7 er te Be tia of se "q fis Hr is AEN ssn nda lle a 4 Won es sm h RCA ee its a oe iP 5 ay Sal Moe ine » aN eh, ® Diy ' ae As ta oi pi cet tty a ine ps i 0 hey be \ an no ae a phos oa eg ~ ea te (a ae hice 4s \ ’ ik , A 7 a Nag ‘ iA nie wt yy ame 7 aa , i, <& Si Pi aN te i React ue ae : Hie, NaN uae 3 Og OR A beae cas Nine = ft oe ie ies : ’ ee aie sla Ay 38 bait Aas ie ANS PAS i res SHOR aa) as a tH “la on ne Wis aD ys H tes , eos ee ae “sine er a sai ial ly é Bias i 9 ay Oe eo 43 x, nq ae Com ama J a8 Pay A ACh VERY Hs) 1% ie)» Mes.) Bae) Henry Stommel Oceanographer MBL/WHOI Library - In Memoriam: o etoeeoo TOEO UO WNW NOAM ON 1IOHM/18lN Adventures in the South Seas +e iat SVaS HLOOS AHL HO SHAILVN NGYHLVAH “A CN SAVWMO11V9 SNIMS Adventures in the South Seas By C. H. WATSON Author of “Cannibals and Head-Hunters of the South Seas” ° r™ Kf \, OU Mee A ? y i se fh De ae OG a cape LS, ese titendmaginis WAI PRB aN tah Ne RETR ION. SE IEE — REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSN. TAKOMA PARK, WASHINGTON, D. C. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Copyright, 1931, by the Review and Herald Publishing Association Contents FOREWORD : Tue Martyrs oF TONGA In Fryjr At Somo Somo : ; BEGINNING ON ONEATA AND eee enor WINNING THE WILD REWANS VERANI OF VIWA VERANI AS A CHRISTIAN At NANDI IN THE FACE OF Dos AmMonc CANNIBALS ON FOTUNA In THE Mipst oF SAVAGERY . Tue Missionary AS PEACEMAKER THe HurRICANE THE RAVAGES OF DISEASE . On ANEITYUM ; : : WITH THE PIONEERS ON ERROMANGO On TANNA 2 ON THE ISLAND OF VATE A Race WitTH DEATH IN THE Loyatty ISLANDS . SAVED BY A CuRIousS CUSTOM AMONG THE CANNIBALS OF SANTA ce 3 FAITHFUL Unto DEATH SEEING JESUS 103 106 112 117 125 137 143 154 161 170 174 182 187 8 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS A Heap HunTER HUNTED FOTEWANE . : ‘ A AMONG SHARKS AND ALLIGATORS SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST MARTYRS IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS ON THE ISLAND OF MALAITA RUATOKA, THE FRIEND OF CHALMERS WITH THE CANNIBALS OF NEw BRITAIN THE RESCUE oF NEKIBIL A STRANGE CusTom AN EVENTFUL VOYAGE TuroucH DEEP WATERS 191 194 198 202 207 213 216 226 230 233 243 Foreword Many of those who oppose the work of evangelizing hea- then races assert that a people found in heathenism are better left as they happen to be when discovered. This amazing allegation has sometimes been made even in relation to the wild tribes of the South Seas. To take such a position is to acknowledge that for these island peoples “unrestrained murder is better than the enjoyment of life under conditions of peace and safety; that unrelieved misery is better than joy and happiness, secured to them by an ordered govern- ment; that enslaving fear is better than the confiding trust that now marks their intertribal and interisland relationships ; that the intrenched superstitions of idol and demon worship are better than the comforts and blessings of the Christian faith; that their former loathsome depravity is better than the comparative refinement and elevation of their present condition; that brutalized immorality is better than gospel morality; and that their former terribly dwarfed mentality is better than their present enlightenment and remarkable mental development.” These assertions seldom come from those who are not actively opposed to the application of gospel principles in these islands. The mental awakening which invariably fol- lows the renouncement of heathenism and the acceptance of the gospel by these native races, is neither wanted nor encouraged by those who maintain such an attitude. Such persons are opposed to the assertion of gospel power any- where. Therefore, they are opposed to its asserting itself in the South Sea Islands. Their purpose is selfish. Their attitude is preposterous. For the uplift of these depraved races of the South Seas, Protestant Christianity has now been laboring for more than 9 10 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS a century. Entire groups of these islands that crowd the waters of the South Pacific have now been evangelized by the efforts and sacrifice of thousands of brave men and women who there have wrought for God during these years. Perhaps in no other part of the world have greater victories been won for the cross of Christ. The brilliance of these is thrown into clearer relief when seen against the terribly dark background of human depravity and unrestrained bru- tality that everywhere met the missionary pioneer in his labor. But the work in some of these lands is still unfinished. There still are islands unreached by the gospel, and there still are tribes to whom it has not yet been taken, or who still resist its power. In the sincere hope that the story of brave, devoted lives may prove to be inspirational, especially to the youth of our own church, and be used by the Lord of the harvest in raising up laborers in places where the great work still remains unfinished, the facts of this volume have been compiled. My purpose has been, not merely to show with what self- sacrifice and courageous effort the gospel seed has been sown, nor yet to reveal the awful depths of depraved savagery from which these island peoples are being lifted by the gospel; but rather to show that, in the places where human need seems to have reached its lowest depths, from the sacrifice of missionary effort and of missionary lives, a harvest, boun- tiful as any in the history of missions, is being reaped to the glory of God. In undertaking to collect the facts that fill this volume, I have determined, in deep and reverent memory of the gallant men and women whose deeds are recorded, that theirs shall be the voices that speak to the reader from its pages. They have lived and labored, and many of them have died, to ad- vance the name of Christ in dark places, and their deeds of unselfish service still adorn the missionary cause in which they labored. FOREWORD 11 From old volumes, some of which have long been out of print, from current missionary journals, and from mission- aries still living among savage peoples, information has been gathered. It has been a pleasure to assemble the statements of so many of God’s servants, and bring them within the com- pass of one volume. Gratefully acknowledging my indebted- ness to all those from whose works I have drawn, I now send forth this story of pioneer missionary endeavor with the earnest prayer that it may bless its readers, and prove to be an inspiration to many whose interest in foreign mis- sions makes missionary effort everywhere possible. C. H. Watson. The Martyrs of Tonga THE missionaries to the Tonga Islands reached that group in the year 1797 on the 10th day of April. They were ten in number, and all earnestly devoted to their God-appointed work. They found themselves among a people of friendly disposition, though desperately needy in their depraved state of savagery. Living among these natives were found to be two white men. These were afterward joined by a third, and still later by seven others. With one exception they were all vicious and abandoned beyond description, and were more to be feared by the missionaries than were the fierce people whom they had come to help. The exception was a blacksmith named Beck. Though he professed no religious