nIn Glasgow a lady called at my brother\u2019s house, saying,\u2014\u201cIs the\nMissionary at home? Can I see him alone? If not, I will call again.\u201d\nBeing asked into my room, she declined to be seated, but said,\u2014\u201cI 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\nnot my name. God bless you. We shall meet in Heaven!\u201d She handed me an\nenvelope, and was off almost before I could thank her. It was \u00a349 in\nbank notes.\n\nAnother dear Christian lady came to see me, and at the close of a\ndelightful conversation, said: \u201cI have been thinking much about you\nsince I heard you in the Clark Hall, Paisley. I have come to give\na little bit of dirty paper for your Ship. God sent it to me, and\nI return it to God through you with great pleasure.\u201d I thanked her\nwarmly, thinking it a pound, or five at the most; on opening it, after\nshe was gone, it turned out to be \u00a3100. I felt bowed down in humble\nthankfulness, and pressed forward in the service of the Lord.\n\nAnother lady, who sent for me to call, said to me:\u2014\u201cI have heard of the\nsufferings and losses of the Missionaries on your Islands through the\nsmallness of the Sailing Vessel. I am glad to have the opportunity of\ngiving you \u00a350 to assist in getting a Steam Auxiliary.\u201d\n\nMany articles of jewellery, silver and gold ornaments, rings and\nchains, were also sent to me, or dropped into the Collecting plate.\nWith the assistance of Christian gentlemen, and by the kindness of a\nmerchant at once interested in our work and in the gold and silver\ntrade, these were turned into cash on the most advantageous possible\nterms, and added to the Mission Fund.\n\nHaving an introduction to a London lady, then living in Edinburgh, I\ncalled and was most kindly received because of our dear mutual friend\nMrs. Cameron, of St. Kilda. After delightful Christian conversation,\nshe retired for a minute, and returned, saying,\u2014\u201cI have kept this for\ntwelve months, asking the Lord to direct me as to its disposal. God\nclaims it now for the Mission Ship, and I have great joy in handing it\nto you.\u201d It was another \u00a3100. I had been praying all that afternoon for\nsome token of encouragement, especially as I went to that lady\u2019s house,\nand God\u2019s extraordinary answer, even while the prayer was still being\nuttered, struck me so forcibly that I could not speak. I received her\ngift in tears, and my soul looked up to the Giver of all.\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 \u201cStatement\nand Appeal,\u201d 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 that the London Presbytery had resolved\nthat no claim beyond their own Church was to be admitted into any\nof its pulpits for a period of months, under some special financial\nemergency. My dear friend, Dr. J. Hood Wilson, kindly wrote also to a\nnumber of them on my behalf, but with nearly similar result; though at\nlast other two Services were arranged for with a collection, and one\nwithout. Being required at London, in any case, in connection with the\nthreatened Annexation of the New Hebrides by the French, I resolved\nto take these five Services by the way, and immediately return to\nScotland, where engagements and opportunities were now pressed upon me,\nfar more than I could overtake. But the Lord Himself opened before me a\nlarger door, and more effectual, than any that I had tried in vain to\nopen 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\nmy Appeal, and made himself recipient of donations that might be\nsent for our Mission Ship. Dr. Donald Fraser, and Messrs. Taylor and\nMathieson, with their Congregations, generously contributed to the\nfund. And so did the Mission Church in Drury Lane\u2014the excellent and\nconsecrated Rev. W. B. Alexander, the pastor thereof, and his wife,\nbecoming my devoted personal friends, and continuing to remember in\ntheir work-parties every year since the needs of the Natives on the\nNew Hebrides. Others also, whom I cannot wait to specify, showed a\nwarm interest in us and in our department of the Lord\u2019s work. But my\nheart had been foolishly set upon adding a large sum to the fund for\nthe Mission Ship, and when only about \u00a3150 came from all the Churches\nin London to which I could get access, no doubt I was sensible of\ncherishing a little guilty disappointment. That was very unworthy in\nme, considering all my previous experiences, and God deserved to be\ntrusted by me far differently, as the sequel will immediately show.