we an wie meh aie Sian , aa = endo ee ies, dew ey Re SBR AE Diaby VK em pa SSS > eS eee be et oe OF ee ay =A Ss y ‘a 7 4 o| oe ; e. | Ted Oa =2 ol . be i ) FO “AMS «. AMONV> NV ‘£ 0FOUd ‘yt0QOH ‘atyvog “W CHAPTER III Their Religion IN their religion the people of Vella Lavella were Animistic. They believed that all natural phenomena had souls like their own. The sky, the earth, sun, moon, stars, rivers, rocks, animals and vegetation were all animated by wills and souls. The sea, with its storms and calms, the jungle with its solemn silences or monotone of sighing and moaning, the mountain with its clothing of clouds and changes of colour, all possessed personality. With us a peaceful sky and an angry sky are mere figures of speech, but not so with the Vella Lavellans. The same expressions with them were tremendously significant. To say the sky was angry was equivalent to saying that the spirit of the sky was angry. They never looked at a red sky, because it meant looking at an angry god, and they feared to do so. If a man were killed in falling from a tree-or drowned in 25 26 THE SON OF A SAVAGE the sea, it was the offended spirit of the tree or of the sea that had brought about his death for neglecting to observe some custom. They believed also that a canoe, a house, a battle-axe, a shield, a spear, in fact, every article useful to man, possessed more soul than anything in its natural state because the maker had put so much of himself into it. Not only did they be- lieve that everything they could see and handle had souls, but spirits were in the air, on land, in the sea—countless myriads of them. They came with the wind; they were present in the calm; the night was full of them. Men feared to journey after sunset. Anything touching their bodies in the dark as they passed along the narrow jungle-tracks was the hand of an angry spirit clutching at them. If a leaf from a tree dropped on them it was a message from the Spirit world and was full of foreboding. | A man of Vella Lavella believed he had two souls. One soul had possession of him during life, and at death animated something else; it was . part of an indestructible life-force that pervaded everything. His well-being depended upon its condition in his own body. It could be frightened away wholly or partially. If it left any part of him, that part of him became sick. Fainting was caused by the soul deserting the body THEIR RELIGION 27 temporarily; when it left permanently, he died. The other soul (or spirit) came into power at -the death of the body, and was a continuation of his own individuality. The heathenism of the Vella Lavellans was not a denial of a Supreme Being, but complete ignorance of His Person and attributes. They believed in a First Cause or Creator, whom they called Banara. This Banara was regarded as immeasurably superior to all other spirits. But he was merely the Maker of all things, the Great Outsider who was not interested in their affairs. St. Paul’s words to the Romans might well have been written of them: ‘ Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imagina- tions, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image like to corruptible man.’ And this because they ‘ changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.’ The deities were either spirits of ancestors or demons of their own imaginings. They had appetites to gratify, tempers to be humoured, craftiness to be outwitted. The worship of them was at once degraded and degrading; for, being 28 THE SON OF A SAVAGE creations of their own savage minds, they were like themselves—vicious and vile. There were no good spirits. The goods of life were taken without questioning as to how they came or where they came from. Causes were looked for only when evil came. The work of the spirits was believed to be always prompted by jealousy or anger. They were responsible for all troubles. all sorrows, all deaths, and for this reason were slavishly worshipped; the spirit which threatened most trouble was the one which received the most homage or worship. This worship was made by placing offerings of human heads, of food, or shell money at shrines, where the skulls of ancestors and relatives were preserved. The whole religious ritual of the Vella Lavellans centred around these skulls. They were regarded as capable of furnishing a permanent memorial of the dead, and were treasured in order that they might act as symbols to be honoured and propitiated, as well as mediums through which the spirits could - be adequately worshipped. The heads of enemies were valuable, because they were looked upon as possessing more soul- force than anything else, and were the hest offering that could be made to the spirits. The head was used as representative of the body, the Photo J. M. Beattie, Hobart. Mm ORRINE AL VELLA VAVELLA. face p. 28. Photo E. A. Salisbury. CANOES IWEEH SOULSe Proto E. A. Salisbury. EMBLEMS OF RELIGIOUS RITUAL. face 2p, 20. THEIR RELIGION 29 custom having its origin in the idea of human sacrifice. Such offerings were always made on the occasion of building a large house or launch- ing a war-canoe. It was believed the spirits appropriated the soul-value of these sacrifices, and that, if they were generously treated, they would grant exemption from evil visitations. In offering to the spirits so valued a gift asa human head the motive was solely personal benefit. Life and its doings were charged with strange meaning. Because conduct either pleased or displeased the spirits, nothing was done haphazardly. In fact, things only went well for the living when they respectfully and punctiliously observed the customs of the race. Failure to observe any custom was the only wrong-doing known to them, and it was punished by the soul leaving some part of the body—perhaps the whole of it. Because deviation from ancient custom incurred the wrath of the ancestral spirits and demons the people lived in perpetual fear. Fear completely dominated their lives. It met them at every turn. There was no escape for them. Every one knew that every one else was seeking to enrich his own soul-force at the expense of his neigh- bour. And so fear reigned between the rich and the poor, the sick and the healthy, the young and 30 THE SON OF A SAVAGE the old. There was no such thing as mutual trust or goodwill; on the contrary,. man’s inhumanity to man was daily demonstrated. Often a common sorcerer would be blamed for seeking the aid of a malicious spirit to bring about the illness of a neighbour. This sorcerer was Called a basa. He was the cad of the village; a mean sneak whom no one respected. He had, however, hypnotic power, and was believed to be able to cause the sickness or death of any person against whom he had spite. His method was to collect filthy remains of fruit skins and other garbage, and to bury these secretly in the ground, at the same time muttering the name of his victim and calling in the aid of the spirit. Should he be suspected of causing an illness, the most revolting cruelty was practised on him in order to make him admit his guilt. The favourite custom was to hang him by the wrists. If he confessed, the spell was broken, and the victim invariably recovered. The Vella Lavellans were, in their own crude. way, very religious. Visible things were only emblems. The spirit life was the real life. Head- hunting, widow-strangling, child-murder and cannibalism all had spiritual significance. For instance, in head-hunting it was believed that the more human heads one accumulated in this life THEIR RELIGION 31 the better time one would have in the spirit- world. The native word for murder and bravery was the same. To be a brave man one had to prove the strength of one’s spirit by murder— by head-hunting. If a man passed through life without taking a single head, his spirit was put to the test in a sort of ‘no man’s land,’ where he was matched in conflict against a spirit of equal powers. The outcome of the fight decided the rank of his spirit. Cannibalism was always a religious rite. A portion of the neck of the enemy was eaten in the belief that in this manner they would gain his strength. They did not eat human flesh be- cause it was tasty or because they were hungry. It was never an article of diet. The custom of widow-strangling was based on the belief that it was right and proper for the widow’s spirit to accompany that of her husband to the spirit- world so that she might continue to serve him. Child-murder was carried out principally with the weakly baby girls. What was the use, they said, of having the bother of bringing them up if they were not likely to be strong enough for hard work in the gardens; besides, their spirits would be better off in the spirit-world. If one of twins was a girl, she was always strangled at birth. Again, if a mother greatly mourned the loss of 32 THE SON OF A SAVAGE her child she was strangled, so that the spirits of both mother and child might be reunited. It will be seen that the spiritual shadows which enveloped this sunlit isle of Vella Lavella were black and penetrating. The people knew nothing of love, nothing of joy, nothing of peace. Customs inherited from former genera- | tions paralysed independent thought; robbed them of personal aspiration; terrorized their lives; saddened their souls; made brutal their behaviour towards women and little girls; gave them a demoralized conception of the value of human life, and bound them helplessly and des- pairingly with superstition and with fear. And it was into such an environment that there was born the baby boy Bula, who, for the first twelve years of his life, was trained and and instructed in all the vicious and blood-thirsty practices of his people. ‘WYTIHAV'T WTIHA SYHLNOH-GVAH SQOIMOLOIA AO HONVA “AANQSUDS “Pp “A 01OUd Photo E. A. Salisbury. PROW OF WAR CANOE face pb. 33 CHAPTER IV Early Days THE parents of Bula were both outstanding personalities. His father was not only a notorious head-hunter, but a man greatly feared amongst his own people. He had a demon-like temper. Once, in a fit of jealous rage, he killed a kinsman who, he thought, was undermining his influence in the tribe. He was skilled in the use of native herbs. Bula’s mother possessed peculiar hypnotic power, and often exercised witchcraft. She was very tall and had a com- manding presence. Her influence amongst the women was very great. The days of childhood on Vella Lavella were very different from those in a Christian country. Baby life had to struggle against its sicknesses in filthy surroundings, under totally unhygienic conditions, and was always subject to the whims and passions of savage parents. Bula’s infant days were no exception. On one occasion his father in anger tied him into a basket, which he concealed in a tree, and then went off on a fishing expedition for several days, callously 33 3 34 THE SON OF A SAVAGE leaving the child to die. His mother found him in time to save his life. | | | Home, as we understand it, never existed. Because of constant intertribal fighting and the fact that so much time was taken up in head- hunting across the seas, houses were hurriedly built and the sites frequently changed. A house had one room, in which all the family, and all the visitors, and all the dogs and pet pigs of the family slept. Children matured very quickly. As soon as Bula could fend for himself he had to do so. At the age of ten he was practically his own master. He soon learnt to walk warily, to read signs, to conceal emotions, to handle the battle- axe, the shield, the spear. He was taught to be cruel and to kill. He found that even a little child was not safe a hundred yards from its own village. If he strayed away he might never be ~ heard of again. One of his earliest recollections was that of his father and himself coming across a boy of his own age near a neighbouring village. Knowing the boy to belong to a tribe towards which they had no friendly feelings, Bula’s father showed him how to murder the innocent laddie by smothering him. When we think of the infinite care that is taken to guard the children of Christendom from every ugly sight and ‘every evil suggestion, the revolting cruelty of this one ee EARLY DAYS 35 act of savagery portrays to the mind a picture of absolute horror. And yet vicious acts such as these made up Bula’s early life. They constituted his environment. His sole ambition at this time was to be a head-hunter like his father—and so the Gospel found him. Going into a native hut a few days after my arrival at Vella Lavella, I saw, huddled up in the darkest corner, a little fellow of about twelve years of age. He was suffering intensely with inflamed eyes. Again and again he attempted to get a glimpse of the strange white man. At last he gave up trying. It was no use. The light caused him too much pain. He had to keep his face hidden in his hands and turned from the doorway. He was in such evident distress that I went back immediately to my own hut close by and prepared a bowl of warm boracic lotion, and took it to him. For at least an hour I bathed his raw eye-lids. He loved it. Whilst he continued the bathing I made a second trip to * Headquarters,’ broke open a case of personal effects, and got out a dark green celluloid eye- shade, which I had used during my student days. I placed this well down over his eyes and left him. The next morning I went to him again and tried to coax him to come back with me. I made signs to show that I wanted to doctor his 36 THE SON OF A SAVAGE eyes again. But no! He either could not or would not understand. In the end I took him gently by the arm and led him to my hut. With a fresh warm lotion and a handful of absorbent cotton we began the bathing. For about a fort- night he came to me every morning and evening for treatment. There was an indefinable some- thing about the patient little chap that made an irresistible appeal to me. He was an unusual type—sensitive, independent, intense. My whole heart went out to him. It was to help such as he that I had come to Vella Lavella in the name of Christ. At the end of the fortnight his sore eyes were not only completely cured, but his entire confidence and loyal devotion had been won. His name was Bula. A comradeship then began, which became increasingly precious to us both with the passing of years, and lasted the whole of his life. | Bula became my cook-boy. At first he scarcely knew how to ‘ cook’ water. He did know, how- ever, how to light a fire, and this was his chief duty in the early days. It mattered not how early I rose in the morning, and it was usually at daybreak, I always found a fire big enough to roast an ox, the water in the kettle boiling away at a furious rate, and Bula sitting near at hand ready for the next job. He soon learnt to prepare EARLY DAYS 37 the table for meals, but in the course of learning he made many queer mistakes. My hut had only one shelf. On this shelf were kept the stocks of tinned and bottled eatables and medicines. The eatables were supposed to occupy one end of the shelf and the medicines the other. Sometimes the things got mixed up. Prior to becoming my ‘ Cookie’ Bula had rarely seen a tin or a bottle, and knew nothing of their contents. Conse- quently his first unaided efforts at setting out the table were highly amusing. His method was to select the best-looking tins and bottles! On one occasion I found Friar’s Balsam, Vaseline, Pain- killer, Eucalyptus, and Boracic Acid on the table with the butter, jam, pepper and salt! At another time, when the District Officer was dining with me, Bula placed in a prominent position on the table a large bottle of ink. Not feeling in a literary mood, we decided that the black fluid was not the sauce we wanted. Years later, when we were joking about his originality in setting a table, he explained that his idea had been to enable me to choose those things that I needed and to leave the rest. ... I certainly left the rest! It did not take him long, however, to become quite expert, not only in the arrange- ment of the dinner table but also in the prepara- tion of the dinner itself. 