convictions, he attached himself to the interests of the missionaries, and gave them aid at all times to the limit of his powers; and when days of privation and persecution came upon them, he shared joyfully and fully with them in their sufferings and peril. The others used every opportunity to extort and steal from the luckless missionaries, and invented and spread among the heathen the most malicious stories concerning them. Thus encouraged, the natives lost their friendliness, and soon became insolent and threatening in their bearing. Early in the year following their arrival, the missionaries were made to feel the determined bitterness of this evil influence. On the occasion of the death of a woman of influence, the report was spread that her death had been brought about by the prayers of the missionaries. Imme- diately the superstitious heathen laid the charge of causing her death at the door of the men of God, and forbade them 13 14 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS to pray any more. Of course they did not comply with this demand, but their persistence in prayer led to much annoyance at the hands of the people. About this time the truculence of the natives became more marked, and theft of the missionaries’ goods, with violence to their persons, began. Their situation seemed at that junc- ture to be growing worse daily, but all that they had as yet endured was as nothing to the troubles that were just before them, for even then civil war was approaching and darker days were near. Up to this point the prospect of the mission had been sufficiently gloomy, but on April 21, 1798, the king of the Tongans was assassinated by his brother, whose name was Finau Lugalala, and this led to war of the most ruthless sort. As the report of the murder spread, all law and order ceased. The chiefs demanded that the missionaries take part in the strife, and upon their refusal so to do, they were told that no further protection would be afforded them. “Thus they were as sheep in the midst of wolves, exposed to all the horrors of war in its most appalling forms; and though for a time the influence of some of the chiefs, who were inclined to befriend them, afforded them protection, their houses were ultimately plundered, they were stripped of their wearing apparel, some of them being able to secure only a covering of native cloth, their lives being as much in danger from the followers of the chiefs who had hitherto protected them, as from their avowed enemies. “At this sad crisis they managed to get together, and, under deeply solemn feelings, they united in imploring the divine interposition, and in commending themselves and their work to the care and protection of their Father in heaven. This meeting must have been of an intensely affecting char- acter. It was the last time they met on earth, and that thus it would prove, the circumstances under which it took place must have been sadly suggestive. These good men felt that their lives were in jeopardy every hour, and in their extrem- THE MARTYRS OF TONGA 15 ity they thought of trying to launch a boat which they were building, and which was nearly finished, in order to escape to some other island where their lives might have been safe. The boat was so far inland, however, that they were unable themselves to convey it to the sea, and they could get no help from the natives. How sad their case must have been! but the worst was yet to come. “On the 10th of May, these devoted pioneers of the mis- sionary enterprise were required by the savage people among whom they dwelt to join the army of the district named Ahifu, in which the larger number had settled. Knowing that, humanly speaking, their safety depended on the influ- ence of the chiefs, they so far complied as to follow in the rear of their forces. Shortly after daybreak the con- flict began; the enemy soon fled before the Ahifuans, who pursued them, and practiced barbarities which even to think of makes one’s blood run cold. The first prisoner they took was cut up and devoured on the spot, and the missionaries saw an old man roasting part of one of the bodies of the slain; and even the women, who mingled in the rear, dipped their hands in the blood of the slain who lay by the road- side, and licked them as they walked along. Such is heathen- ism. As of old, so now, it transforms men, and women too, into incarnate demons. And those were the Friendly Island- ers, the ‘innocent children of nature,’ whose apparent ami- ability so favorably impressed Captain Cook! “At first the natives seemed pleased at seeing the mission- aries in their ranks, but when they saw that they took no part in the conflict, their presence was evidently unwelcome; so they left the savage warriors, and returned to their former habitations, which they found stripped of most of the articles they had left. Shortly after reaching their now-desolate home, they beheld a hostile party approaching, and fled to seek shelter among the rocks of a place named Eligu, on the western shore, where they remained undiscovered dur- ing the rest of the day. 16 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS “In the evening two of their number ventured to return to their former residence, and finding all quiet in the neigh- borhood, the others joined them, deeming it safer to do so than to spend the night in the unfrequented place to which they had fled. In this, however, they found themselves mis- taken; so they removed to an adjacent house belonging to a native who professed great friendship, while, as they after- ward found, he intended to murder them during the night. The eye of the Keeper of Israel was over them; the treach- erous native was prevented from carrying his purpose into effect, and at break of day they returned to their former dwelling, in the hope of finding one of their number, who had been separated from them on the previous evening. Be- ing unable to obtain any tidings of him, they again betook themselves to the wilderness, and sought safety by conceal- ing themselves in a wood near the rocks where they had found shelter on the previous day. “About noon the same day they were surprised by hear- ing a native call one of their party by name, and on leaving their concealment, they saw numbers fleeing like broken ranks of a vanquished army, and they soon learned that the fortune of the war had turned, and that the Ahifuans were beaten, and many of those who had professed to be their friends were killed, and that the principal surviving chief had fled to a place farther along the shore, where he requested to see them. They joined the fugitives, and fol- lowed with the crowd, till they were met by a party of armed men, who demanded from them what clothes they had been able to retain, but spared their lives. “Having obtained some native cloth, it does not appear how, they continued with the fugitives, many of whom evidently regarded them with no friendly feelings, till they reached a thick wood, beyond which a range of craggy rocks seemed to promise a place of concealment, and in which they were glad to take shelter. And here, in the seclusion and comparative quiet which their retreat afforded, they reviewed THE MARTYRS OF TONGA 17 the sad scenes through which they had passed; and in the journal which narrates their