\n\nThat widely-known and deeply-beloved servant of God, J. E. Mathieson,\nEsq., of the Mildmay Conference Hall, had invited me to address one of\ntheir 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\nopened to me. These devout and faithful and generous people, belonging\nto every branch of the Church of Christ, and drawn from every rank and\nclass in Society, from the humblest to the highest, were certainly\namongst the most open-hearted and the most responsive of all whom I\never had the privilege to address. One felt there, in a higher degree\nthan almost anywhere else, that every soul was on fire with love to\nJesus and with genuine devotion to His Cause in every corner of the\nEarth. There it was a privilege and a gladness to speak; and though\nno collection was asked or could be expected, my heart was uplifted\nand strengthened by these happy meetings and by all that Heavenly\nintercourse.\n\nBut see how the Lord leads us by a way we know not! Next morning\nafter my address, a gentleman who had heard me handed me a cheque\nfor \u00a3300, by far the largest single donation towards our Mission\nShip; and immediately thereafter I received, from one of the Mildmay\nlady-Missionaries \u00a350, from a venerable friend of the founder \u00a320, from\n\u201cFriends at Mildmay\u201d \u00a330; and through my dear friend and brother, J. E.\nMathieson, many other donations were in due course forwarded to me.\n\nMy introduction, however, to the Conference at Mildmay did far more\nfor me than even this; it opened up for me a series of drawing-room\nmeetings in and around London, where I told the story of our Mission\nand preached the Gospel to many in the higher walks of life, and\nreceived most liberal support for the Mission Ship. It also brought me\ninvitations from many quarters of England, to Churches, to Halls, and\nto County Houses and Mansions.\n\nLord Radstock got up a special meeting, inviting by private card a\nlarge number of his most influential friends; and there I met for the\nfirst time one whom I have since learned to regard as a very precious\npersonal friend, Rev. Sholto D. C. Douglas, clergyman of the Church of\nEngland, who then, and afterwards at his seat in Scotland, not only\nmost liberally supported our fund, but took me by the hand as a brother\nand promoted 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\nthere, then gathered together from all parts of the County. The\nBritish and Foreign Bible Society received me in a special meeting of\nthe Directors; and I was able to tell them how all we the Missionaries\nof these Islands, whose language had never before been reduced to\nwriting, looked to them and leant upon them and prayed for them and\ntheir work\u2014without whom our Native Bibles never could have been\npublished. After the meeting, the Chairman gave me \u00a35, and one of the\nDirectors a cheque for \u00a325 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\nof blessing. There I addressed great meetings of devoted workers in\nthe vineyard; and the dear friend who was my host on that occasion, a\nChristian merchant, has since contributed \u00a310 per annum for the support\nof a Native Teacher on the New Hebrides.\n\nIt was my privilege also to visit and address the M\u00fcller Orphanages at\nBristol, and to see that saintly man of faith and prayer moving about\nas a wise and loving father amongst the hundreds, even thousands, that\nlook to him for their daily bread and for the bread of Life Eternal. At\nthe close of my address, the venerable founder thanked me warmly and\nsaid,\u2014\n\n\u201cHere are \u00a350, which God has sent to me for your Mission.\u201d\n\nI replied, saying,\u2014\u201cDear friend, how can I take it? If I could, I would\nrather give you \u00a3500 for your Orphans, for I am sure you need it all!\u201d\n\nHe replied, with sweetness and great dignity,\u2014\u201cGod provides for His own\nOrphans. This money cannot be used for them. I must send it after you\nby letter. It is the Lord\u2019s gift.\u201d\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\u2019s very presence,\u2014it has appeared\nto me that such work as M\u00fcller\u2019s, and Barnardo\u2019s, 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 for\never, amidst all changes of creed and of climate, this, _this_ is \u201cpure\nand undefiled Religion\u201d before God and the Father!