38 THE SON OF A SAVAGE I remember one day Bula came to tell me that the meal was ready. He spoke the one word ‘Sailao. I had never heard the word before, and and thought he said ‘ Sail-ho!’ and rushed to the beach in great excitement. With shaded eyes I scanned the horizon. No boat was to be seen anywhere. He soon came to me again, and pointing to the hut repeated the word ‘ sailao.’ This time I comprehended. I then and there learnt that ‘sailao’ was the general term for food and had nothing to do with the English term ‘ sail-ho!’ As ‘ Cookie’ Bula had to observe certain rules. One rule was to report all breakages. I ex- plained to him that in the case of a breakage he was not to conceal it but own up to it, and then there would be no further inquiry. One day the little chap came along with a broken saucer, and confessed that he was the culprit. I mourned not the saucer, but commended Bula for carrying out my instructions. Later I discovered that some one else had broken it. When I asked Bula why he had taken the blame, he replied, ‘ You told me that whenever anything was broken I must say J did it!’ Evidently my use of the lan- guage was not as lucid as it might have been. Bula had literally obeyed what he thought to be the rule of the house! EARLY DAYS 39 These early days were full of queer happenings. Once I found Bula very carefully rolling up an old pair of my white trousers. When I asked him what he had there, he said, ‘ Alligator eggs— I am going to hatch them.’ He had found a nest of twenty-four eggs, had brought home two, and was keen on getting results. He said that in two days they would be ‘out.’ I was somewhat dubious about the matter, but told him to report progress. Sure enough, on the second day, two little brutes had discarded their shells and were crawling about the floor. We kept them for five or six weeks, but I had no fancy for such fierce pets and so dispatched them. This egg story calls to mind another. I had been given a setting of duck eggs, and had to put them under a broody hen. Bula wanted to know why I had been given eggs when we had plenty of our own. I explained that I wanted some ducklings. ‘ But,’ he said, ‘ you have put the eggs under a hen, so you will get chickens.’ No talking of mine could convince him to the contrary. His argument was—How could a hen be the mother of ducklings? It was manifestly absurd! However, in spite of him, ducklings duly arrived. But these were difficult days for Bula. He knew nothing of things beyond his local horizon. 40 THE SON OF A SAVAGE His island home, with all its crude customs and superstitions, was his world. His friends and relatives did their utmost to dissuade him from giving himself to the ‘ Misinare’ (missionary). They played upon his fears; taunted him for putting his trust in a ‘ vaka maba’ (white man— lit. Ship man); warned him that they had never _ received good from the ‘men of the ships.’ And this was only too true. The first white men to visit the shores of Vella Lavella were the ‘ Black- birders, who began a scandalous trade in the seventies by kidnapping the strong and sturdy natives of the Solomons and selling them for good prices to the Queensland and Fiji planters. Bula’s people suffered sadly at the hands of | these slave traders. The story of their dastardly work has never been written. It is a tale of infamous deeds and abuse of native hospitality. It has been said that if all the facts of these dark ‘ blackbirding’ days were brought to light, they would form one of the blackest pages in the annals of human . history. It was a diabolical business from begin- ning to end. The author of Christianity in Polynesia states that ‘ “ blackbirding ” not only dealt out the cruellest injustices to the natives, but also lengthened for the missionary that night of toil through which he had to pass before the Photo E A. Salisbury. G HIS BEARD. face p. 40 Photo J.-F.- Gotdie. THE AUTHOR AT HEADQUARTERS, 1907. Photo J. F. Goldie. CLEARING SITK FOR MISSION HOUSE. face p. 41 EARLY DAYS 41 dawn appeared.’ Thank God, those evil days are gone for ever! The total distrust of all white men which existed on Vella Lavella at the time of my arrival cannot be fully appreciated with- out this brief mention of the baneful influence of the ‘Blackbirders.’ It will be seen, therefore, that the taunts and warnings received by Bula were not meaning- less. But he had to stand against more than taunts and warnings. He was only a little fellow at this time, but in order to be loyal to me he fearlessly faced the loneliness of unpopularity and the active antagonism of his people. So persistent were they in their attempts to turn his affection from me that they set the sorcerers at work and threatened him with sickness and with death. The Vella Lavellans profoundly believed in the power of evil thought and suggestion. (The pity was in those days they knew nothing of the positive power of good thought.) They believed that certain men of the tribe could bring disaster upon one by the concentration of evil thought. And they had reason for their belief, for it was invariably effective. In the case of Bula, however, it was all to no purpose. During all these days we were living in a hut at the shore, and our time was occupied very largely in making preparations for the building 42 THE SON OF A SAVAGE of a permanent Mission House. A track had to be made through the jungle to the hill-selected for the site, and this site had to be cleared and the materials transported to it before building operations began. About a year was spent in this work. At last the house was completed, and the day came to move into it. For Bula this meant a testing time. An exceedingly vicious Spirit was supposed to possess this particular hill upon which we had erected the Mission House, and his people repeatedly told him it would kill him. I knew nothing of this until many years later. But Bula knew, and he was very conscious of the fact that he had broken through native custom, and that the worst the spirits could do was his due. Yet, although just emerging from barbarism, he was apparently fearless. With un- daunted courage and unswerving faith in his white friend he held to his new convictions. His decision to live with me on the very hill believed to be dominated by a malicious demon enables us to glimpse his calibre. We had not been long settled in the new house when one night Bula came to me in great con- cern. He said he could hear men coming up the hill in the direction of the Mission House. , He was sure that a crowd coming at that hour meant trouble. He could only think his own people EARLY DAYS 43 were coming to take him away, as they had often threatened to do. Together we went out to the verandah, and were surprised to find a number of men carrying a small canoe. As they approached we could see that the canoe contained a badly wounded man. We recognized the man, and knew at once what had happened, for during that day there had been an intertribal fight at the nearest village. On hearing about it I had hurried to the spot, and had found that things were serious. Both sides were fully armed, and their blood was up. It had looked as if some killing were imminent. I had much ado to get a hearing, but eventually managed to stop the fight. Although the parties had separated, I had left with the feeling that the fight was not over. When we saw the wounded man in the canoe we knew that hostilities must have been re- newed. I told the men to bring him to the verandah. On examination I found a badly shattered knee, and knew that it was impossible to tackle it by the dim, uncertain light of a hurricane lantern. We put on a large boracic fomentation, and made the patient as comfort- able as possible till daylight. It was necessary to remove several fragments of bone and to put nine stitches in the muscle and eleven in the skin. I had barely completed the job when word came 44 THE SON OF A SAVAGE that more fighting was going on. I had to leave Bula in charge of the wounded man and run to the scene of conflict. This time it was necessary to shout until I was hoarse and to almost work myself into a frenzy before the fighters would listen to what I had to say. This surgical case was the first that Bula had seen. It made a profound impression on him,and from that day he was always anxious to help me to ‘ mend’ people. My home now became Bula’s home in very truth. We were always together. Believing that trust begets trust, I increased his responsibilities and let him understand that he was in charge of the house and its belongings. The fact that he was personally responsible for things did him good. He developed rapidly, and soon revealed that peculiar keenness of observation which dis- tinguishes the more intelligent type of South Sea Islander. The acquisition of the language at this time brought us into a daily fellowship of the most intimate nature. I wanted the name of everything that was in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Note-book after note-book was filled with words and idioms. And then, as my knowledge of his speech increased, I was able to tell him more and yet more of that greatest regenerating force in the history of man—The Story of Jesus Christ. CHAPTER V A Reign of Terror ABOUT this time, with sudden swiftness, there descended upon Bula’s people a veritable reign of terror. Sito, an outlaw chief of Vella Lavella, who had defied the Government for many years, planned and carried out the destruction of a trader’s household, involving the murder of his wife, children, and native servants. The days that followed were full of terrible experiences, and mark an epoch not only in Bula’s career but also in the history of the Mission. A few hours after the perpetration of the massacre, an urgent message was received from a trader-friend requesting me to join him at the scene of the tragedy, as it was feared the murderers would return for loot. I quickly made arrangements for leaving the station, and set out on the twenty miles’ journey in a big native canoe. Four hours of heavy going against a choppy sea brought us to the quiet waters of the trader’s lagoon. He had left early that morn- ing on a trading trip, and knew nothing of the 45 46 THE SON OF A SAVAGE outrage. As we drew near to this little stone jetty we were fired at by a crowd of excited labour ‘ boys,’ who had just returned from their work. They were in a panic, and when they saw our great canoe decided that we were Sito’s fol- lowers coming for plunder. On going ashore we found mutilated bodies in all directions—the victims were lying just where they had been struck down. The friend who had sent for me was alone at the trader’s house a little distance away. He had heard the approach of our canoe, and, thinking it contained the returning head- hunters, was waiting for them with his loaded Winchester. This wholesale slaughter of a white man’s family sent a thrill of insecurity through the whole of the Western Solomons, and all the Vella Lavellans came under suspicion. Within a week or two the Government took action, and organized a punitive expedition. I was strongly urged for safety’s sake to leave the island, but this was out of the question. The Government offer of police protection was also unthinkable. My duty was to stand by the local natives. The innocent were likely to suffer for the guilty. I had to show them that I trusted them and give them a bigger opportunity to trust me. For three years I had travelled by native canoe up and A REIGN OF TERROR 47 down Vella Lavella striving to win their con- fidence. Ugly gashes on arms and legs were stitched, bones were set, and callous ulcers treated without the slightest show of gratitude. Apparently I had made little impression upon them. Now they were in trouble. They needed a friend, for their island was to be ransacked from end to end. The Resident Commissioner emphatically expressed his determination to cap- ture the dreaded Sito and his bloodthirsty gang at all costs; and, to serve his purpose, he allowed a number of traders to dump down on Vella Lavella hundreds of their native labourers. These, with a large body of so-called native police, having been left without any control, in- dulged in head-hunting on their own account, and committed diabolical deeds. Not only was there the destruction of mission property and food gardens at outstations, but almost every day for a fortnight tragic and heart-rending reports reached us of the slaughter of innocent lives. At the very outset of the trouble I requested the Commissioner to permit the local natives, who had an intense knowledge of the Vella Lavellan bush, to join in the search; but the request was refused. With unjustifiable hostility he said he believed all the locals were in league with the guilty gang, and told me to warn them 48 THE SON OF A SAVAGE that if any of them were found in the bush they would be shot at. The Vella Lavellans looked upon the Mission as a City of Refuge, and came to us in hundreds for protection. Scores of shelters were hurriedly erected. Every innocent man, woman, and child was made welcome. Our Head Station became the one safety zone on the whole island. Not until we had had a fortnight of bloodshed and plunder did the Commissioner accede to my request—a request which I had made at the beginning and repeated at our every — meeting—that the local natives be allowed to help in the work of capturing the outlaws. Up to this time we had been treated by the Govern- ment as though we were deliberately. sheltering Sito and his followers, and consequently the police and the traders’ savage hordes did not hesitate to destroy mission buildings at out-— stations, as well as the houses, canoes, gardens, and other property of those natives who were in any way friendly towards our work. I shall never forget the immense relief I felt when the necessary permission to assist in the search was granted to the local people. They knew every hill and dale of the island, and they knew, too, the likely haunts of the outlaws, so I did not anticipate that they would have difficulty in running them down. I immediately called the "ob *d aan{ "LANQSYDS “P “A OJON VTIHAVI WIIHA AO SYALNNH-GVHH MISSION STATION DOBEL MUNDO! MUNDI\ & peraniend MOUNTAINOU SZ COUNTRY WITH z= PRECIPITOUS PEAKS — MISSION Za = Zs STATION “KOKOLop: MISSION Jurio)™ station ANO RioGES pas S MISSION STATION @ Ae = MISSION TATIONS! NAR AVA BAGGA I$ OX SCENE OF MASSACRE (see ChapterV) vie R Ss = —=s > SS mission STATION ELEOTEVE MISSION SIRULANDO 7 w MIS3101 MOUNTAINOUS COUNTRY WITH PRECIPITOUS PEAK AND RIDGES ISLAND OF ° VELLA LAVELLA . 