proceedings at this time, they record their experience of the divine faithfulness and care. “We still found,’ they write, ‘abundant cause to bless the name of the Lord, who had given so much and taken away so little of what was essentially necessary for our real hap- piness. Though stripped of every worldly good, without so much as a garment to cover us, yet our heavenly inher- itance remained inviolate and inviolable; though at a distance from friends, and exposed to enemies on all sides, we might yet rejoice in the presence of our heavenly Father, our best Friend, and His promised protection; and though life seemed more than ever uncertain, and death impending, yet neither could separate us from the enjoyment... . ““We could not be insensible to the loss we had sustained, whereof we esteemed the word of God, and other books, of which we enjoyed a great number and variety, the most con- siderable ; but we still had access to the throne of grace, and, oh, what difference had His distinguishing grace made be- tween us and the many thousands around us who never heard of His word nor the salvation it reveals!’ ” “What a touching record is this, considering the circum- stances in which it was made! As Mr. Ellis remarks in his history of the London Missionary Society, pages 78, 79: ‘Men who at such a time thus realized the genuine fruits of the faith they professed, when it works by love, and brings its possessor under the influence of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen, were not destitute of some of the highest missionary qualifications.’ “Alas! the faith and patience of these devoted servants of God were to be yet more severely tried. About sunset of the day on which the foregoing record was made, two of them, impelled by hunger, set out in search of food. Water they had found during the afternoon in a hole among the rocks. The search for food was so far successful; the two soon returned to their companions with a single breadfruit 2 18 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS and some unripe bananas, which they had obtained from a company of men whom they met, and from whom they re- ceived the sad intelligence that their brethren at Ardeo had been murdered. After eating part of their scanty supply of food, they passed the night in a cave among the rocks, which was so small as to afford but partial covering from the rain. What a sad night it must have been! “The chief of the district of Ardeo, under whose protec- tion the missionaries had settled there, had joined the in- surgents. They were defeated by the Ahifuans, who rushed on with savage triumph toward Ardeo. When they ap- proached the dwelling of the missionaries, they came out, apprehending no danger, as they had taken no part with either side in the war. Whether as the friends of the chief of the now-vanquished district they would have been in danger, does not now appear; but among the Ahifuans, who were at this time the conquerors, was a man who had once asked them for some article which they had refused. Seizing the opportunity which was now offered for revenge, he rushed upon them, and was joined by others. Two of the three missionaries who occupied the station, Messrs. Bowell and Harper, and a seaman named Burnham, who resided with them, were struck down at once and murdered. The third missionary, Gaulton, fled at first, but looking back and seeing his companions fall, he returned and immediately shared their fate. The savages, leaving the mangled bodies on the ground, hastened to the mission house, which they plundered of everything they desired, and then hurried off again to the fight. “Such was the tragical end of these good men, of whom Mr. Ellis says: “They were eminently pious, industrious, and devoted men. . . . Their course, though brief, was irre- proachable and honorable; they were faithful unto death; and though the early and violent termination of their lives was permitted in accordance with the will of Him whose ways are past finding out, there is reason to hope that for THE MARTYRS OF TONGA 19 them to die was gain. . . . They were the first martyrs among missionaries of modern times, the forerunners of those who in the recent movements of the church have since been called to part with life in the sacred cause; and their sudden and unexpected removal, though afflictive in the ex- treme, was, there is reason to believe, beneficial in its influ- ence on survivors in the field, and on the churches at home.’ “They were all comparatively young. Harper, the eldest, was twenty-nine years of age, Bowell was twenty-five, and Gaulton was still younger. It is painful to think of their brief and checkered course, and of its sad termination; but all, no doubt, was wisely and kindly ordered, however ap- pearances may seem to indicate the contrary. ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.’ To the eye of sense, indeed, it seems as if their lot had been a pecul- iatrly hard one—as if they had sacrificed their earthly all, and suffered and died in vain; but that cannot be. We may not be able to trace the results of their labors and sufferings, but it does not follow that they were fruitless; yea, may we not rather confidently conclude that it was otherwise, that they were instrumental at least in preparing the way of the Lord, and that the blood of the first Polynesian martyrs, like that of others of early and later date, proved in the Friendly Islands, as elsewhere, the seed of the church? “The next day after the sad occurrences narrated above, was Sunday. It was spent by the remaining missionaries among the rocks, where they had sought and found a hiding place, in devotional exercises, and solemn and deeply affecting conference on the privileges of those who, amid all the dis- appointments and desolations of the world, could rejoice in the Lord as their refuge and their strength. “The scenes which took place this day in other parts of the island,’ Mr. Ellis remarks, ‘appear in awful contrast with the quiet solitude and devotional engagements of the mis- sionaries among the rocks of Eligu.’ The conflict between the contending parties was renewed, and maintained with 20 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS obstinate and determined ferocity. Horrid deeds of cruelty and cannibalism were indulged in by the party who gained a temporary triumph, but there was no decisive result. “The dangers and sufferings of the missionaries were in no degree diminished. They were indeed befriended by some of the natives, but others seemed bent on taking their lives, some insulting them with the accounts of the part they had taken in the murder of their beloved companions, while others were exulting in the expectation of their speedy de- struction. “Three days after leaving their hiding place among the rocks, they learned that their death had been determined upon, and would probably take place speedily. Some of the chiefs, however, interposed and interceded for them, and they were spared. They had taken refuge in the camp of the Ahifuans, where they were exposed to the insults and re- proaches of the living, and to the noxious state of the atmos- phere arising from the bodies of the slain which lay un- buried around. What a horrid situation was theirs! Yet all seems to have been patiently and heroically