\n\nUpper Norwood, London, is ever fresh in my memory, in connection\nwith my first and subsequent visits, chiefly because of the faithful\nguidance and help amidst all the perplexities of that Great Babylon,\nso ungrudgingly bestowed upon me by my old Australian friends, then\nresident there, William Storrie, Esq., and his most excellent wife,\nboth devoted workers in the cause of Missions abroad and at home. Great\nkindness was shown to me also by their Minister there; and by T. W.\nStoughton, Esq., at whose Mission Hall there was a memorable and joyful\nmeeting; and, amongst many others whom I cannot here name, by Messrs.\nMorgan & Scott, of the _Christian_,\u2014all of whom I rejoiced to find\nactively engaged in personal service to the Lord Jesus.\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\nme to a garden-party at his home, and asked me to address his students\nand other Christian workers. When I arrived I found a goodly company\nassembled under the shade of lovely trees, and felt the touch of that\ngenial humour, so mighty a gift when sanctified, which has so often\ngiven wings to Mr. Spurgeon\u2019s words, when he introduced me to the\naudience as \u201cthe King of the Cannibals!\u201d On my leaving, Mrs. Spurgeon\npresented me with her husband\u2019s \u201cTreasury of David,\u201d and also \u201c\u00a35\nfrom the Lord\u2019s cows,\u201d which I learned was part of the profits from\ncertain cows kept by the good lady, and that everything produced\nthereby was dedicated to the work of the Lord. I praised God that He\nhad privileged me to meet this extraordinarily endowed man, to whom the\nwhole Christian World is so specially indebted, and who has consecrated\nall his gifts and opportunities to the proclamation of the pure and\nprecious Gospel.\n\nBut of all my London associations, the deepest and the most\nimperishable is that which weaves itself around the Honourable Ion\nKeith-Falconer, who has already passed to what may truly be called a\nMartyr\u2019s crown. At that time I met him at his father-in-law\u2019s 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\nmarked the fire of God, the holy passion to seek and to save the lost,\nburning more steadily or brightly on the altar of any human heart. The\nheroic founding of the Mission at Aden is already one of the precious\nannals of the Church of Christ. His young and devoted wife survives,\nto mourn indeed, but also to cherish his noble memory; and, with the\naid of others, and under the banner of the Free Church of Scotland,\nto see the \u201cKeith-Falconer Mission\u201d rising up amidst the darkness of\nblood-stained Africa, as at once a harbour of refuge for the slave,\nand a beacon-light to those who are without God and without hope. The\nservant does his day\u2019s work, and passes on through the gates of sleep\nto the Happy Dawn; but the Divine Master lives and works and reigns,\nand by our death, as surely as by our life, His holy purposes shall be\nfulfilled.\n\nOn returning to Scotland, every day was crowded with engagements for\nthe weeks that remained, and almost every mail brought me contributions\nfrom all conceivable corners of the land. My heart was set upon taking\nout two or three Missionaries with me to claim more and still more of\nthe Islands for Christ; and with that view I had addressed Divinity\nStudents at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Again and again, by\nconversation and correspondence, consecrated young men were just on the\npoint of volunteering; but again and again the larger and better known\nfields of labour turned the scale, and they finally decided for China\nor Africa or India. Deeply disappointed at this, and thinking that God\ndirected us to look to our own Australia alone for Missionaries for the\nNew Hebrides, I resolved to return, and took steps towards securing\na passage by the Orient Line to Melbourne. But just then two able\nand devoted students, Messrs. Morton and Leggatt, offered themselves\nas Missionaries for our Islands; and shortly thereafter a third, Mr.\nLandells, also an excellent man; and all, being on the eve of their\nLicence, were approved of, accepted, and set to special preparations\nfor the Mission field, particularly in acquiring practical medical\nknowledge.