0 MISSION STATION é D MAP CF VELLA LAVELLA. face p. 49. A REIGN OF TERROR 49 Vella Lavellans together, and made it clear that we could not expect to have peace until Sito and every one of his followers had been brought to account. A definite plan of action was decided upon. Several parties were formed, and each party was allotted a different district and in- structed to keep a careful watch over every food garden and all other places where the head- hunters might be likely to go in search of food. I told them not to return to the Mission Station until they came with prisoners. It may be thought that this was strange conduct for a missionary. It was; but strong measures were imperative. Someone had to do something, and so the local natives were sent out to hunt the head-hunters. There was no _ alternative. Women and children needed protection; tyranny had to be checked; the reign of terror had to stop. In a few days a prisoner and two baskets of heads were brought in, and these were dispatched to the Government Station at Gizo. The last prisoner of all was the notorious Sito. Bula’s own brother caught him, and brought him to me at midnight. He had had a terrific hand- to-hand struggle, during which Sito nearly suc- ceeded in tearing out his eyes. We immediately put Sito in my whale boat, and after an eleven hours’ pull against a strong tide, delivered him to 4 50 THE SON OF A SAVAGE the authorities. One could give gruesome particulars of outrages committed at the instiga- tion of traders who were hostile to our Mission, but this volume is not the place for such details. It only remains to be said that the Vella Lavellans themselves captured eleven of the thirteen outlaws, and in so doing not a single innocent native suffered in any way at their hands. | During the whole of this distressing time Bula was invaluable to me. His conduct eloquently proclaimed his devotion. The days were full of strife and turmoil. Messages constantly reached us that it was Sito’s intention to get the white missionary’s head, and Bula’s anxiety on my be- half showed that he believed the outlaw chief — would make every effort to carry out his purpose. Yet, in spite of his anxiety, he frequently told me how happy he was in the knowledge that his people had turned to me in their extremity for help and guidance. It was necessary for me to be here, there, and everywhere. For a fortnight I took a party of fifty to sixty to the bush gar- dens, and not a day passed without our coming into contact with the police. If I had not been with the Vella Lavellans these wandering police gangs most certainly would have been murdered, for the local natives were thoroughly enraged at A REIGN OF TERROR 51 their behaviour. The trips to the gardens at the beginning of the raid took only an hour or two; but as soon as the gardens were destroyed, most of the day had to be spent in the search for food supplies. This Sito Trouble (as it is locally called) was not only the outstanding event which enabled us to prove our friendship, it was also the chief factor in bringing to pass that spirit of goodwill and confidence between the natives and our- selves, which we knew so well to be the primary requisite for successful work. This confidence was shown in increased attendances at the Sun- day services and day schools, as well as in the large number of permanent homes that were erected near to the Mission Station. I can recall the thrill of pleasure I experienced in the midst of the turmoil when the people first expressed concern for my well-being. Up to this time there had been little to encourage. Now they con- stantly urged me to keep a loaded gun on hand; to change the position of my bed each night; to lock doors; to pull down blinds. These and other things were advised, thereby revealing on the part of the people a lively interest in my welfare and demonstrating a definite friendliness. It was a new experience! Doubtless the underlying cause of this changed 52 THE SON OF A SAVAGE attitude was our faith in God’s protecting power. I had often told the people that my God was a Shield, and had acted upon this word from the beginning of my residence amongst them, by having no doors to my native hut and no weapon for protection. And now this punitive expedition presented a supreme opportunity. Although we did not realize it at the time, a crisis had come for the cause of Christ on Vella Lavella. The trader up the coast had left the island in fear of his life. The natives had wondered whether the missionary would also leave or put his God to the test. Gladly I availed myself of the privilege to stand by the Preached Word, and to prove to the people that God, even my God, was able and willing to protect all those who put their trust in Him. And so at night, without taking any steps for my own safety, I was able to lay down in peace under the shadow of the Almighty and in the consciousness of His protecting care. Thus the missionary’s God was proven to be truly God. The dawn of the Christian Day now broke upon this land of dark heathenism and savage hearts became touched with the radiance of the Sun of Righteousness—the work of transformation had begun. CHAPTER VI Conversion and Service for Others BULA’S heart opened to the Gospel Message as a flower opens to the sun. To him was given a serene and unquestioning faith. As soon as he heard the glad tidings that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life, he never for a moment doubted. It seemed the natural thing for him to believe. The Spirit of God must have acted directly upon him at once, for the deeper and finer instincts of his soul soon began to dominate his life. This was first seen in a sense of decency and a desire for cleanliness in body and mind. I do not know that there was any definite day in which Bula gave his heart to God, but he early entered into the consciousness of a new life, and manifested this by a beautiful trust in Jesus as his Saviour. When the time came for his bap- tism, I asked him if he would like to choose his own Christian name. ‘ Yes,’ he said, ‘I want to be called Daniel.’ He explained that when his 53 54 THE SON OF A SAVAGE people had been against him and he had felt lonely and afraid, he had always remembered the story of Daniel who dared to stand alone, and he had tried to be like Daniel. Of all the characters in the Old and New Testaments the Prophet Daniel had made the strongest appeal to him. And so Bula was baptized Daniel. I found it difficult, however, to call him by his new name. I had learnt to love him as Bula, and this was the name that always came readily to my lips. One evening he came to me greatly troubled. He said, ‘Why do you still call me Bula? God has given me a new heart. I know this. Why, then, do you not call me by my new name? I want to be called Daniel. This is my Christ name. You tell me that when Saul of Tarsus became a Christian his name was changed to Paul. So now that I am a Christian let my name be Daniel.’ From that day Bula became Daniel. - Daniel’s conversion gave to him the dignity of self-respect. It seemed to carry him past the lower and more halting stages of progress, and to enable him at the outset of his Christian life to break once and for all from the cruel customs of his people. The light of his Chris- tianized conscience shone upon them . and condemned them. He never turned back. As his new life began to unfold itself, it became — CONVERSION AND SERVICE 55 apparent that he had a new feeling towards God as his Father in Heaven, a new consciousness of himself as a moral and responsible being, and a new sense of the worth of his soul and the souls of all men, because of Christ’s sacrificial death. These fundamental forms of Christian experience, similar in essence to those of the early apostles, made him realize that Christ had taken posses- sion of his heart, and that he was indeed a child of God. The abundant signs of transformation of life and character seen in Daniel at this time filled me with astonishment. He was a mere lad about sixteen years of age, just stepping out of super- stition, and yet he gave every evidence of being distinctly led by the Spirit of God. ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.’ Daniel had not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. He had received the spirit of adoption whereby he was able to cry, ‘Abba, Father.” The more I came to know him, the more I came to appreciate the depth and beauty of his soul. He had a mind intent on pleasing God. He loved to talk of things that are pure and lovely and of good report. Often during these days he would wait on the verandah after evening prayers in order that he might learn more of the Fact of Christ and what faith 56 THE SON OF A SAVAGE in Him as a Saviour involved. The intrinsic majesty of the character of Christ appealed to — every part of his nature. Christ was truly en- throned upon his heart and regulated his life. The quickening of his religious conscience, the inflow of joy, the outflow of love, the knowledge of a moral energy within—these were all real experiences to him, and filled him with a great longing to bring his people to Christianity, so that they too might appropriate the message of the gospel and realize with him that it was truly “The power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.’ Daniel now began to exercise a remarkable influence over the new converts, and was wonder- fully successful in strengthening and encouraging them to pursue with earnestness of purpose the path of Christian duty. I remember a testimony he gave in these early days at the Thursday afternoon class-meeting. With calm determina- tion writ plain on every feature of his strong face he said he was resolved that nothing should. hinder him in his Christian progress. The very opposition he had had to fight had strengthened him. Each victory was helping him some other to win. He then reminded us of Jesus having His face ‘ steadfastly set to go to Jerusalem,’ even though He knew that a cruel death awaited Him. Photo E. A. Salisbury. CLIMBING COCONUT TREES. Photo E. A. Salisbury. KAPOK TREES AND ‘ WIDOWS’ RETREAT.’ Head Mission Station, Vella Lavella. face p. 56 Lied. aos *LANQsyvS “PR “ZT 0W0uUd ‘SNVTIOAVI VIIHA AO DNIVHHILVD V CONVERSION AND SERVICE 57 He would be like Jesus. He would follow on- wards at all costs, neither turning to the right hand nor to the left. These words made a great impression upon our young people. This was seen in the fact that the boys on the Mission Station began to live a life of closer intercourse with one another in the spirit of Christian brotherhood. On one occasion Daniel said, ‘ I am not a white man (which fact was quite apparent). My father was a black man, my mother was a black woman, and I am black. You all know that I belong to this place. But although I am not from the land of the white man, I follow the white man’s God, because He ‘is the True God. I know He is the True God because His Spirit tells me so. But I made a mistake when I said that I followed the white man’s God. Jehovah does not belong to the white man only. There is not a God for the white man and another God for the black man. There is only one God, and He is the Father of all peoples of all places. He is my Heavenly Father and your Heavenly Father in the same way as He is Nikolo’s Heavenly Father. I love Him and He loves me. He has changed me. Iam different. You look at me and you see the same face and the same body, but I am new within. My thought is new, my joy is new, my 58 THE SON OF A SAVAGE work is new, everything within the heart of me is new. To-day I measure my old life with my new life. The old life was full of filthiness of thought and word and deed. The Lotu (The Gospel Message) has made right the secret thoughts of my heart, and now my life is clean. It has taken away the old life and it has given me the new life—the life which is in Jisu Karisito (Jesus Christ). To-day my eyes are wide open. No longer do I desire to live as a dog or a pig, only caring for food, and sleep, and the wants of the body; my one thought now is to see to the well- being of my spirit, which never dies. The Lotu is a great power. It reigns in my heart and it enables me to defeat the evil forces of my life. The angry act, the lying tongue, the bad thought, the fear of the spirits are all conquered by the Lotu and by the Lotu only. The Lotu roots up hatred and plants love. I know this because the Lotu has done this good work in my own heart. The Lotu has lit up for me the spirit-path; it has given mea great joy. Accept the Lotu, and’ you too will be both happy and able to do the right.’ In these days a great deal of time was taken up in getting into touch with the natives. Nothing so pleased Daniel as to accompany me on what we termed The Round Trip, when Vella CONVERSION AND SERVICE 59 Lavella was circumnavigated and every village visited. Often I had cause to be thankful that Daniel was with me. He knew intimately the characteristics of the people. When we met with a cool reception, and it was necessary to make a diplomatic departure, Daniel used to tell me the best moment to move on. Once we arrived ata distant village at sundown, and tried to make arrangements to rent a small hut for the night; every native we interviewed turned his back on us and walked away. We slept that night on an open platform where the people cooked their coconuts. At daylight Daniel remarked that it would be ‘ good’ not to intrude any longer, so we did not even wait or leave our usual ‘ card’ in the shape of a small present; we just quietly got away. Had we delayed, anything might have happened. On another occasion when we were refused shelter for the night we were com- pelled to camp in our whale-boat, which was anchored about a chain from the shore. Daniel’s concern for me that night is still fresh in my memory. At another time we landed at a strange village which seemed to be deserted. Daniel surmised that the people were watching us from the jungle, and in telling me this he added, in low tones, ‘ Don’t appear to be surprised if they come out.’ Within a few minutes after stepping 60 THE SON OF A SAVAGE ashore at least fifty natives, armed with shields and battle-axes, made their way out of the bush from all directions. Daniel saw that the purpose of these ‘ Round Trips ’ was to win the confidence and goodwill of the people by relieving their pain and healing their sick. From the beginning he liked helping in this work, and became quite enthusiastic about learning all he could regarding our well-known household remedies and the giving of First Aid. He was an apt pupil. In a very short time he was able to stitch up cuts on arms and legs and heads, to dress sores, and even to fix fractures. This work created great interest amongst his people, for there was no such treatment for the - wounded before the advent of the missionary. One day when I was away from home a man was brought to the Mission Station with a broken leg. He had fallen from a high nut-tree. Daniel set the fracture, and the man made a perfect recovery. Once a labour ‘boy’ from a plantation came to us. He had been chopped > across the side of the head—the gash went right through the ear, laying bare the cheek bone and just missing the eye. Daniel was very keen to attend to this case, and so, after thoroughly cleansing the wound, I allowed him to put in the stitches and placed the boy entirely under his | og ‘d aon] “UOSJOYUIIN “DQ “MN 010Ud SAOd SIH AUNV /IHLD 19 2d>99D] "CINQS1YS “Pp “A 0L0Yd ‘AUANYUHA WHAM V CONVERSION AND SERVICE 61 care. He did his work splendidly, and soon the patient was as good as new. From this time Daniel relieved me of most of the minor surgical work—and delighted in it. Many dreadful cases of bites from sharks, alligators, and wild pigs were successfully treated by him. I remember the case of a boy of twelve from the island of Ranonga. This lad was play- ing in the sea with several other boys, when a shark savagely attacked him. A huge piece of flesh was almost completely bitten out of his thigh. Hearing his cries of terror, and seeing the blood-stained water, the other lads hurried to his assistance, and with difficulty got him ashore. His people roughly bound into position the great lump of flesh, and then rushed off with him in a big canoe to the Mission Station, fifteen miles across the sea. The poor boy arrived ina collapsed condition. Daniel at once took charge of the case and soon had the mutilated limb surgically clean and carefully sutured. His little patient made a wonderful recovery and eventu- ally got the full use of his leg. Some of the cases, however, took months to recover. A man of Malaita was brought to the Mission Station in a shocking condition. A week previously he had been badly mauled by a wild pig, and his three wounds had been entirely 62 THE SON OF A SAVAGE neglected. Daniel tackled this trying case with as much enthusiasm as he showed in a nice clean split head or cut foot. For the first couple of weeks the patient needed a house to himself, but Daniel fomented his filthy wounds several times daily. As soon as healthy granulations began to appear, he took his patient into his own house and fed and tended him until he was able to return to the planter who had sent him to us. An even more distressing case was that of a lad who came to us for treatment from another island. This poor boy had suffered for years. Daniel gave him of his best for many months, and by his self-denying devotion won him to a Christian life. sf But perhaps Daniel’s finest work for others was seen in his Orphanage. To this he gave special attention and the devotion of a loving heart. For his purpose a large house of native materials was built on the Mission Station; two- thirds of the floor space being partitioned off for the orphans, and the other third being re- served for his own private use. Into this house he collected odd waifs and strays from all round Vella Lavella and adjacent islands. The place came to be known as Daniel’s Den of Lions. Sometimes as many as sixteen boys lived with him, and to all of them he acted the part of a CONVERSION AND SERVICE 63 Christian parent. And not only did the orphans find a home with him; practically all the small boys on the Station preferred to live with him, and it paid richly in redeemed lives to let them do so. Daniel was filling a position and doing a work at this time that was distinctly his own. He was helping the young life of Vella Lavella to reach a standard that would have taken years to reach without him. By his personal testimony and teaching, and the influence of his own character, _ he was the leaven which was leavening the whole lump. His faith in Christ had taken such com- plete possession of his heart that it enabled him to introduce into his own conduct, and also into the lives of others, the vision of a higher and better life—a life of daily fellowship with God. In all things he set a good example, and this proved to be, as it always is, the best kind of teaching. CHAPTER VII Preaching and Translation Work DANIEL was now a tall, slim young man. His face indicated firmness and strength; and yet, withal, he manifested a charm of manner that was irresistible. So clearly did he comprehend the light and love and happiness which the gospel had brought to his own soul, and so convincingly was he able to tell others of his experience, one could not help knowing he was being taught of God and had a gift for preaching. During the early years his people were so sadly sunken in superstition and moral debase- ment that they were slow to understand the great truths of Christianity. Those who came to church did so armed with spears, shields, and battle-axes, for intertribal fighting was a com- mon occurrence, and each man mistrusted his fellow. Again and again I felt that it would be a great thing if only the gospel could be preached to the people by one of themselves. Hopefully did I look forward to the day when Daniel himself would be able to do this important work —and that day came. As he grew to manhood 65 5 66 THE SON OF A SAVAGE his religious convictions became stronger and deeper, until, in the glow of love that a real Christian experience inspires, he gave himself unreservedly to the great work of winning his people for God. It was an exceeding great joy to prepare Daniel for preaching. He was absolutely in earnest. Led by the light of a high resolve, he was determined to do all he could to make clear to his countrymen the great fact that there is a Heavenly Father who loves them with an ever- lasting love. Before long he was taking part in our Sunday afternoon services, and was able to tell with graphic realism the sacred stories of the Old Testament, and the parables of the New Testament. As he gained confidence and favour with his people, one could see that his message was reaching their hearts and enlightening their consciences. He was one of themselves, and therefore able to approach every subject from their own standpoint. Daniel became very apt in illustration. He found his most effective stories in the incidents of every-day life. On one occasion when speak- ing from the words, ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ he said, ‘ You all know that I was:out at sea in my small canoe when that big squall came over us. I had a difficult time. I will tell PREACHING AND TRANSLATION 67 you about it. The squall came upon me sud- denly, and I was far out on the ocean when its full force struck me. At first I tried with all my strength to get to the shore, but I soon found how useless and dangerous it was to battle against the winds and the waves. What did I do? I waited. It was best to be still. Therein lay my safety. If I had continued my struggles I would have swamped my canoe. I would have been lost. True, in the midst of the storm it was best to be still. The strength of the squall soon passed, and I was able to get home. In our spirit life it is just so. We are caught by squalls. Before we are aware of our danger we are in the midst of a raging sea of trouble. Waves of fear, of anger, of jealousy seem ready to submerge us. We struggle in our own strength to get out of our difficulties, and our struggling makes more trouble for us. What are we to do? We are to be still. We are to listen to God’s voice. He says, “ Be still, and know that I am God.” If we obey, all is well. So I say to you, obey God in the storms of your life. Wait for Him. He will take care of you. I have proved it. Be still. Be still. Be still, With Daniel the more familiar the happening, the more he liked to use it for the exposition of Divine Truth. I remember once when preaching 68 THE SON OF A SAVAGE on the words, ‘Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart, he said, ‘Men are like bananas. You choose what you think is the best one in the bunch. It has a clean skin. It appears to be good—very good— but when you look inside it you find a rotten patch. And God often finds in our hearts a “rotten” patch. If our lives are to be right in His sight we must not only appear. to be good, we must be good.’. In the same sermon Daniel went on to _ Say, “Most of us to-day are dressed in the same manner. We all have white loin-cloths. Our hair is well oiled and well combed up. In outward appearance we are the same. But do not forget that while man looketh on the outside, God - looketh on the heart.’ On another occasion his sermon was concluded in the following words:— Some of you say that you believe the Lotu (Gospel Message), but that you are just the same as before. Do you want to know why? I will tell you. It is because you do not truly believe at all. Listen! You make a canoe. You say you believe it will carry your weight and that it is sea-worthy. But if you leave your new canoe in its house and never put it to the test, you do not believe in it. If you truly believe in your canoe, you will step — PREACHING AND TRANSLATION 69 into it, and you will push out from the shore and go out into the deep sea. You will trust your life to it. Only then will you truly believe in it. So with the Lotu Message. To say you believe in it is not enough. You must trust it. Just as you trust your canoe when you go a journey in it, so you must put your trust in the Lotu by beginning to travel on the new way. As soon as you begin your journey in the way that Jesus has prepared for us you are trusting Him, and then, and only then, will you find that He is able to help you, and strengthen you, and keep you on the new pathway that leads to the Great Father.’ | As a preacher Daniel possessed not only the cift of a ready tongue, but also the quiet inten- sity of a magnetic personality. He developed into a clear, original thinker. For ten years his sermons made a distinct contribution to the reli- gious life of his people. At the outset of this training he was given sermon outlines, and was encouraged to melt these in the crucible of his own reflections, and to stamp them with his own individuality. This proved a good method, for he soon showed facility in assimilating spiritual truths. In later years his sermons were com- pletely the product of his own thought. The fol- lowing is a rough outline of one of them :— 70 THE SON OF A SAVAGE Mark i. 13: ‘Tempted of Satan.’—These words are the root of my message. They were spoken about the Son of God, the Saviour of all men. His name is Jisu Karisito (Jesus Christ). Al- though He is the Son of the Great God, He was born a baby and became a man. God permitted Him to suffer and to be tempted as a man, be- cause He wanted us to know that He understood all about our life and temptations, and that He was willing to give us His strength to defeat the devil. After He was baptized, but before He began His works of wonder, Satan came and tempted Him. Jesus did not listen to the tempter. He said to him,—' Get behind Me; get out of My way; begone!’ And that is what we — must say when the evil one tempts us. Begone! Begone! BEGONE!! Satan is busy all the days of our lives, and he it is that puts bad thoughts into our minds. If we cast out these bad thoughts we are all right, but if we hold to them we are all wrong. Temptation is like fever. It shows us our weakness. Fever reveals the weak place in our bodies, and temptation reveals the weak place in our hearts. You all know that fever gives to one man an ear-ache; to another an eye- ache; to another a headache; and to another a The word used was the same as the one used in scaring away a village dog. PREACHING AND TRANSLATION 71 stomach-ache. It is true, fever reveals to us our bodily weaknesses. And temptation is like that; it reveals to us the particular weakness in our hearts. To one man it is the desire to kill; to another, lying; to another, covetousness; to another, bad temper. This is because our hearts are not the same. Temptation tells us whether we are near to God or far away from Him. If we are always wanting to do wrong, we know we are living far from God. If we are always trying to do right, we know that we are living near to God. The nearer we get to God, the further we get away from temptation. But temptation is not a bad thing. It is a good thing. It is a good thing for testing us. It is like the rough sea. Just as you test your canoe in a rough sea, so you test your Lotu (Christian) life in temptation. You cannot call your new canoe a strong one until it has been tested in a rough sea; and you cannot call your new life in Christ a strong one until it has been tested in temptation. To be overcome by temptation is like having your canoe swamped with the waves. A little black boy not long ago was overcome by temptation. I will tell you about him. I went the other day to the store of Nikolo. Just as I was entering, I saw a little black arm dipping down into a big biscuit tin. Then I saw the same 72 THE SON OF A SAVAGE little black arm pulled out of the tin, but there was a biscuit in the hand. When I saw the biscuit I called in a ‘ hard’ voice, ‘ What are you doing there?’ Do you know what the owner of the little black arm did? He quickly put the biscuit to his mouth and gave it two big licks! ‘Why did you do that?’ I asked. ‘Because I thought if I licked it you would let me keep it, was his reply. Now this boy hurt his soul be- cause he gave way to temptation. I want to tell you to-day that the only way to resist temptation is to take Jesus into your hearts. What do we do when we take a long voyage in a rough sea? We seek the best steersman. Because the journey of life is often long and rough, and Satan is ever seeking to set us on the rocks, let us all take Jesus for our Steersman. He alone can guide us safely past every temptation and bring us to our Great Father’s Home. During all these years Daniel was busily en- gaged with me on translation work. Having the fullest confidence in the permanence of Christian © teaching amongst savage people who are taught to read God’s Word in their own tongue, I was bound by the most solemn motive of my life to give the closest attention to the work of getting a Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ printed in the vernacular. I felt this undertaking to be not — Proto E. A. Salisbury. LHe EXPRESS? Photo E. A.-Salisbury. A GLIMPSE OF VELLA LAVELLA. daneyes ak, Map: Laga 4 LLA LAVE 4 4 VI 2) sa) op: , — eS ~ ‘aR om] PREACHING AND TRANSLATION 73 only worth while, but morally imperative. So Daniel early came to look upon language study as one of the most important duties of each day. He proved himself possessed of a distinct literary turn of mind. Looking back over the years, I do not know one Vella Lavellan student who showed such aptitude in the acquisition of languages as did Daniel. Besides speaking fluently no less than five of the Solomon Islands’ languages, he quickly acquired a good general knowledge of simple but correct English. It seemed as though God who giveth understanding had concentrated in him all those qualities of mind and heart that were necessary for this par- ticular task. Like all other races in the South Seas Daniel’s people had no method of conveying thought other than word of mouth. The work of reducing their speech to a written form was not an easy undertaking, for the reason that it had nothing in common with the Melanesian and Polynesian languages, in which there are many books of reference. Mr. S. H. Ray, of London, who is regarded as the greatest authority on Oceanic Languages, writing on the Vella Lavella language, made the following statement: ‘To any one acquainted with the comparatively simple forms of Melanesian languages the diffi- 74 THE SON OF A SAVAGE culty of the Vella Lavellan language seems enormous. . .. The extraordinary character of the language is seen in the grammar.”! The learning of the language had to be done, of course, wholly from conversation. Toiling at the grammatical construction was tedious work, but Daniel was always ready for it. He would discuss the significance of words until I, too, was almost black in the face. Often it was necessary to spend hours and even days over a single word or phrase in order to find the exact shade of meaning, and to put it into an equivalent native idiom. : Other things being equal, nothing hampers a missionary more than imperfect idioms and inaccurate pronunciations. The nearer he approaches to the language of the natives, the deeper and more persuasive will be the spiritual influence he exerts. A misplaced vowel often makes an entirely different meaning. A personal experience at Roviana will illustrate what I mean. I had been preaching about there being two. classes of men in the world; good men and bad men. I intended to convey that it mattered not whether we were white men or black men, we were all either good or bad in the sight of God. 1See article ‘A New Linguistic Family” in The Bible in the World, October, 1919. PREACHING AND TRANSLATION 75 After the service was over, however, I was told that I had preached about stomachs! I had been careless in my pronunciation, and had used the word ‘ tia,’ which means stomach, instead of the word ‘tie, which means man. My address amounted to a twenty minutes’ sermon on stomachs! The Vella Lavellan language is rich in concrete terms. For example, there are many words for the one English word ‘ open.’ To open a coconut, an eye, a box, a door, different words are used in each instance. In the early days Daniel was constantly correcting me in these matters. Once I thought I had told the people to open their eyes, but in error I used the word for opening coconuts! The many equivalents for our one word ‘Break’ also greatly puzzled me. When speaking of breaking yam, or taro, or other food, a word is used that is quite different from that which is used when speaking of breaking a stone. To speak of breaking a creeper there is another word, for breaking a limb there is yet another, and so on. It will be seen, therefore, that it was only after extreme labour and care and patience on Daniel’s part that I was able to use words without creating misunderstandings. It would be a mistake for any one to assume that the language of the Vella Lavellans is a 76 THE SON OF A SAVAGE poor one. Like many another South Sea Island language it is our knowledge that is poor—not the language. I shall never forget the day Daniel heard for the first time the finished trans- lation of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, so strongly did it appeal to his spiritual nature that he broke down completely. The Vella Lavellan tongue is certainly adequate for the expression of the finer feelings. While all this is true, we found it necessary to broaden and enrich the meaning of several of the old heathen terms rather than to introduce English words. For example, a name for God gave us much thought. In Chapter III it has been pointed out that the people believe in a Great Spirit whom they call ‘ Banara.’ This term conveyed no idea of filial relationship. The Banara was merely the First Cause. We have taken this word, and added to its original mean- ing the idea of a loving Fatherhood. So to-day the God of the Christian and the Banara of the Vella Lavellan is one and the same. The people know Him as their loving Heavenly Father, and as the loving Heavenly Father of all peoples of all places. In this manner we have given a number of native terms a richer méan- ing, so that a gradual transformation has been effected such as took place in many Greek words Photo R. C. Nicholson. DANIEL AND TWO OF HIS BOYS. face p. 76 Photo T. Humphrey & Co., Melb. DANIEL AND ALEX, PREACHING AND TRANSLATION 77 when they came to be used for the purpose of expressing Christian thought and experience at the beginning of the Christian era. To-day the people of Vella Lavella are the happy possessors of a Hymnal, the Catechism, the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed, portions of Old and New ‘Testament Scripture, the Baptismal, Marriage, Burial and Sacramental Services, as well as the Gospel according to St. Mark. Their unfeigned delight at having this Story of Christ’s Life in the language wherein they were born, convinced us that they regarded it as the biggest boon ever conferred upon them. And its influence on the character of the Vella Lavellans cannot be over-estimated. Through the reading of it they have come into a closer fellowship with Jesus Christ. It is the deepest and strongest force for righteousness of the island. It does more than teaching, more than preaching, more than organization. The people read of Christ in the language of daily speech, and their faith and life in Him are vitalized thereby. In this printed Gospel the Son of Man speaks directly to their hearts, and they are very conscious of it. In commenting upon this trans- lation in the article already referred to, Mr. Ray congratulated us upon ‘ the very successful study of an exceedingly difficult subject.’ Mention is 78 THE SON OF A SAVAGE made of this criticism because it reflects credit on Daniel’s discrimination. We were dealing with his own mother-tongue, and he knew its shades of meaning in a way that often completely baffled me. He was never satisfied with any- thing less than the exact native idiom. Without his perseverance and faithfulness accurate work would have been impossible. | CHAPTER VIII In the White Man’s Land AT the end of the year 1916, Daniel, with his friend Alex, accompanied me to Australia. Alex was one of the first six to be baptized. Through- out all the years he had been a loyal and devoted lad. He was a born mechanic, and was the engineer of my Mission launch. So capable was he in the general management and care of a boat that he was once offered a white man’s salary to take charge of an auxiliary trading vessel. He turned down the offer with the remark that he wanted to work for the Mission which had done so much for him. I had long promised both boys a trip to my own country, for they had well deserved it. We arrived in Sydney at night. As we approached Sydney Heads the lights along the shore shone out their welcome. To me they signified much. Amongst other things I could see in my mind’s eye the life and bustle of a great city—tall build- ings, streets ablaze with electric lights, the rush of people, the roar and clatter of trams, clanging of bells, brilliant shop windows and swiftly 79 80 THE SON OF A SAVAGE moving motors—I could see and hear it all. But for the boys straight from their primitive life in the Solomons there was no such mental picture. Leaning over the steamer’s railing Daniel said, ‘Nikolo, there must be a lot of your people fishing on the reefs to-night!’ This was the only impression the lights of Sydney seen from the deck of the incoming steamer could convey to his mind. Truly everything goes by comparison. The next morning we went ashore. As soon . as convenient we visited the clock-tower of the General Post Office. After looking down from its giddy height upon the busy streets of Sydney, Daniel remarked that the people made him think of a disturbed ant’s nest. ‘ What are they rush- ing about for?’ he inquired. ‘ Attending to their own work,’ I replied. ‘ Playing’ was Dan’s . comment—and we all laughed. Later in the day I had occasion to enter a shop in George Street. The boys and a friend decided to wait outside. I could not have been absent more than a few minutes, but on coming out I found a great crowd of curious people congregating around my three friends. All were stretching their necks to get a glimpse of the Solomon Islanders; their fuzzy hair and shining black faces were a great attraction. A traffic obstruction was imminent, and I arrived on the scene just in time to prevent the police CGHUMS! Photo R. C. Nicholson. face p. 90. Photo R. C. Nicholson. DANIEL AND BABY BURTON, 1917: face p. 81. IN THE WHITE MAN’S LAND 81 order to ‘move on.’ Though my friend looked absolutely unconcerned, I do not think he quite enjoyed the experience. Dan and Alex took it all in good part, and managed to hide their blushes of embarrassment. The journey across to Melbourne in the ‘ bush-steamer’ (train) was full of interest. The boys said they wanted eyes both sides of their heads so that they might see everything. A few weeks after our arrival in Australia Daniel spoke at the Annual Foreign Missionary Demonstration of the Methodist Church at the Melbourne Town Hall. The great building was crowded to the doors, and he received a remark- able ovation. The following are a few extracts from his speech, which was delivered in the vernacular :— * My chiefs and my friends,—I am glad to stand _ here to-day. This is the first time I have looked into your faces. I am amazed at the bigness of this assembly. Your moving heads make me think of the sea. My people are many, but I have never stood before them in this manner. At no time and in no place have I seen so many people, and I am just a little bit shy. These days are difficult days—the days of the Great War— but your work and the good work of your Chris- tian people still comes to my country. I am 6 82 THE SON OF A SAVAGE reminded of the wind. We cannot see the wind; it is the work of the wind that we see. So, in like manner, though my people do not see you, they see the work of your lives. When I return to my own country I shall tell them about you. True it is that I was once evil and useless. You have seen a dirty piece of wood in the bush. Well, I was like that when Nikolo found me and “adzed” me. Do you want to know why I have been adzed? You yourselves adze timber in order to make something that will be of use—a table, a chair, or a house. So with me. Nikolo adzed me in order that I might be of use in the Kingdom of God. Now I am able to tell you that the love of my people for your people, and the love of your people for my people, are like branches of the one tree, and the root of that tree is God Himself. To-day your God is my God, : ‘and your people are my people. I may not look upon your faces again, but I hope we shall all meet in the Kingdom of God. My statement is ended.’ This great gathering was followed by others. I well remember one in particular because it was the first time Daniel had been asked to sing. The church was crowded. The promises of financial help constituted a record. Just before the close of the meeting a gentleman rose in his seat and IN THE WHITE MAN’S LAND — 83 said, ‘The young people would like to hear Daniel sing.” This remark was received with enthusiastic applause. Knowing that Daniel had scarcely got his bearings and that he was ex- tremely sensitive, I did not care to press him in the matter. ‘What about singing, Dan?’ I asked. His reply was a quiet but definite ‘ No.’ The friends, however, would not be denied. — Daniel and I carried on a whispered conversa- tion. He insisted that he was not a singer. The audience waited in silent expectation. At last in desperation I said, ‘ Come on Dan, Pll help you.’ ‘Very well,’ he answered, ‘Tl sing by myself.’ When I passed on Daniel’s words to the audience they laughed heartily. Evidently he knew my limitations better than I did myself. He sang :— Ene ta lula utu talio Vana vasi; Melai Jesu No ta kue koi tu Zolenela : Ni No ta bazue nela ene Tadate, tu kea Au ko araro. Light of the world, faint were our weary feet With wandering far; But Thou didst come our lonely hearts to greet, O Morning Star. And Thou didst bid us lift our gaze on high, To see the glory of the glowing sky. When he finished this beautiful hymn a solemn stillness pervaded the whole meeting. Retiring to rest that night, I congratulated him on his 84 THE SON OF A SAVAGE singing. He was very sensitive about the matter, and asked me not to urge him to sing again. ‘But, Dan,’ I said, ‘ You sang well. To many people your singing would be the most helpful part of the meeting.’ Rr A. It was very clear to me, however, that he really would rather not sing. This was a big disappointment, for his singing had made a re- markable impression, and I knew that if he were able to sing at our meetings a still greater interest in him and in his people would be created. But I did not care to place upon him any extra nervous strain, so decided not to urge him further; and in telling him this, I added that I wanted him to know that his singing was a great success, and that he touched every heart. ‘ All right, Tanala,’ he said, ‘I will sing if it does good.’ Never again was there any difficulty in getting Daniel to respond to a request from the audience for a solo. A month or two after this incident Daniel accompanied me on a ten weeks’ lecturing tour throughout New Zealand as Foreign Mission Deputation. On arrival we found that the Presi- dent of the Conference had given the Church the motto ‘Spiritual Advance,’ and that the Con- ference itself had endorsed the proposal of one of its prominent laymen for ‘ Missionary IN THE WHITE MAN’S LAND 85 Advance.’ To state the case in concrete terms, the Conference actually challenged the Church to raise its contributions to Foreign Missions from £5,000 to £10,000. The layman who brought the proposition before the Church had promised to donate £500 to the Foreign Mission Funds if the amount were raised. So it was in an atmosphere warm, expectant, and spiritual that we began the itinerary at Invercargill on May 6, 1917. That year the people of the Dominion promoted the Foreign Missionary Meetings to the dignity and enthusiasm of a Church Anniversary. Daniel’s visit was not merely announced, it was boomed. In many of the towns large calico signs adver- tising the meetings were set up in central places. Country circuits posted circulars. Practically every place was prepared by prayer and organiza- tion. It was both an inspiration and a delight to find full churches and to know that ministers and laymen had unitedly determined to make the Missionary Meetings the biggest and best in the history of the Church. Because enthusiasm is a positive power, the meetings from the first to the final were marked by generous giving and a new sense of stewardship. It is worth recording that the friend of Foreign Missions who had promised £500 on condition that £10,000 was raised was so delighted with the magnificent 86 THE SON OF A SAVAGE response of the smaller circuits that he sent his promised cheque for £500 direct to the Mission Office—withdrawing all conditions. Then a second gift of £500 was received, and scores of subscribers who had once contented themselves with giving 10s. in a casual way, joyously promised £10 a year. As an illustration of the way Daniel’s presence stirred the hearts of the young folk, the following quotation is given from a college girl’s letter to her father:— ‘I don’t want any birthday presents, only could I have some money out of the Bank to give Daniel for the other black boys. I think there are £4 leit in. Would that be enough?’ And so New Zealand became a land of new zeal for Foreign Missions. She smashed her long- range target of £10,000, and immediately set up another in the form of £15,000. And she has never turned back to the old standard of giving. It was the same in Australia. One circuit lifted its contribution from £8 to £103; another from £30 to £120; another from £48 to £250; an- other from £55 to £300; another from £294 to £735. Scores of letters expressing appreciation of Daniel’s work were received by the writer from every State visited. Daniel’s visit to the white man’s country en- abled him to take a more intelligent place in the IN THE WHITE MAN’S LAND _ 87 larger life of mankind. It was for him a great education. Possessed of fine powers of observa- tion, he was always learning. Everybody seemed anxious to impart information to him. He saw the working of shipyards and foundries; flour, woollen and paper-mills; meat and fruit pre- serving works; also the manufacture of bread, biscuits, confectionery, bottles, rugs, furniture, and pottery. He saw the operation of practically all our principal industries; visited our hospitals, orphanages, asylums, and gaols. To learn that any person who meets with a street accident is immediately carried off to the hospital and treated without charge was a revelation to him. The knowledge that the blind, deaf, dumb, and homeless are all cared for by the Government gave him a keen appreciation of the advantages of a Christian country. The beautification of our roadways and cities also made a strong appeal to him. He was a child of Nature, and greatly loved our gardens and our flowers. Daniel’s experiences were many and varied. One of the earliest was shared by his friend Alex. I took them to a first-class city photo- grapher to have their portraits taken in native regalia. They entered the reception-room clothed in keeping with our social requirements —loin-cloth, shirt, neck-tie, coat, etc. A young 88 THE SON OF A SAVAGE lady wrote their names in a book, directed us to a dressing-room, and told us to go into the studio as soon as we were ready. The boys disrobed themselves of all European apparel, put on their native attire, and then marched with me into the studio. In a few moments a door opened, and in walked the fair-haired young lady of the recep- tion room. Suddenly she noticed Dan and Alex. She gave one blood-curdling shriek and fled. We never saw her again! But Daniel’s experiences were not all of so negative a nature. One of his big ventures was the climbing of Mt. Egmont in the middle of winter. He did not get to the summit, but that was not his fault. Bare-footed he tramped across gullies in which drifts of snow were forty feet deep. Soon after this he was enjoying the hot- springs of Rotorua; swimming in the thermal waters of the Blue Bath and the Duchess was a treat to be long remembered. The launching of the Australian-built cruiser Adelaide, a descent into one of the deepest of Bendigo’s gold mines, a walk of one mile through a coal mine in New- castle, a visit to the Jenolan Caves of New South Wales, the salmon hatcheries of New Zealand, and the Melbourne Mint, were all outstanding experiences, and received honourable mention on his return to Vella Lavella. Photo Frank Denton, Wangania, N.Z. DANIEL AND ‘ NIKOLO.’ face p. &8 Photo A. A. Bensley. DANIEL’S ORPHANAGE. Photo E. A. Salisbury. SAGO PALMS. The leaves are used for thatching. | face p. 89 IN THE WHITE MAN’S LAND — 89 But I think he himself regarded the day spent in the operating-theatre of the Melbourne General Hospital as the biggest event of all. I arranged for him to see one major operation and he made a day of it. After seeing him quite settled in the theatre I left to make a few calls in the city. On my return an hour later I found him enjoying morning coffee with the medical students—to use his own words, he had had ‘A good time.’ When we left for lunch I asked, ‘What would you like to see this afternoon? Where would you like to go?’ ‘I’m going back to the hospital,’ was Daniel’s reply. I explained that he could not go again without another invitation, but hé assured me that that part of it was all fixed up. He had been advised to come back early and to stay the whole afternoon, as there would be some ‘ good things on.’ He went —and was tremendously impressed. An amputa- tion, three appendical operations, and _ the removal of a large growth were among the ‘ good things’ witnessed. The methods of modern surgery astounded him. ‘ Nikolo,’ he said to me one day, ‘ There is one thing I would like to be in my own country.’ ‘What’s that?’ I asked. ‘Move kale ama Dokita’ (A Doctor of the Knife) was his reply. Daniel longed to be able to do the same work of healing for his own people. Of all 90 THE SON OF A SAVAGE the wonderful things he saw in Australia and New Zealand, nothing so appealed to him as did the work of the surgeons at the Melbourne Hospital. He comprehended it. Again and again my friends said to me, * Will you please ask Daniel to tell us what he thinks of our civilization, our cities, our steamers, our trains and telephones, telegraphs and wireless, cinemas and aeroplanes and all the other wonders of modern life. We should like to have his Opinion about us.’ Scores of times I have put questions on these lines to Daniel, and he made it clear to me that the complexity of our life was completely beyond his comprehension. Once he answered something like this: “I am always amazed at the thousands of your people and the thousands of your houses. I did not think so many people could live in one place. You are as plentiful as the trees in the jungle. I see the wonderful things you have made, but I cannot measure up the workings of them. I say to my- self, it is the way of the white man. He is never satisfied. He seeks, seeks, seeks—and he finds, finds, finds.’ This is as far as Daniel ever went in the way of an opinion about us. He accepted the different conditions of life as belonging to a different type of mankind. After a year’s lecturing tour throughout New IN THE WHITE MAN’S LAND 91 Zealand and Australia, Daniel was again chosen as one of the speakers for the Annual Foreign Missionary Demonstration in the Melbourne Town Hall. He faced the great gathering with the utmost confidence. On this occasion his ad- dress was a powerful utterance, and gripped the audience from beginning to end. Speaking in the vernacular he said: ‘My chiefs and my friends,—I am glad to look into your faces again. We meet as one family. We are a portion of the great family of God. He is the loving Father of us all. In days gone by, my people could not gather together as we are gathered here to-night. True, we did gather together; but it was to plan to kill. Of love we knew nothing. If we did not arrange to go to a distant place to fight, we fought amongst ourselves. We were stupid. Our gather- ings ended in quarrellings, fightings, and death. How different from your country! Here in this land you come together from great distances, yet you can be friendly, and not only friendly, you are truly friends. I am not blind. I see that you love one another. I want to say that I have had a good time amongst you. I have been to Sydney, to New Zealand, to South Australia, to Queensland, to Tasmania, and now I am in Melbourne again. Your country is truly a great 92 THE SON OF A SAVAGE country. Why is it great? Is it because you have many steamers of the sea and steamers of the bush (trains); or because you have much money and big houses? No. It is because you have full knowledge of the Gospel Message. I do not covet your money, or your houses, or your lands but I do covet your Lotu (Gospel Message). It is the Lotu that has made your country a great country. You have been very good to me. You have opened your hearts as well as your homes to me. I do not forget your goodness, but I want to tell you that there are times when I have been angry in my heart in this country. Listen. Once my master Nikolo was angry with us for having too many lamps burning in one room. He told us we were wasting kerosene. So I say to you that you have too many ministers and too many churches in one village; you are wasting the Light of the Gospel. I do not say to you to give up using any of your ministers, but what I do say is this,— send more of them to the dark places. Thousands of people on great islands not far from my home are living in darkness, and you could give them light. Boys and girls are growing up without the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and old people ‘are dying in that condition because there are not enough teachers to reveal to them the love of IN THE WHITE MAN’S LAND 93 God. Give to us more missionaries. Again I say, give to us more missionaries. You have so many in this country. Can you not spare us a few more? How can my people go straight without guidance? They are as little children, and need to be taken by the hand and led along the pathway to the Great Father. And they are waiting, and waiting, and waiting. ‘Another thing. I want to tell you that as I vo from place to place in your country I see many things. I see the streets of your big cities on dark nights made as bright as day by many lamps. I see the light of one lamp meet the light of the second, and the light of the second meet the light of the third, and so on until the whole street is full of light and there is no dark- ness at all. Let the time come quickly when there will be so many missionaries in my country that the light of one Mission Station will reach the light of the next, and the light of that to another, and another, and another, until the whole of the Solomons are flooded with the light of the Gospel. | “One thing more. I may not look into your faces again. Let us meet together in the King- dom of God. There we will not be called white men and black men. We will all be children of the Great Father. 94 THE SON OF A SAVAGE ‘Pray for my people. My statement is finished.’ | On his return to his own country Daniel never ceased to speak of the hearty hospitality he en- joyed throughout New Zealand and Australia. In sermons and class-meetings, as well as in private conversation, he was always ready to bear testimony to the wonderful kindness of the Christian people in the White Man’s Land. This _ was the mountain-peak of his experiences; it stood out solitary and supreme, o’ertopping all else. In very truth, without a single exception, our people did their best to give him a gp0G time. And he never forgot it. In summing up Daniel’s visit it is not too much to say that he made a profound spiritual impres- . sion wherever he went. His presence and powerful addresses at hundreds of Missionary Meetings throughout New Zealand and Aus- tralia helped Christian people to realize in fuller measure their responsibility to the heathen. Theirs was the privilege of coming into personal contact with a living product of the latest Mission Field in the South Seas, and it undoubtedly deepened their faith in God and in humanity. ‘ They saw the healed man in their midst and they could say nothing against it.’ CHAPTER IX Some. Incidents ON Daniel’s return to Vella Lavella from Australia it became necessary for him to build a large house for the accommodation of his waifs and strays. During his visit to the white man’s land he saw houses that had been erected in one day. The method of gathering and preparing all materials before commencing building operations strongly appealed to him. He decided to adopt this method in connexion with the erection of his own house, so that his people might have an object-lesson in rapid house construction. First of all, arrangements were made with his friends around the island to prepare every kind of building material. At one village where bam-° boo is plentiful they agreed to collect the needed bamboo. Another village reported that they would be responsible for the leaf required for thatching. Still another decided to prepare a certain creeper for binding purposes and so on. When all the materials were ready, Daniel com- missioned his brother’s cutter in order to collect them. An army of willing workers then began 95 96 THE SON OF A SAVAGE on the building. Daniel divided his workmen into teams, and in a very short time there was a fine two-storied house standing complete. An incident occurred in connexion with the gathering of the materials which might have ended tragically. Several successful trips had been made, when one day the cutter, with five of our best boat boys, was caught in a terrific squall and capsized. Being several miles from land, the boys were in a perilous position. For- . tunately they had a dinghy; but it was little more than a wooden tub, and not nearly large enough to carry the whole crew. Although the sea was lashed to fury and the sky looked ominous, it was agreed that two of the crew should take the dinghy and make an attempt to reach the land. Six hours later they arrived at . the Mission Station utterly exhausted, and re- ported to my wife that their cutter had capsized, and that miles away from the shore, out in the blinding storm somewhere, the other three boys were clinging to the drifting boat. I was away at Gizo that day with the launch. Marama,' however, lost no time in sending relief. T'wo canoes were dispatched immediately. Daniel took charge of one and went straight to the ship-wrecked lads; the other was sent to me My wife. SOME INCIDENTS 97 with a message from Marama. I was sixteen miles away, but the canoe covered the distance in record time and reached us just at sundown. Ten minutes later we were aboard the launch, racing at top speed to the rescue. I was a good deal concerned about the safety of our lads, for I knew Daniel would make every effort to save the cutter, and that working in the water at night was highly dangerous. (The last time a boat of Bilua boys had capsized off the coast, six of the crew of eight were taken by sharks.) Our progress seemed painfully slow. We had to make our way through a veritable labyrinth of reefs and coral islets before reaching the cpen water, and by this time darkness had set in. When Daniel reached the capsized cutter the three boys had been in the water for nine hours! He decided to send them at once to the Mission Station in his canoe and stay himself with the cutter. Most natives, under similar circum- stances, would have been satisfied with saving the crew and would have abandoned the wreck. Not so Daniel. He determined to save his brother’s craft even at the risk of his life. Seven of his crew insisted on staying with him. For some hours they toiled at the cutter, and with great difficulty managed to dismantle her and turn her right side up. It was impossible to bale 7 98 THE SON OF A SAVAGE the water out of her. They were miles from land, with no alternative but to wait for me to find them—out there in the dark with their water-logged cutter. Marama surmised that Daniel would not leave the cutter when daylight failed, so she had sent him, in addition to food, lanterns, and matches. When the canoe reached the wreck with these things, Daniel reminded his mates that they had an opportunity now to return to the Mission » Station. Not one of them would go. Even the crew of the relief-canoe decided to remain with him in his effort to save the boat. It was a black night. They were in great danger. They knew we were on our way to their rescue— but would we find them? Meanwhile we were travelling in the launch - at top speed in the direction given to us by the messengers. In due time we covered the distance; but there was not a sign of the wreck or the boys. After a long and fruitless search in the vicinity, we came to the conclusion that a strong tide had caught them and carried them perhaps miles away. We decided to run with the tide; on and on we went, calling our loudest and zigzagging our way for mile after mile» We were beginning to despair of ever finding them, when suddenly, with intense excitement, some- SOME INCIDENTS 99 one said, ‘ A light.’ Soon we were all saying, ‘ No. Yes. No. Yes!’ At first we thought it was a fire on a small island. Then we began to wave the launch lantern. A tiny flicker of light away in the darkness moved to and fro, to and fro. ‘Look! look!’ we cried in unison. ‘ There they are. They have a light. They answer.’ We were greatly excited. The launch crew began to hug each other in sheer relief. Marama’s forethought in sending out the lanterns had meant their salvation. It was after midnight; but the search was over. We actually found the cutter nearly twenty miles south of the position reported to us. It was being carried right past the last of the islands out into the open sea. Daniel and his boys were shivering with cold, and were thoroughly played out. They had been in the water for seven hours; nearly as long as the first three lads! We were soon homeward bound with the cutter in tow. Her water-logged condition made the task of towing her slow and difficult; but the engine of the launch worked perfectly, and at last we saw the welcome light of the Mission House, which had been placed in a prominent position. We arrived home about three o’clock in the morning of the next day, and everybody was down on the wharf to welcome us —even the little children were there. 