borne. We hear of no murmuring or complaining. True to the spirit and example of Him whose they were and whom they served, they took submissively, if not joyfully, the spoiling of their goods, knowing that they had in heaven a better and an en- during substance. “The war ended in the complete defeat of the Ahifuans, in whose district the missionaries resided. They fled to Mafanga, a district which had taken no part in the war, and where, on that account, the refugees would be in comparative safety. ... But they found the people there scarcely more friendly than the Ahifuans had been. The chief of the dis- trict professed to be their friend, but he seemed influenced by mercenary motives only. “Their connection with him led to one deeply interesting movement. He proposed to them that they should go to Ardeo to search for some things which he had been informed THE MARTYRS OF TONGA 21 the murdered missionaries had buried on the first breaking out of the war. They gladly complied with his proposal, in the expectation that they would be able to render the last sad offices of friendship to their beloved companions. “On the 8th of June they set out, accompanied by about - a dozen men; and on their arrival, they found the mission premises a perfect desolation; the fences broken down, the houses in ruins, and the produce of the gardens entirely de- stroyed. The bodies of their murdered companions were found lying unburied at a short distance from the premises. That of Burnham, the sailor, was found in a ditch not far off, and as it could not be removed, they covered it with earth where it lay. Assisted by the natives, they dug one large grave, into which they removed the bodies of their departed brethren. “They had lain,’ Mr. Ellis remarks, ‘for nearly a month exposed to the elements of heaven and the insults of relentless savages, and were now interred without a rem- nant of cloth to surround them or a few boards to inclose them. Happily for the departed, it made no difference; their dust was as precious in the eyes of Him who will watch over it till the morning of the resurrection, as if deposited in its last resting place with the most costly rites of sepulture.’ “The name of one man among the natives, Vaaji, the chief of Ardeo, deserves honorable mention. He appears to have been a sincere friend to the missionaries. He bewailed their death in the most affecting manner, and when the troubles occasioned by the war had subsided, he had their bodies removed to a more suitable place of interment, and erected over them a tomb to mark the spot where they lay. ““This delicate and generous token of respect’ to the murdered missionaries was deeply affecting to the survivors. It was a beautiful and touching deed, all the more so as it stands almost alone. A gleam of light amid the dense darkness of those troubled and calamitous years, it seemed to herald the brighter era which in due time was to open upon Tonga. 22 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS “One would fain hope that a ray of divine light had found its way into the dark mind of that poor chief, and that not only will this that he hath done be told as a memorial of him, wherever the story of the Tongan Mission shall be known on earth, but that he has in heaven an everlasting memorial. He took the missionaries to his house, after the interment of their brethren, showed them all he possessed, and told them to take whatever they wished. To their great joy they recovered a Bible, and they obtained also some writ- ing paper, pens, and ink, and some other useful articles. “Their situation continued to be wretched in the extreme. They were exposed to constant insult; they were obliged, on account of the superstitious fears of the natives, which had been wrought upon by foreigners, to discontinue the prac- tice of social worship, and their lives were in constant peril. Amid all, however, they held fast their integrity, maintain- ing unshaken confidence in their divine Protector, and often, in seasons of extremity, from want or danger, experiencing such marked interpositions of His providence, as caused them to feel that, though sorely tried, they were not for- saken. “And so closed the eighteenth century upon the Tongan Mission. Its last year had been a time of dire calamity to the natives, as well as to the mission and the missionaries; and, alas! the new year brought no alleviation. It seemed almost as if an end had come to the Tongan nation. On the 17th of January, 1800, a violent storm swept over the group, accompanied by torrents of rain. The island on which the missionaries resided was several times rocked by an earth- quake, and the sea rose to an unusual height, overflowing all the north side of the island, and destroying what little produce the devastation of war had spared. Vast numbers of breadfruit and bananas were blown down, and famine was added to other calamities. . “Under these circumstances, it will not surprise the reader to learn that the missionaries were induced to entertain the THE MARTYRS OF TONGA 23 idea of attempting to escape from the island. They seemed to be making no impression upon the natives. They were assured that the savage chief Finau, who had by the murder of his brother been the occasion of the horrid wars that had already taken place, and in which he had been the principal actor, had determined to put some of them to death, and they were in danger of actual starvation; while of clothing, ex- cept native tapa, they must have been almost if not quite destitute. Some articles of wearing apparel that had be- longed to the murdered missionaries had been recovered. “They had serious thoughts of attempting to reach the coast of Australia in the boat which they had built, but hav- ing no means of navigating the boat, nor of obtaining the requisite provisions for the voyage, the project was aban- doned, as it seemed to threaten certain destruction. The fact that it was entertained at all shows most forcibly that in their estimation man’s extremity had been reached. “Another fearful struggle between the chief Finau and the Ahifuans was impending; but before that actually took place, an opportunity was afforded, in a most remarkable manner, to the missionaries of leaving the island. On the 2lst of January, three days after the storm, a ship touched at the island. She was an English privateer, with a Spanish vessel as a prize. The captain had called at Tahiti, but had relinquished his intention of touching at Tonga on his way to New South Wales. “But mark the hand of an overruling Providence! The storm which had wrought such havoc on land, had drifted the vessel far to the leeward of the island on which the mis- sionaries were imprisoned; but she had an errand there, and there she must be brought, and this was effected by a calm which followed the storm, and a strong current which carried the vessel back to the island, and afforded the missionaries an opportunity of escape. As soon as the captain was made acquainted with their circumstances, he generously offered them a passage to Port Jackson, with the best accommoda- 24 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS tion which his cabin afforded. With feelings more easily conceived than described, the offer was accepted, and they were soon on board the ship