\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\nme in that time to raise at least \u00a3500, in order to furnish the\nnecessary outfit and equipment for three new Mission Stations, and to\npay the passage money of the Missionaries and their wives, that there\nmight be no difficulty on this score amongst the Foreign Missions\nCommittees on the other side. And then the idea came forcibly, and for\na little unmanned me, that it was wrong in me to speak of these limits\nas to time and money in my prayers to God. But I reflected, again,\nhow it was for the Lord\u2019s own glory alone in the salvation of the\nHeathen, and for no personal aims of mine; and so I fell back on His\npromise,\u2014\u201cWhatsoever ye shall ask in My Name,\u201d\u2014and believingly asked it\nin His Name, and for His praise and service alone. I think it due to\nmy Lord, and for the encouragement of all His servants, that I should\nbriefly outline what occurred in answer to these prayers.\n\nHaving gone to the centre of one of the great ship-building districts\nof Scotland, and held a series of meetings, and raised a sum of about\n\u00a355 only after nine services and many Sabbath School collecting cards,\nmy heart was beginning to sink, as I did not think my health would\nstand another six weeks of incessant strain; when at the close of my\nlast meeting in a Free Church, an Elder and his wife entered the vestry\nand said,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe are deeply interested in you and in all your work and plans. You\nsay that you have asked \u00a3500 more. We gave you the first \u00a3100 at the\nDundee Conference; and it is a joy to us to give you this \u00a3100 too,\ntowards the making up of your final sum. We pray that you may speedily\nrealize your wish, and that God\u2019s richest blessing may ever rest upon\nyour head.\u201d\n\nGlasgow readers will at once recognise the generous giver, J. Campbell\nWhite, Esq., who rejoices, along with his dear wife, to regard himself\nas a steward of the Lord Jesus. My prayer is that they, and all such,\nmay feel more and more \u201cblessed in their deeds.\u201d\n\nAnother week passed by, and at the close of it a lady called upon me,\nand, after delightful conversation about the Mission, said,\u2014\n\n\u201cHow near are you to the sum required?\u201d I explained to her what is\nrecorded above, and she continued, \u201cI gave you one little piece of\npaper, at the beginning of your efforts. I have prayed for you every\nday since. God has prospered me, and this is one of the happiest\nmoments of my life, when I am now able to give you another little bit\nof paper.\u201d\n\nSo saying, she put into my hand \u00a3100. I protested,\u2014\u201cYou are surely too\ngenerous. Can you afford a second \u00a3100?\u201d\n\nShe replied to this effect, and very joyfully, as one who had genuine\ngladness in the deed,\u2014\u201cMy Lord has been very kind to me, in my health\nand in my business. My wants are simple and are safe in His hands. I\nwait not till death forces me, but give back whatever I am able to the\nLord now, and hope to live to see much blessing thereby through you in\nthe conversion of the Heathen.\u201d\n\nThe name of that dear friend from Paisley rises often in my prayers and\nmeditations before God. \u201cVerily I say unto you, the Father that seeth\nin secret shall reward openly.\u201d\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,\u2014\n\n\u201cRestitution money which never now can be returned to its owner. Since\nmy Conversion I have laboured 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!\u201d I rather startled my brother\nand his wife at our breakfast table by shouting out in unwontedly\nexcited tones,\u2014\u201cHallelujah! The Lord has done it! Hallelujah!\u201d 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\never received by me, came from a converted tradesman, who had now\nconsecrated his all to the Lord Jesus, and whose whole leisure was now\ncentred upon seeking to bless and save those of his own rank and class,\namongst whom he had spent his early and unconverted days. Jesus saith\nunto him, \u201cGo home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the\nLord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.