100 THE SON OF A SAVAGE I can recall every detail of the experience. The black night; the few flickering lanterns; the weird sighing of the palms along the shore; the roar of the seas on the outer reef; the one white lady with a hundred or more of our Mission folk waiting on the wharf; my shout‘ All’s well’ as we drew near; the singing of the Doxology after we had stepped ashore; the excited questionings as we walked up the hill to the Mission House; the buckets of hot tea in the kitchen for the © chilled boys; the relief of my dear wife, who had had to radiate good cheer among the mothers, wives, and sweethearts throughout a long and terrible day, and a still longer and more trying night. These details are indelibly im- printed on my mind. I can never forget them. © Once on a dark, moonless night, as we were ~ making our way home in the launch, the engine suddenly began to ‘race.’ I thought the clutch had slipped. But no, we had Jost our propeller! There was not a breath of wind, and so our sail was useless. It happened that we were near an island; but to our dismay we soon noticed that the tide was sweeping us round the corner of it, and that in a few minutes we would be out in the open water. We had no dinghy and no oars. something had to be done at once. At first we tried to get ashore by paddling with a few boards SOME INCIDENTS 101 which we ripped up from the deck, but the tide was too strong for us. We were slowly but surely being carried past the island, and after that there was nothing but the boundless sea. It was a desperate predicament. I started to take off my boots. The next moment there was a shout and a splash—Daniel had jumped over- board into the inky, shark-infested sea. He called to us to pass him the _ tow-rope. His sudden plucky act so inspired the other boys that they followed his lead and were soon in the water helping him to tow the launch to the shore. After a long and strenuous struggle success crowned our efforts, and we were able to let go the anchor on the reef. MDaniel’s action was characteristic, and gave to us further proof of his fearlessness and influence over his fellows. Other incidents come to my mind. I had long intended to climb the highest peak of Vella Lavella, and the visit of a friend in 1921 gave me an excuse for a day off. My guest and I, with Daniel, left the Mission Station in the small hours and commenced to climb about 5 a.m. The ascent proved unexpectedly awkward, and in places was decidedly dangerous. Our progress was so slow that we appeared to have little chance of doing the climb while daylight held. However, we stuck to it and reached the summit somehow. 102 THE SON OF A SAVAGE Although desperately weary, we had to start back immediately. The descent was a torture to our tired bodies, and we fell frequently. Dark- ness found us in the heart of the jungle. For- tunately the village people living at the foot of the mountain judged that we would be late in returning, so sent a number of young men with lanterns to guide us down. On arriving at the village about 9 p.m. we simply collapsed on the floor of a native hut. Without any request on our part Daniel at once removed our boots and socks and bathed our blistered feet. He had been through the same strenuous day himself, and yet his frst thought was for our comfort. He had a wonderful way with children. I have seen him tenderly take a sick, screaming infant from its distracted mother and soothe it in a — few minutes. And then, so interested would the child become in what he was doing for it, the treatment would be over before it realized that it was being doctored. I shall never forget his care of our own child. Often my wife and I were ill with fever at the same time, and Daniel would do everything for him. Once we received an urgent message to go to the aid of a white man’s wife who was dangerously ill. We expected to be away from home for several days, so, of course, took our boy with us. Daniel was SOME INCIDENTS 103 left in charge of the Mission Station. We found the patient in a dying condition. As there was no accommodation, and we could see much sad work ahead, we decided we must send Ian straight back to Daniel, sixteen miles across the sea. During the days of our absence Daniel prepared his bath, cooked his meals, let him kneel down at his black knees to say his prayers, put him to bed, and then told him Bible stories in the vernacular until he was safe in slumber land. The little laddie trusted Daniel perfectly— and perfect trust casteth out all fear. Once several of our little girls from six to eight years of age were sleeping in the spare room of the Mission House on account of their dormitory being over-crowded. In the middle of the night one of these little ones awakened the girl next to her, and, in a frightened whisper, said that a spirit had touched her hand. They consulted together in awed undertones as to what they had better do. In the darkness they tremblingly gathered together their hymn-books and placed a pile of them just outside each open door, confident that this would make a most effective barrage against all evil spirits. The little lassies then settled down again and slept quite peace- fully for the rest of the night. First thing next morning they sought out ‘ Dani’ (as they called 104 THE SON OF A SAVAGE Daniel) and related their adventure to him. They knew that he would have a ready ear for their story, and would praise them for their loyalty to the Lotu—and they were not dis- appointed. Daniel was quick to agree that their faith in the Lotu Books had saved them from further visitation. This little incident is men- tioned because it beautifully illustrates Daniel’s sympathy with children and shows how precious a place he had in the hearts of our young folk. In the month of December, 1921, Daniel was married to Rini Vailoduri.. A great company gathered at the Head Station for the wedding. The decorated church, with its parasols of palms and festoons of feathery ferns and clinging creepers intermingled with beautiful flowers and orchids, constituted a triumph of native art. The social hour after the ceremony, ‘given up to feasting and speech-making, was the happiest function ever held on the Mission Station. Al- though many hundreds sat down to the ‘ Break- fast’ there was not a single dish to wash, as the usual fresh banana leaves were _ splendid substitutes for plates and dishes. To hear old erstwhile head-hunters tell of their happiness in being able to meet in this manner with love and goodwill in their hearts, thrilled us through and bor *q aovf “UUM SUIeI} You PACS eee ee prhee ls ae NIV ONY. HHINYC INTY ‘HHIM SIH CGNV ‘/ININVG “UOSJOUIIN'’ “D “MN 070Ud Be ated RRC AN ALE Photo E. A. Salisbury. CHRISTMAS SPORT AT. VELLA LAVELLA. face p. 105. SOME INCIDENTS 105 through. Friends and relatives of both families compared the marriages of the past with that of the present, and rejoiced at the wonderful change wrought by the gospel. It was truly the Lord’s doing, and was marvellous in our eyes. Rini is a young woman of grace and charm. She had lived with us since a child of eight years of age. Being the chosen nurse girl of our little son she enjoyed the freedom of our home, and was practically a member of the family. Pos- sessed of the gift of song, a bright, happy disposition, a clever brain, and, above all, a true and loving heart, she was fitted in very way to become Daniel’s help-mate. (At fee eee Se Sia on ad Ae fi An CHAPTER X The Leader of his People DANIEL was at this time the appointed catechist at the Head Station, and a recognized Christian leader. Although specially endowed with personal qualities essential for leadership, the many duties thrust upon him from the commencement of his Christian life doubtless had the effect of speeding up the development of his character. . For many years his people had been encour- aged to look to him for guidance and counsel. It was my conviction that the best way to preserve their racial self-respect and to make Christianity indigenous was to create a leader from amongst themselves. So Daniel gradually became the central figure in the life of his people and my right-hand man. He was school teacher, drill master, preacher, First Aid specialist, and general overseer. But over and above his work on the Station he had innumerable ‘ outside’ calls; domestic disputes, land troubles, love affairs; all sorts of matters were brought to him. 107 108 THE SON OF A SAVAGE His duties were as varied as his ability to do them. . | Nothing pleased Daniel more than to be put in charge of a big job. The extension of our stone wharf gave him just the opportunity he liked. The work was distributed amongst three teams, each responsible for its own section. There was a team for building up each side and a team for filling in. The ‘filling-in’ party gathered stones from the shore; the others © collected their material from the reef—mostly under water—and floated their cargoes to the wharf on rafts which they built for the purpose. It was a heavy job, but it was tackled with en- thusiasm and carried on in a Spirit of happy rivalry. Daniel was the heart and soul of the whole undertaking, and kept his men enthused right through. At the finish each man was as proud of the result as Daniel himself. The organizing of the annual Christmas feast, when hundreds of people congregated at the Head Station, was another of Daniel’s many cheerfully-accepted responsibilities. Weeks of preparation were necessary; pigs, fish, turtles, yams, taros, bananas, nut puddings, and all sorts of other foods had to be collected in huge quantities. When the great day arrived, the canoe races, the high diving, the greasy pole, a THE LEADER OF HIS PEOPLE 109 together with the shore sports—and even the great feast itseli—were always carried through with Daniel as Master of Ceremonies. After a great native gathering organized by the Government at Gizo, the District Officer, in a letter to the writer, paid tribute to Daniel in the following words:— Daniel Bula was of tremendous assistance to me. .. . I think he is quite the most refined and best-mannered native I have met in this Group. Please thank him again on my behalf for his assistance.’ Daniel was always seen to advantage as host. His guests were treated with utmost considera- tion. The best that he could supply was theirs to enjoy. The ‘labour’ boy who came for the treatment of his ugly wounds received the same courtesy as the most intimate of his personal friends. Once every three months the teachers were called together from far and near to discuss the affairs of the circuit. On these occasions Daniel regarded them as his special guests, and his home became the centre of social intercourse and good cheer; the sound of singing and of happy laughter that came to us through the evening air was good to hear. Daniel’s gracious manner calls to mind the tribute of Professor Waterman to Ishi, the Red Indian, in Arthur Mee's Wonderful Day. The Professor says, ‘ He 110 THE SON OF A SAVAGE convinced me that there is such a thing as a gentle-manliness which lies outside of all train- ing and is an expression purely of an inward spirit. It has nothing to do with artificially acquired tricks of behaviour.... He had an innate regard for the other fellow’s existence, and an inborn considerateness that surpassed in fine- ness most of the civilized breeding with which I am familiar.’ But the quality which pre-eminently fitted Daniel for leadership was his deep spirituality. There flowed from him a continuous stream of goodwill, justice, truth, courage, confidence. All who came into contact with him were very con- scious of this. The peace and calm of his person- ality made it clear that he was in tune with the © Infinite, and that life was to him a spiritual existence. He knew his spirit to be one with the Great Father of all spirits. He often expressed his experience in this way: ‘What a tree is to the leaf, the Great Father is to me; I have everything in my Father. And so, because Daniel realized his oneness with the Divine, he was able to be a recipient of Divine power and influence. So com- pletely had he put himself in harmony with Spiritual forces that he became increasingly THE LEADER OF HIS PEOPLE 111 sensitive to spiritual impulses. Nothing seemed to go wrong with him. The cares and worries and petty non-essentials that distressed others never troubled him. He breathed a pure spiritual atmosphere and dwelt in the tranquillity of God’s Presence. He learnt to recognize the Voice of God and to obey it. This brought him into touch with infinite Wisdom, helped him to rise above fear and selfishness and hate, and made him receptive to every ennobling thought. He believed in a very beautiful way that his whole life was controlled and directed by God. Prayer was the biggest thing in his life. It was his “soul’s sincere desire’; his ‘ vital breath’; his ‘native air.’ Very often have I found him in the privacy of his own room on his knees. His prayer-life was certainly the secret of his spiritual power. Because of his perfect trust God was able to build up his character in beauty and strength, and to give him to enjoy the heights of Christian experience. Somehow Daniel seemed to see with clear vision right into the life of his people. He early realized that the spark of divinity (which he had been taught to believe was in every man) was, in the case of his own folk, completely smothered over with superstition. He quickly com- prehended, too, that fear was a fixed habit with 112 THE SON OF A SAVAGE them, and that their destructive thinking had attracted to themselves the very things they feared. The only way to account for this won- derful insight is to admit that the great God of Heaven, who seeks to express Himself in individual lives, set His seal upon him, taber- nacled with him, walked with him, put His law in his heart and upon his mind. And did so not only in order that he might have life, and have it more abundantly, but that he might accomplish for his own people a specific work. Daniel semed to know intuitively that God’s hand was upon him. This enabled him to think constructively, to feel compassion, to appreciate something of that fundamental Christian principle—Service. Above all it gave to him the highest type of courage—the courage of strong moral conviction. - In the early days this courage rendered him proof against ridicule, opposition, reproach. It came from the depths of his nature. It was not a condition of nerve, but a quality of character. It was of the kind that marks the man. It enabled him to continue doing what he believed to be right, even when the right happened to be un- popular. It enabled him fearlessly to obey God and conscience, no matter what such obedience might cost. It was the courage of his namesake of Holy Writ, who refused to give up praying Photo E. A. Salisbury. DANIEL ADDRESSING MISSIONARY GATHERING. Photo. E. A. Salisbury. DRILL, AT VELLA LAVELLA. TICBE pe elias Photo E. A. Salisbury. THE HOUR OF WORSHIP Photo E. A. Salisbury. SUNDAY AT VELLA LAVELLA. ~ faceape rx THE LEADER OF HIS PEOPLE 113 though he knew that the sequel to his prayers would be the lion’s den. It was the courage of the three young Hebrews, who braved the furnace of flame rather than worship the image set up by a haughty king. When Daniel believed a course of action to be true and right, he held to it firmly and heroically; he was, in fact, willing to suffer, fight, and even die for it. Again, and again, and again, upheld by the Spirit of his God, he proved himself the true leader of his people. CHAPTER XI His Passing ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give to me that day: and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved His appearing.’ —St. Paut. AT the Head Station, in the early hours of September 30, 1922, after an illness of only two days, God called Daniel to higher service. Con- cerning his passing the Rev. A. A. Bensley, who is now carrying on the work at Vella Lavella, wrote: | ‘Since about midnight my mind has been filled with the sense of a great personal bereave- ment. I am realizing how greatly I learned to love Daniel Bula. At every turn I look for him, but he is not there. He was my stay, I leaned upon him, and through him I was getting to know his people, their language, and customs. He was always so keen that I should learn, and he was ever so courteous in the help he gave. Dan was white in everything but his skin—and the best quality of white. And I have known him but a few months. Those who have known him and worked with him for years will be deso- 115 116 THE SON OF A SAVAGE lated by his passing. The beautiful spirit he displayed, his utter devotion to Jesus Christ, his sense of right and justice, his amazing chivalry and that wonderful face of his, so often lit by the smile that played on it. His life is the most powerful apologetic I know. Though he was but twenty-eight when he died, he saw savage killings, and he predeceased many who engaged in head-hunts and all the revolting superstitions of heathenism. Yet he was rather like the rare product of generations of Christian experience. He revealed all the little delicacies of a refined gentleman. Always his manners were irreproach- able. The love of Christ was a wonder to him, and it was that love that transformed a young heathen into a very perfect knight. He had gathered round him a number of boys whom he | had collected from various places—orphans, not- wanteds, cast-offs, and he was training them for a shining life. ‘Since his death I have learned something of the beauty of his home life, which he conducted in a way that would shame many who ought to be his teachers. No wonder his young wife, Rini, is heartbroken. Never will I forget the sad, sad hour of his passing, and the subsequent harrow- ing expressions of the grief of his people. There is a pathos in it that wrings the heart. As he HIS PASSING 117 was fighting for his breath, Rini was crying piteously, “ Daniel Bula! Daniel Bula! You can’t go; you have not finished your letter to Nikolo; I will have to send it as it is. Minister, who will stand with you on Sundays now and interpret for you? Minister, who will look after your house now? Who will look after the boys when you go away?” As she looked round at the little boys squatting about the room, she said, “ Who now will be your father? Please God, I will.” Ah, it was sad, sad. ‘He had been feeling out of sorts for a few days but went about his work. Once or twice he complained to Rini about a pain in his side. On Wednesday night, September 27, he watched me doing some photography, and was much in- terested in the results because I had photo- graphed him among his little boys. Then he went in and commenced to write a letter. This kept him up for some time. He had a touch of ague when he went to bed. He was intensely devoted to the work of the place, and sometime, in the very early morning, he went down to the beach to see if the boys were watching the fire in the copra drier. At five in the morning he was delirious, and, as soon as she knew, the Sister took charge and began measures for reducing his burning fever. It was not until the following 118 THE SON OF A SAVAGE morning that a free perspiration was evident and his temperature was reduced. Then he was conscious, and smiled in response to our remarks. His temperature would not stay reduced, how- ever, but was up and down with rapid changes during the whole of that day. I had to quieten him with a little morphia, he was so agitated and in such pain. At midnight we knew the end was near, and shortly after one in the morning, he passed away. 7 ‘The possibility of his death did not occur to us, for it seemed unthinkable. We were all stunned and bewildered and could not realize what had happened. On Sunday we held our usual services. In the morning I made some broken references to his passing. It was very difficult for me to speak, and I kept looking for. _ Dan, who always stood near me to interpret. The people sat as though stricken, as indeed they were. In the afternoon Sister spoke of his won- derful record of faithful labour; his shining example of love and service. One of the boys said he was their great chief, and now what could they do? He was intimate with every family. He was counsellor and adviser in all land matters. All, even old men, were content to follow him for there was wisdom in his decisions. Our Church has suffered a great loss, and in the name of the HIS PASSING 119 Church I have spoken such words to Rini as I could. Will you all pray that, though he is dead, there will be no loosening of the bonds that bind the people together, but that young men from his own kith will arise to carry on his work.’ Many beautiful letters were received from the Solomons giving particulars of Daniel’s last days and telling of his splendid influence. Miss Jennings, the Missionary Sister of Vella Lavella, wrote as follows to the Women’s Auxiliary of Foreign Missions: ‘Daniel was both our right and left hand in our work here. Even though I try to explain I will never be able to make you home people realize what a power for good he was over his Own countrymen. Witho.it him we feel our main support has gone. Perhaps God knew that we trusted too much to Dan and his power, and not enough to Himself, and so we have to be taught this lesson to our cost. It did not matter what needed doing, inside or outside, it was just, “ Call Dan.” He was always ready. He fixed up the squabbles and straightened out the difficulties of heathen and Lotu people alike, and yet always giving them to understand that he was a poor substitute and that only God could make them strong. Dan loved them all. It was heart- breaking to see their grief as they gazed at his 120 THE SON OF A SAVAGE body and called upon him as their chief to speak his will to them. He was laid within sound of the sea he loved so much, and our Bilua people are putting a cement fence and a small stone over his grave as their last effort to show their love for one who lived to please God in all his ways.’ The letter from Rini, Daniel’s young widow, is particularly pathetic. To the author and his wife she wrote: ‘My father and mother, I write to you because | I know you will understand the state of my heart. To-day my heart is broken, for the right hand of me has gone. Dani is no longer with me. He is now with God, and I alone am here. Oh, I am so lonely. Every day and every night I long to see his face and hear his voice and I cannot. O father and mother, my heart is as heavy as a stone and my thought will not come correctly. You know that our life together was nothing but happy. We two loved each other and helped each other all the time. But to-day Dani is not here. I listen for the sound of his voice and long for a look at his face, but all in vain. My Dani was ill for two days only and then God took him from me. I cannot understand why. I am amazed. But I know he has gone to be with God, because his face at the time of his going was lit with a wondrous light.’ HIS PASSING 121 When the news of Daniel’s passing reached New Zealand the following tribute to his worth was made in the personal columns of The Open Door by the Editor: ‘Daniel Bula was a living evidence of the power of Christ to change the heart of a savage, and out of the most unlikely material to make a man of the Christ-spirit. He was a man of great beauty of character, faithful in the discharge of duty, absolutely dependable, loyal to the Mission and the missionaries. During his visit to New Zealand a few years ago he made troops of friends by his gentle-manliness, his winsomeness of character, and his evident sincerity. His death is a severe loss to the Mission. The sympathy of the Church in New Zealand goes out to the infant Church in the Solomons in its hour of Sorrow.’ The children’s missionary magazine, The Lotu, published at the same time this editorial article: ; ‘THE PEOPLE ARE CRYING’ Because they will see no more in this world the face of dear Daniel Bula. * Daniel Bula was the first convert to the faith of Jesus Christ on the island of Vella Lavella in the Solomons Group. Sixteen years ago the 122 THE SON OF A SAVAGE Rev. R. C. Nicholson as a young missionary landed on the beach, built a hut, and began his work for Christ on that heathen island. The people were all pagans, their lives filled with ignorance, fear, and cruelty. Oh, it must have been hard work, for no one believed the Message of Good News for four long years. Then one of the native lads gave his heart to Jesus and began to live the Christian life. It was Daniel Bula. His old companions tried to make him go | back to the old ways again; but Daniel had found the true Master, and he remained loyal. The missionary’s heart was glad and filled with hope, as when a farmer sees a green blade appear on the surface of the earth and begins to think of golden harvests by-and-bye. Daniel grew strong in the Christian faith and became the missionary’s helper. He learned to preach and to teach and to win his countrymen to the know- ledge of Jesus. The time came when Mr. Nicholson took ill and had to return to his home in Australia. Whatever would happen to the Mission? Who would conduct the services? Who would comfort and guide the people? Who would teach in the school? After nine months’ absence the missionary returned, to find that the church and the school were in good going order. There had not been a Sunday without a service HIS PASSING 123 and not one scholar had lapsed from the school. Daniel had done it all. ‘Daniel Bula was the first Solomon Islander from our Mission Field to visit us here in New Zealand. It was five years ago. Mr. Nicholson, with his wife and their little boy, Ian, came to tell us the wonderful story of eleven years’ work in Vella Lavella, and the change that had come into the people’s lives since they learned to love and follow Jesus. Mr. Nicholson brought Daniel with him. Daniel spoke in missionary meetings in every part of New Zealand, and his words moved our hearts deeply. Daniel came into our homes and sat at our tables, ane. we found him to be a truly Christian gentleman. He made many friends and his photo is in many homes, where his memory will be always fondly cherished. He returned to the Solomon Islands, and a great meeting was held, when the people of Vella Lavella gathered to hear Daniel tell the story of his visit to New Zealand. “Now a letter comes to tell us that the people of Vella Lavella are crying. What has happened? Dear Daniel Bula took ill with fever on Sep- tember 27, and after less than three days’ illness he died. So Mr. Bensley, who is the missionary there now, took up his pen at half-past two o'clock on the morning of September 30 to write 124 THE SON OF A SAVAGE the news:—‘ Daniel has just died. The people are crying. Their wailing is ushering in the dawn. Well might they cry. They have never lost such a friend. For fifteen years Dan was Mr. Nicholson’s right hand. I think, without doubt, he was the most influential man on Vella Lavella, and his influence was all for the Lotu of Jesus Christ. Since I have been here he has been my hands and my eyes. Tell the people, particularly the Sunday-school children, of Daniel Bula, for he, their friend, has gone.” ‘ All is well with Daniel. His spirit lives in the Presence of Jesus. His work on earth is done, but there is higher service to render in heaven. Daniel has gone home. He is one more in the long train of apostles, prophets, saints and martyrs. He has joined the multitude which no man can number, welcomed with people of every colour and every clime, who sing before the Throne of God.’ Amid the beautiful palms and bright coloured crotons of his native land, and with the murmur. of the waves on the coral strand chanting a tire- less lullaby, Daniel Bula was laid to rest. His grave was made in the quietest and shadiest spot on the Mission Station; but his ransomed soul went to be with Christ, which is far better. In closing the story of this remarkable life the HIS PASSING 125 writer asks his readers to remember that, al- though Daniel Bula was only twenty-eight years of age at the time of his passing over, he lived to see the land of his birth become Christian in character and in social custom from one end to the other. He saw the banishment of barbarism, head-hunting, widow-strangling, and_ child- murder. He saw his people change from brutal Savages into genuine Christians. He saw them delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. He saw love-feasts take the place of tribal fights; he saw the sons of notorious hunters of human prey become acceptable preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; he saw the canoes that took the fathers to their head-hunting raids take the sons to their preaching appointments. He himself was of the number, and he himself was able to preach to his own people from the text, ‘ For ye Shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn Shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar Shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that Shall not be cut off. Daniel’s life was a wonderful testimony to his 126 THE SON OF A SAVAGE devotion to Christ. To him the welfare of the work of God was a matter of the most absorbing passion. Amid the manifold activities of a big Mission Station he never spared himself. At the time of his death his moral authority and in- fluence on Vella Lavella were unchallenged. His was an exceptional nature—gentle and intensely sensitive, and yet, withal, possessing the power of personal leadership to a marked degree. When the occasion arose he was stronger in will and more self-reliant in carrying out a plan of action than any other native I have ever met. He had a strange combination of qualities. Trustful yet self-reliant; courageous yet humble; tender yet forceful. Because of his winsome personality and great tender sympathetic heart he was the best loved man on Vella Lavella. The way in which both heathen and Christian people came from north and south and from east and west to pay their last tribute was striking evidence of the regard in which he was held by all. His little son carries his name. May he follow in his father’s footsteps! ,The memory of Daniel will ever be one of the Church’s most valuable possessions. Not until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of God and of His Christ shall we fully know how much he helped forward the Christianization of his people. Those HIS PASSING 127 who knew Daniel Bula best, know that a great soul has gone from amongst us, and that of him it can be truly said, ‘He being dead, yet speaketh.’ RUSH & WARWICK, PRINTERS, BEDFORD. 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