which, at the critical moment, had been so remarkably brought to their succor. “One pleasing incident, akin to that connected with the conduct of Vaaji toward the murdered missionaries, occurred as they were leaving. As the vessel was passing near the part of the island at which they had resided before the out- break of the war, a man named Ata, and a chief whose name is not given, came off with a few coconuts as a present. The chief was deeply affected on account of their leaving, and took farewell of them with many tears. Notwithstanding his sorrow at their departure, he fully approved of the step they were taking, fearing, no doubt, that if they remained they would share the fate of their companions. The mis- sionaries also, though satisfied as to the path of duty, were much affected at leaving the people in such circumstances. The almost total failure of their mission, in as far as appear- ances went, was very grievous, though they were comforted by the assurance that Christianity would yet triumph on Tonga, and the hope that their labors and sufferings might be made in a measure subservient to that end. With these mingled feelings they bade adieu to the Friendly Islands, and followed what they believed to be the leading of Prov- idence. “They reached New South Wales in safety, about the middle of February, and were welcomed there by their breth- ren who had fled from Tahiti, and treated with great kind- ness by the governor, and Mr. Johnston, the chaplain of the colony. One of them, Mr. Shelly, after a short residence in the colony, returned to the islands, and joined the Tahitian Mission; the others proceeded to England, where they ar- rived in the month of September, 1800, after an absence of four years.” In Fiji As we turn the pages of mission history upon which are recorded the deeds of those brave men who wrought for God by taking the gospel to Fiji, we find ourselves in con- tact with a work of unusual daring, which was followed by remarkable success. Within the many shores of that savage and populous group we are early led to see that “every evil passion had grown up unchecked, and previously unheard of abominations had run riot.” The worst deformities and foulest stains, black- ened and disfigured the most prominent of the people’s char- acteristics. Crime had become inwrought into their very souls. It “polluted every hearth, gave form to every social and political institution, and turned religious worship into orgies of unsurpassing horror. The savage of Fiji broke beyond the common limits of rapine and bloodshed, and violating the elementary instincts of humanity, stood unri- valed as a disgrace to mankind.” In 1797, missionaries had been sent to the Tongans, near- est neighbors of the Fijians, but the history of their efforts is a record of heartbreaking disappointment and perilous failure. Yet it was from Tongan Christians that the light of the gospel of Jesus first shone into the darkness of Fijian savagery. The natives of Tonga seem always to have been a seafaring people, sailing far and near in their crude craft. At the time when our story begins, intercourse between the Tongans and the Fijians of the island of Lakemba had be- come established, and some Tongans had settled among the Fijians of that place. These were visited from time to time by their relatives, and thus intercourse between the two BED: ples became more regular. 25 26 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS “After a while, there were found among the Tongan sail- ors who visited Fiji, some who had become converted to Christianity at home; and these, on arriving in the strange land, zealously set about making known what they themselves knew of the gospel to their own relatives, and then to the Fijians. Thus was the Christian religion first introduced into the group.” It was about the year 1834 that the Holy Spirit began to witness with great power to the preaching of the gospel in Tonga. ‘Thousands then began to turn away from their abominable heathenism, and gave evidence that the work was truly of the heart. These newly converted people be- gan to pray that the way might be opened to send mission- aries to Fiji. “Tt was felt that the spreading work in Tonga required more than all the strength of the missionaries then out there. ... But the hearts of these men were deeply moved by what they were constantly hearing from Fiji. There was much to induce them to stay where they were. The freshness of youth had passed from them. Their homes were established now, and their children gathered round them. They were beginning to reap the fruit of much toil, and suffering, and danger. But in that outcry of savage passion which reached them from the regions beyond, they heard only the wail of unresting sorrow and unending pain. The comfort and the cure were in their hands, and the voice of the Lord sounded to them as clearly now as ever, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’ They heeded the charge, and counting all the cost, solemnly said, ‘Amen.’ ” They decided that two of their number should go to Fiji, and so Mr. William Cross and Mr. David Cargill were ap- pointed to begin mission work for the wild Fijians. In due time these two men, with their families, landed on Fijian soil, bearing to the king of Lakemba a message from the king of Tonga, urging that the missionaries be well re- ceived and respectfully treated. IN FIJI DF “Early in the morning the two missionaries went ashore in a boat, the schooner in the meantime lying off without coming to anchor. Deafening shouts along the shore an- nounced the approach of the vessel, and drew together a great crowd of Tongans and Fijians, armed and blackened according to their custom, to receive the strangers. “At the very outset the missionaries had a great advantage in being able at once to converse with the people without an interpreter; for many of the Fijians at Lakemba, through very long intercourse with the Tongans, could speak their language. . . . Thus the visitors passed through crowds of Tongans, hailing them with the friendly greetings of their own land.... “They came at once to the king’s town. .. . In one of his large houses they were introduced to the king and some of his chiefs. Tui Nayau readily promised them land for the mission premises, and desired that their families and goods should be landed forthwith, while he undertook to build temporary dwellings as soon as possible.” Soon after the missionaries returned to the schooner, it “cast anchor, and the families, who had suffered very seri- ously from seasickness, were only too eager to get ashore. A large canoe house on the beach, open at the sides and end, was given them as their dwelling until proper houses could be built. Under this great shed the two families passed the night, but not in sleep. The curtains had been left on board with their other goods, and they speak of the mosquitoes that night as being ‘innumerable and unusually Hane ici. “Here then, beneath a canoe shed, the missionary band spent their first night in Fiji, the wives and children worn out with their voyage, stung by numberless mosquitoes, and the crying of the little ones answered by the grunts of pigs running about in all directions. Glad enough were they, the next morning, to accept the captain’s invitation, and go back to the vessel until their houses were ready.” 