\u201d\n\nBidding farewell to dear old Glasgow, so closely intertwined with all\nmy earlier and later experiences I started for London, accompanied by\nmy brother James. We were sitting at breakfast at Mrs. Mathieson\u2019s\ntable, Mildmay, when a telegram was put into my hands announcing the\n\u201cthank-offering\u201d from Lord and Lady Polwarth, received since our\ndeparture from Glasgow, and referred to on an earlier page. The Lord\nhad now literally exceeded my prayers. With other gifts, repeated again\nby friends at Mildmay, the special fund for outfit and travelling\nexpenses for new Missionaries had risen above the \u00a3500, and now\napproached \u00a3650.\n\nIn a Farewell Meeting at Mildmay the Lord\u2019s servants assembled in great\nnumbers from all quarters of London, dedicated me and my work very\nsolemnly to God, amid songs of praise and many prayers and touching\n\u201clast\u201d words. And when at length Mr. Mathieson, intimating that I must\ngo, as another company of Christian workers were elsewhere waiting also\nto say Goodbye, suggested that the whole audience should stand up, and,\ninstead of hand shaking, quietly breathe their benedictory Farewell as\nI passed from the platform down through their great Hall, a perfect\nflood of emotion overwhelmed me. I never felt a humbler man, nor\nmore anxious to hide my head in the dust, than when all these noble,\ngifted, and beloved followers of Jesus Christ and consecrated workers\nin His service, stood up and with one heart said, \u201cGod speed\u201d and \u201cGod\nbless you,\u201d as I passed on through the Hall. To one who had striven\nand suffered less, or who less appreciated how little we can do for\nothers compared 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, \u201cNot unto us, Lord, not unto\nus!\u201d\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\nof my own beloved Victoria gave me a right joyful welcome, and in\npublic assembly presented me with a testimonial, which I shrank from\nreceiving, but which all the same was the highly-prized expression of\ntheir confidence and esteem.\n\nIn my absence at the Islands, they thereafter elected me Moderator of\ntheir Supreme Court, and called me back to fill that highest Chair of\nhonour in the Presbyterian Church. God is my witness how very little\nany or all of these things in themselves ever have been coveted by me;\nbut how, when they have come in my way, I have embraced them with a\nsingle desire thereby to promote the Church\u2019s interest in that Cause\nto which my whole life and all my opportunities are consecrated,\u2014the\nConversion of the Heathen World.\n\nMy Mission to Britain was to raise \u00a36,000, 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.\nI spent 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 \u00a39,000. And all this had been forwarded to me,\nas the free-will offerings of the Lord\u2019s stewards, in the manner\nillustrated by the preceding pages. \u201cBehold! what God hath wrought!\u201d\n\nOf this sum \u00a36,000 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 planted on every\nIsland of the New Hebrides, and then I could lie down and whisper\ngladly, \u201cLord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace!\u201d\n\nAs to the new Mission Ship, delay has arisen\u2014owing to a difference of\nopinion about the best way of carrying out the proposal. Negotiations\nare progressing betwixt New South Wales and Victoria and the other\nColonies as to the additional annual expenditure for the maintenance\nof a Steam-Auxiliary, and how the same is to be allocated. Also, an\nelement of doubt and perplexity has been introduced into the scheme\nby the possibility of the Government running Mails regularly from\nAustralia to Fiji, and calling at one or other of the New Hebrides\nharbours,\u2014in which case some think the Missionaries would need only an\n_inter-island_ Steamer, of a comparatively moderate tonnage. Meantime,\nlet all friends who are interested in us and our work understand\u2014that\nthe money so generously entrusted to me has been safely handed over to\nmy Victorian Church, and has been deposited by them at good interest in\nthe bank, pending the settlement of these business details.\n\nTo me personally, this delay is confessedly a keen and deep\ndisappointment,\u2014feeling strongly as I do, and seeing more clearly every\nday, the waste and suffering caused to our beloved Missionaries and\ntheir families, by the uncertainties of a Sailing Ship, and by the\nutter inability of our present _Dayspring_ to overtake all that is now\nrequired. But this is not the place to discuss that matter in detail.\nThe work laid upon me has been accomplished. The Colonial Churches have\nall the responsibility of the further steps. In this, as in many a\nharder trouble of my chequered life, I calmly roll all my burden upon\nthe Lord. I await with quietness and confidence His wise disposal of\nevents. His hand is on the helm; and whither He steers us, all shall be\nwell.\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\nmy procession to the old Mission House was more like the triumphal\nmarch of a Conqueror than that of a humble Missionary. Everything was\nkept in beautiful and perfect order. Every Service of the Church, as\npreviously described in this book, was fully sustained by the Native\nTeachers, the Elders, and the occasional visit, once or twice a year,\nof the ordained white Missionary from one of the other Islands. Aniwa,\nlike Aneityum, is a _Christian_ land. Jesus has taken possession, never\nagain to quit those shores. Glory, _glory_ to His blessed Name!\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen pleading the cause of the Heathen and the claims of Jesus on His\nfollowers, I have often been taunted with being \u201ca man of one idea.\u201d\nSometimes I have thought that this came from the lips of those who had\nnot even one idea!\u2014unless it were how to kill time or to save their own\nskin. But seriously speaking, is it not better to have one good idea\nand to live for that and succeed in it, than to scatter one\u2019s life away\non many things and leave a mark on none?\n\nAnd, besides, you cannot live for one good idea supremely without\nthereby helping forward many other collateral causes. My life has\nbeen dominated by one sacred purpose; but in pursuing it the Lord has\nenabled me to be Evangelist as well as Missionary, and whilst seeking\nfor needed money to seek for and save and bless many souls,\u2014has enabled\nme to defend the Holy Sabbath in many lands, as the God-given and\nprecious birthright of the toiling millions, to be bartered away for\nno price or bribe that men can offer,\u2014has enabled me to maintain the\nright of every child in Christian lands, or in Heathen, to be taught to\nread the blessed Bible and to understand it, as the Divine foundation\nof all Social Order and the sole guarantee of individual freedom as\nwell as of national greatness,\u2014and has enabled me also to do battle\nagainst the infernal _Kanaka_ or Labour Traffic, one of the most cruel\nand blood-stained forms of slavery on the face of the Earth, and to\nrouse the holy passion of Human Brotherhood in the Colonies and at Home\nagainst those who trafficked in the bodies and souls of men.\n\nIn these, as well as in my own direct labours as a Missionary, I\nprobably have had my full share of \u201cabuse\u201d from the enemies of the\nCross, and a not inconsiderable burden of trials and afflictions in\nthe service of my Lord; yet here, as I lay down my pen, let me record\nmy immovable conviction that this is the noblest service in which any\nhuman being can spend or be spent; and that, if God gave me back my\nlife to be lived over again, I would without one quiver of hesitation\nlay it on the altar to Christ, that He might use it as before in\nsimilar ministries of love, especially amongst those who have never yet\nheard the Name of Jesus. Nothing that has been endured, and nothing\nthat can now befall me, makes me tremble\u2014on the contrary, I deeply\nrejoice\u2014when I breathe the prayer that it may please the blessed Lord\nto turn the hearts of all my children to the Mission field; and that He\nmay open up their way and make it their pride and joy to live and die\nin carrying Jesus and His Gospel into the heart of the Heathen World!\nGod gave His best, His Son, to me; and I give back my best, my All, to\nHim.\n\nReader, Fare-thee-well! Thou hast companied with me,\u2014not without\nsome little profit, I trust; and not without noting many things that\nled thee to bless the Lord God, in whose honour these pages have\nbeen written. In your life and in mine, there is at least one _last_\nChapter, one final Scene, awaiting us,\u2014God our Father knows where and\nhow! By His grace, I will live out that Chapter, I will pass through\nthat Scene, in the faith and in the hope of Jesus, who has sustained\nme from childhood till now. As you close this book, go before your\nSaviour, and pledge yourself upon your knees by His help and sympathy\nto do the same. And let me meet you, and let us commune with each other\nagain, in the presence and glory of the Redeemer. Fare-thee-well!