28 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS The building of two houses was undertaken at once. A large company of natives, ordered by the king and working with great enthusiasm, began the work on the fourteenth day of the month, and on the seventeenth the missionaries, with their families, moved into their new homes. Posts and spars and reeds and leaves, all brought in great abundance, became, as if by magic, two houses, and books and goods and clothes and furniture had on the fourth day been landed from the vessel and carried indoors. Thus were the first Christian homes in Fiji made, and thus was the work of God begun among its benighted peoples. “The missionaries opened their commission by preaching twice out of doors, in the Tongan language, to about a hundred and fifty Tongans and Fijians. The king was invited, and came to the morning service, listening very attentively.”’ A short time after the mission thus began its work, “‘many of the Tongans who had hitherto roved about in Fiji in the unchecked indulgence of every vice, acknowledged the power of the gospel. Many became truly penitent, and mourned bitterly over their past evil ways. These converts, being de- sirous to lead a new life, and no longer wishing for the licen- tious course which was freely open to them in Fiji, returned home to their own land; and many a warm greeting took place between them and their friends, who had also received the blessings of Christianity since they last met. Thus it was difficult, for some time, to form any correct notion of the actual results of the new mission... . “Hitherto these Tongans had been notoriously wicked, even in Fiji. They were influential and feared... . When some of the most famous and stout-hearted of them became converted, and changed their manner of life, it had a telling effect on the minds of the Fijians, some of whom, in after years, welcomed back these men as fellow Christians... . The distance is great indeed from the desperate, lawless, and vile course which these men held, to the high standard IN FIJI 29 of morality which the New Testament teaches; yet Chris- tianity elevated them to that standard, and thereby wrought a triumph which no drilling of mere moral culture could have achieved: it went deeper than any other system could have reached, exercising, as it did, a power which no other could command. “It did more than reform these licentious savages. In changing their hearts, it wrought in them a new style of ideas, a new class of motives. In the breast of the relent- less warrior, the treacherous savage, the wily and suspicious heathen, it set up a quick and active charity, giving birth to strange emotions never felt before,—the emotions of sym- pathy and love for those whom they had hitherto known only as the sharers or the objects of their crime. They felt impelled to spread, as they could, the knowledge of that truth which had been the means of thus completely re- newing them.” The lives of the missionaries were, from the first, exceed- ingly active. From early morning till late at night they and their wives were kept busy answering questions and teaching the natives. Their coming had introduced to the Fijians not only new standards of life and new ideas of religion, but new means for the accomplishment of their everyday tasks. Axes, knives, chisels, and other tools were now brought within their reach. Calico and other cloth were also avail- able, for it was by these things that the missionaries paid for all labor, food, and other necessaries. The barter, too, of these tools and comforts for such native articles as the mission- ary families needed, had the effect of bringing to Lakemba peoples from other islands. These, returning to their home islands, invariably carried with them articles of European manufacture, and told wonderful stories of all they had seen in the homes of the missionaries. Thus the mission, its fam- ilies, and their manner of life, and the strange teaching of the white men, became the general theme of conversation in all the islands of that part of the group. 30 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS In some cases these visiting natives did not content them- selves with inspecting the mission houses and listening to the teachings of the missionaries, but ‘would prowl about, picking up any knife or other small article that they could lay hands on, and secreting it, with marvelous cleverness, in their scanty clothing.” But as interest in the mission grew among the people, their heathen leaders began to show that ill feeling was stir- ring their hearts to oppose the spread of Christianity in the land. Those in authority began to threaten the common people with severest punishment if they persisted in attend- ing the worship. The king and his brother were greatly trou- bled at the turn matters were taking. They knew not how to act. Just then a very influential Tongan chief who lived on Lakemba decided to accept the worship, and this gave some degree of protection to the Christians. The priests of heathenism declared that dreadful things would happen if the Christians were permitted to live, and though none of these dreadful things occurred, people came more and more to fear to show kindness to the missionaries and their con- verts. Preparations to build a new temple were begun, and it was well known that some of the Christians were to be killed and eaten to celebrate the setting of its first post. At last, “on a day secretly fixed, a large party of young men set out and attacked the two small towns of Wathiwathi and Waitambu. The houses of the Christians were pillaged, their stores of food taken, their crops destroyed, while their wives were led off to the king’s house. As yet, however, life had not been sacrificed, and some of the persecuted found asylum in the town of the Tongan chief.’ In con- sequence of this, the stolen wives were restored. In face of this persecution, the native Christians main- tained a quiet courage and firm faith, that strangely affected their savage persecutors. Threats and annoyances that but a short time before would have led speedily to bloodshed, IN FIJI 31 were borne with patience and cheerfulness. The fact, too, that these newly converted ones should so suffer and yet seek no revenge, greatly perplexed their savage enemies. And when at last these cruel persecutors learned that the Christians were actually praying for the king and chiefs who permitted, and even ordered, their great suffering, they acknowledged it to be quite past their understanding. Many had been banished from their homes, and suffered the loss of all things. These after a while were permitted to return to their homes, and were greatly surprised to find themselves “greeted with a strange respect.” Their own firmness in their new faith and strong trust in God had brought them victory. In former times, all shipwrecked seamen who were so un- fortunate as to be thrown by the sea upon the shores of Fiji, were received as gifts from the gods, and were killed and eaten. That this horrible custom had yielded to the influence of the gospel was evidenced when a sailing ship named the “Active” was wrecked some distance from the island of Lakemba. All hands were saved, and succeeded