\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] See the whole context in \u201cSermons on National Subjects,\u201d\n(_Macmillan & Co._, 1880) pp. 414 to 417, where it is numbered as\nSermon XLI.; particularly this regulative declaration regarding \u201cwhat\nOriginal Sin may bring man to\u201d:\u2014\u201cWhat is to my mind the most awful part\nof the matter remains to be told\u2014that man may actually fall by Original\nSin too low to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be recovered\nagain by it.\u201d\u2014(_Editor_).\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTE\n\n Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been\n corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within\n the text and consultation of external sources.\n\n Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,\n when a predominant preference was found in the original book.\n\n Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and\n inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. All place names and\n proper nouns have been retained as spelled in the original publication.\n\n Page iv. \u201cAriwan\u201d replaced by \u201cAniwan\u201d.\n Page xvii. \u201cLISTI\u201d replaced by \u201cLITSI\u201d.\n Page 1. \u201cBrutal Captain\u201d replaced by \u201cBrutal Captain.\u201d.\n Page 67. \u201cnow see them\u201d replaced by \u201cnow see them.\u201d.\n Page 116. \u201caccomodation\u201d replaced by \u201caccommodation\u201d.\n Page 119. \u201cRev. J\u201d replaced by \u201cRev. J.\u201d.\n Page 132. \u201cnot of ourselves\u201d replaced by \u201cnot of ourselves.\u201d.\n Page 158. \u201cinhabit ants\u201d replaced by \u201cinhabitants\u201d.\n Page 160. \u201cdead and buried\u201d replaced by \u201cdead and buried.\u201d.\n Page 169. \u201ctomakawk\u201d replaced by \u201ctomahawk\u201d.\n Page 171. \u201camong the Natives\u201d replaced by \u201camong the Natives.\u201d.\n Page 178. \u201c\u2018It is\u201d replaced by \u201c\u201cIt is\u201d.\n Page 183. \u201cthrough the earth.\u201d replaced by \u201cthrough the earth.\u201d\u201d.\n Page 222. \u201cbaptize you?\u201d replaced by \u201cbaptize you?\u201d\u201d.\n Page 230. \u201c\u201cSociety,\u2019\u201d replaced by \u201c\u201cSociety,\u201d\u201d.\n Page 230. \u201cyour fill!\u2019\u201d replaced by \u201cyour fill!\u201d\u201d.\n Page 230. \u201chappy as squirrels\u201d replaced by \u201chappy as squirrels.\u201d.\n Page 254. \u201cthis?\u2019 Cocoa-nuts\u201d replaced by \u201cthis?\u2019 \u2018Cocoa-nuts\u201d.\n Page 273. \u201chome on Aniwa\u201d replaced by \u201chome on Aniwa.\u201d.\n Page 289. \u201csymphony of Ocean\u201d replaced by \u201csymphony of Ocean\u2019\u201d.\n Page 304. \u201cShe had, out\u201d replaced by \u201c\u201cShe had, out\u201d.\n Page 305. \u201cspilt!\u2019\u201d replaced by \u201cspilt!\u201d\u201d.\n Page 305. \u201cyou ill?\u2019\u201d replaced by \u201cyou ill?\u201d\u201d.\n Page 309. \u201cbroken Eglish\u201d replaced by \u201cbroken English\u201d.\n Page 311. \u201ceel the very\u201d replaced by \u201cfeel the very\u201d.\n Page 314. \u201cany other\u201d replaced by \u201cany other.\u201d.\n Page 321. \u201che returned?\u201d replaced by \u201che returned?\u2019\u201d.\n Page 329. \u201cto Tanna.\u201d replaced by \u201cto Tanna,\u201d.\n Page 332. \u201c\u201cThat\u2019s Mungaw\u201d replaced by \u201c\u2018That\u2019s Mungaw\u201d.\n Page 338. \u201cBut Noopooraw\u201d replaced by \u201cbut Noopooraw\u201d.\n Page 339. \u201cO Yomit\u201d replaced by \u201c\u2018O Yomit\u201d.\n Page 343. \u201cacrue\u201d replaced by \u201caccrue\u201d.\n Page 343. \u201ctreacherous gales\u201d replaced by \u201ctreacherous gales.\u201d.\n Page 363. \u201cSteam Auxiliary.\u201d replaced by \u201cSteam Auxiliary.\u201d\u201d.\n Page 369. \u201c\u2018God provides for\u201d replaced by \u201c\u201cGod provides for\u201d.\n Page 376. \u201caccompained\u201d replaced by \u201caccompanied\u201d.","title":"John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brother","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":108281}