in reach- ing Lakemba. There they were treated kindly, and permitted to remain at the mission. Four of their number soon became impatient to reach land closer to the trading routes, where they hoped to hail a pass- ing ship. In spite of the warnings and entreaties of their companions, they set out in a small boat, but on the very next day, as they were passing a small island, some fierce savages, seeing the boat, gave chase in their canoe. All four men were miserably butchered and eaten. Soon after this the captain and men of the wrecked ship, having unexpected opportunity, proceeded to Sydney, where the captain reported the loss of his vessel and the fate of the murdered men. The stay of these sailors with the missionaries had very seriously reduced the stock of food at the mission, and the flour being exhausted, the two families were without bread, 32 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS and were forced to subsist on arrowroot and yam. The fol- lowing year a ship was chartered to carry supplies to the mission, but the captain, being afraid to navigate his ship among the treacherous coral shoals of the group, and in terror of the Fijian people, sailed to the Tonga Islands, and there landed the whole of the stores which the mis- sionaries in Fiji so sorely needed. Presently a canoe from Tonga reached Lakemba, bearing information that the stores for the mission were lying four hundred miles away, but no means were at hand to transport them to Lakemba. This failure to bring supplies fell with severity upon the mission- aries, at a time, too, of great scarcity on the island. Articles of barter were all gone, and even the cloth so greatly needed for their own clothing was exchanged for food. This state of things continued for some time, until at last help was sent from Tonga. Communication between Fiji and the homeland was very slow and uncertain. Mr. Cross just about this time received a supply of clothing for which he had written three years earlier. It was seldom that letters reached them within from fifteen to eighteen months from the time they were written. “Surrounded with diff- culties, and suffering many things, the missionaries toiled on, often prostrated by overworking, while their families were rarely free from sickness. Mr. Cross became so ill as to make his removal to Australia seem necessary; but before arrangements to that effect could be completed, he got much better, and resolved to continue in Fiji.” Sick though he was, Mr. Cross, when the opportunity occurred, resolved to advance farther into the heart of Fijian heathenism, and in 1837 took ship from Lakemba for Mbau, the seat of cannibal power in the group, and reached there just “when seven years of civil war had passed its crisis.” This war had brought to the front rank of leadership a young chief whose name was Seru, and who afterward became the dreaded Thakombau, king of all Fiji. So great was the excitement on the island of Mbau, consequent upon IN FIJI 33 Thakombau’s victories, and so crowded was the island, that Mr. Cross hesitated to settle there. In the meantime the king of Rewa, “whose authority and possessions were next in importance to those of Tanoa [Thakombau’s father], of- fered protection and land to Mr. Cross, and gave free per- mission to his people to become Christians as they might wish,” In the town of Rewa the missionary settled his family in a small house which the king allotted to them. There dark- ness and trouble came upon them. The house consisted of one room, “small and low and damp. And here the mission- ary sickened, and for six weeks he lay ill, first with intermit- tent fever, and then with cholera, and then with typhus fever, until his strength was all gone, and his poor wife saw closely threatening her the hard lot of being left alone with her little ones among cannibals. “At this distressing time, Mr. David Whippy, an American settler at Ovalau, went to Rewa, and gave invaluable help to the sufferer and his family. By God’s mercy, Mr. Cross recovered to a great extent from his sickness, and the king forthwith set about building a house for him in good earnest, so that he soon had a large and comfortable dwelling on a raised foundation.” As the mission became established, and its influence be- gan to affect the lives of some of the people, persecution arose, and at times even the lives of the missionary and his family were endangered. At last a powerful chief who had been foremost in war, rebellion, and cannibal savagery, ac- cepted the worship. Many of his people joined him in re- nouncing heathenism, and though the wild men of Fiji real- ized it not, the way was prepared for the evangelization of the whole group. | “Thus,” writes Mr. Williams, in his book, “Fiji and the Fijians,” “closes the first scene in the Fiji Mission. The work has begun at two important centers. Two men, single- handed, are battling with almost incredible difficulties, but 3 34 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS cheered with some success. The leaven of truth has been introduced, and already shows itself; but the opposition be- comes more obstinate, and the mass of the people seem to be growing more debased and devilish than ever. The two missionaries long for help, and at last it comes.” In December, 1838, John Hunt and James Calvert, with their wives, landed at Lakemba, and almost immediately Mr. Hunt went to Rewa. He had no knowledge of the language, yet neither he nor his wife hesitated to go unaccompanied to any place among those most savage of South Sea canni- bals and take up their abode with them. Already some of these people had begun to reveal a friendly attitude toward the gospel, but as these were observed by their savage fel- lows to be turning from savagery to the church, they were made the victims of almost unrestrained persecution. One night a brother of the king caused those who were attending worship to be pelted with stones, and on that same night their houses were plundered. Soon after this Mr. Hunt was able to write the following, indicating the fact that the gospel was even then exerting a very powerful influence upon the life of benighted Fiji: “We expected to have our turn next. Mrs. Hunt and I were not very comfortable, especially about midnight, when the deathlike stillness of the town was broken by the firing of a musket. We thought, ‘Surely this is the signal for the attack,’ and expected nothing less than to have our houses plundered. Mr. Cross slept comfortably enough. He was the old veteran who had stood the shock of many a battle; we were the raw recruits just introduced into the field, and consequently we felt the timidity which most experience on the first charge. The chief never came near us; and the king called a meeting of chiefs shortly after, which was the means of checking the persecution for a time. Our people stood firm during these trials, and were enabled to take joy- fully the spoiling of their goods, affectingly referring to their better and more enduring substance... . IN FIJI 35 “Shortly after a number of the Viwa people had embraced Christianity, a man of some note sent a message to the king of Mbau, to allow him to kill Namosimalua. Instead of complying with his request, the king sent to Namosimalua to inform him of what had taken place, advising him to kill the traitor and all of his relatives. He replied, ‘No, it is not consistent with the laws of Christianity to punish the innocent with the guilty.’ The traitor himself was spared when he sued for mercy. This is the more remarkable, as Namosimalua had been noted for killing his own people for trifling offenses, and often for none at all, but merely be- cause he suspected them. The man whom he thus generously pardoned is now a member of the church.” This beginning of the work in Fiji stirred up pierce hatred in the hearts of those whose lives were unyielded to its in- fluence. The scope of its power was as yet quite limited. It was as a small light whose shining made more manifest the darkness by which it was surrounded. The missionaries were constantly compelled to look upon “scenes too horrible to be described, too full of fiendish cruelty to be imagined by any who had not witnessed them. . . . Every vice was committed, and every form of suffering endured, by the people among whom they lived.” Yet the circle of light was constantly being increased, and amid all the perils of their position, they “knew they had kindled in Fiji a bright- ness which should never be put out.” At that time Mr. Calvert declared that they had “brought in great power which should never be bound or destroyed, but should work on, with sure and mighty conquest, until the face of all those islands, in its changed loveliness and peace, should declare how the hearts of the people were become new.” And, indeed, it was even then so. “Among a people who, three years before, had no written language, and the dark- ness of whose degradation seemed beyond the hope of en- lightenment,” a fountain of knowledge and truth had burst forth, and thirsting thousands on dark, savage Fiji were drinking freely of the waters of life. At Somo Somo It is interesting to note the way in which those early mis- sionaries to Fiji were led to advance upon one stronghold of savagery after another, until the banner of the cross was triumphantly floating over the whole group of islands. The first missionaries were not long in discovering that while the island of Lakemba was the logical place at which missionary endeavor should be begun, because of the influence of Chris- tian Tongans there, it was of comparatively little importance as a center from which the work should spread. The place of first importance and of most dreadful savagery was the small island of Mbau off the coast of Viti Levu, the largest island of the group. Here it was that the dreadful king of all Fiji, Thakombau, ruled with absolute power and un- bridled cruelty. To this locality the missionaries advanced first from La- kemba, and scarcely had the work been established there than Mr. Hunt and Mr. Lyth, a new arrival in the field, were sent to Somo Somo, a kingly town on the island of Taviuni more than a hundred miles distant from Mbau. In this town dwelt Tuithakau, king of Somo Somo. This man was a desperate character, feared far and near. In Somo Somo the missionaries “found all the horrors of Fijian life in an unmixed and unmodified form,” and “even in the other islands it was spoken of as a place of dreadful cannibalism.’ For reasons of his own the king had pleaded urgently for missionaries, but on their arrival they found themselves unwelcome. From the first they were treated with the utmost indifference, but very soon this was to change to conditions of suffering never fully related by those who endured them, but which became more and more the prac- 36 AT SOMO SOMO ‘oe ticed plan of the savages among whom they were. Mr. Wil- liams has given us a wonderfully graphic description of the experience of these families in those early days of their life at Somo Somo, and I shall here let him tell the story as I find it on several pages of his wonderful book, “Fiji and the Fijians: ” “When they arrived, they found the people expecting the return of Ra Mbithi, the king’s youngest son, who had gone with a fleet of canoes to the Windward Islands. After the missionaries had got all their goods landed, and before the vessel in which they came had left, tidings reached Somo Somo that Ra Mbithi had been lost at sea. “The ill news caused terrible excitement in the town, and according to custom, several women were at once set apart to be strangled. The missionaries began their work by pleading for the lives of these wretched victims. The ut- most they could effect was to get the execution delayed until the schooner should have gone to search for the young chief, and bring back further information. “The vessel returned, but not with any more favorable news. Now a greater number of women were condemned, and again the missionaries pleaded hard that they might be spared; but the old king was angry with the strangers for presuming to interfere with the affairs of his people, and indignant at the thought of his favorite son dying without the customary honors. Once more, however, the strangling was put off. “Canoes, which had been sent out to search, at last re- turned, bringing the intelligence that all was true. It was generally known, but not openly talked about, that Ra Mbithi had drifted, on his wrecked canoe, to the island of Ngau, where he had been captured and eaten by the natives. Re- monstrance and entreaty were now in vain. Sixteen women were forthwith strangled in honor of the young chief and his companions, and the bodies of the principal women were buried within a few yards of the door of the missionaries’ house. 38 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS “Thus began the mission to Somo Somo. What the mis- sionaries and their families suffered there, will never be fully known. Much which became dreadfully familiar to them by daily occurrence, could not be recorded here. All the horrors hinted at, rather than described, in the first part of this work, were constantly enacted in their most exag- gerated forms of cruelty and degradation in Somo Somo.... “On February 7, 1840, Mr. Hunt writes: ‘Last Monday afternoon, as soon as our class meeting was over, a report came that some dead men were being brought here from Lauthala. The report was so new and so indefinite, that at first we did not know what to make of it. Almost before we had time to think, the men were laid on the ground be- fore our house, and chiefs and priests and people met to divide them to be eaten. They brought eleven to our settle- ment; and it is not certain how many have been killed, but some say two or three hundred, others not more than thirty. ““Their crime appears to be that of killing one man; and when the man who did it came to beg pardon, the chief re- quired this massacre to be made as a recompense. The prin- cipal chief was killed, and given to the great Ndengei of Somo Somo. I saw him after he was cut up and laid upon the fire to be cooked for the cannibal god of Somo Somo. O shame to human nature! I think there are some of the devils even that must be ashamed of their servants eating htman flesh...) . ““The manner in which the poor wretches were treated was most shamefully disgusting. They did not honor them as much as they do pigs. When they took them away to be cooked, they dragged them on the ground: one had a rope round his neck, and the others took him by the hands and feet. “