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 BV 3680 .N59 M52 1893 
 Michelsen, Oscar, 1844- 
 Cannibals won for Christ 
 
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 EUGENE L. MORIC 
 
 Oriental & African Booksei 
 l»^ 39. Museum Street. 
 
 LONDON, w.C. 
 
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
 
 Cannibals 
 
 WON FOR CHRIST: 
 
 3V ^toru of ^tissionrtiMi |Jcrils anii S^riumplja in 
 ®ongoa, llctn "^cbriics. 
 
 Rev. OSCAR 'M I CH E LSEN, 
 
 .\/issi\)//arv oj the Presbyterian Chinch of Otago, N.Z,. 
 WITH INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 Lieutenant G. C. FREDERICK, R.N, 
 
 Hydrographic Department, Admiralty. 
 
 cUrtM.i' fSO'/ 
 
 LONDON: MORGAN AND SCOTT, 
 
 Office of C1;c ffiljvistian, 
 12, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.G. '5/3/ 
 
 And may be Ordered oj any Bookseller, 
 
EVERY THURSDAY. ONE PENNY. 
 
 CIjc Cfjnstiau: 
 
 A RECORD OF CHRISTIAN LIFE AND TESTIMONY, EVANGELISTIC EFFORT, 
 
 AND 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 THE object of 3"f}C (Tljristian is to provide the Church of God with 
 accounts of work done for the extension of the Redeemer's Kingdom 
 in various parts of the world. To earnest toilers at home and to lonely 
 missionaries abroad 2rt)C CfiriBlian has proved a welcome visitor. The 
 Publishers frequently receive from readers in foreign lands hearty testi- 
 monies to the encouragement and blessing conveyed to them through its 
 pages ; the Portraits and Biographic Sketches given week by week, as 
 well as the numerous accounts of Christian effort at home, and the general 
 Evangelistic Intelligence from various parts of the globe, being heartily 
 appreciated. 
 
 London : MORGAN & .SCOTT, 12, Paternoster Buildings, E.C. 
 A>iii may be Onicreti 0/ any /iiviseller in tJie Kingdom. 
 
PRE FACE 
 
 '^C^T was in response to the repeated solicitations 
 (^ of friends at the Antipodes and in Europe 
 that I decided, during a visit to England, 
 i-7y-^ to give an outline of the Lord's work as 
 committed to my hands. Some difficulty- 
 arose in the matter, in consequence of all my diaries 
 having been left at the mission station on Tongoa. So 
 this volume is but a statement from memory of some 
 of the many incidents leading up to the condition of 
 things which suggested the title — "CANNIBALS WON 
 FOR Christ." 
 
 It was not my intention, when this purpose took 
 shape in my mind, to remain more than a few 
 days in England. I was therefore compelled to com- 
 municate my story to a friend, whose writings have 
 long been read with acceptance by the Christian public. 
 Finding it possible, however, to return to Great 
 Britain after a brief stay in Norway, I was enabled to 
 contribute several substantial sections to the work, and 
 thoroughly to revise the whole. 
 
vi ^.1 re face. 
 
 At the end of the book will be found an Appendix, 
 whicli though by no means giving a history of Christian 
 work on the Islands, is intended to afford some idea 
 of the state of missionary effort in the New Hebrides. 
 This must not be looked upon as an exact account 
 of each mission station ; but, to the best of my ability, 
 with the information at my command, I have en- 
 deavoured to outline the work of my respected fellow- 
 labourers, past and present, on the Islands. 
 
 While these pages were passing through the press, 
 my faithful and devoted partner in the mission was 
 called to her rest. This event, so saddening to me, 
 will cause great mourning when it becomes known on 
 the island of Tongoa ; whither I hope, in due course, 
 to return to resume my much-loved work. 
 
 It is my earnest prayer that the following chapters 
 may stimulate many in the Christian Church to put 
 more implicit faith in God's promises with regard to 
 the spread of the Gospel ; and to entertain higher 
 expectations as to the establishment of the Kingdom 
 of God in the dark places of the earth. 
 
 OSCAR MICHELSEN. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 FACE 
 
 Introduction 9 
 
 I. ToNGOA, Past and Present 13 
 
 II. The Missionary to Tongoa 18 
 
 III. The Field Surveyed 28 
 
 IV. Making Friends 40 
 
 V. Progress under Difficulties 50 
 
 VI. Joys and Sorrows 57 
 
 Vir. A Flight for Life 66 
 
 VIII. New Mission Quarters ■ 72 
 
 IX. Cannibai-.s Rescued from Cannibals 79 
 
 X. Another Change of Locale 85 
 
 XI. Day by Day on Tongoa * 90 
 
 XII. An Unexpected Cloud 104 
 
 XIII. Cannibalism and its Horrors 11:2 
 
 XIV. Three Tongoan Martyrs 115 
 
 XV. Native Superstitions: A Religion of Dread 118 
 
 XVI. Two Wrecks: A Contrast 125 
 
 XVII. How Tongoan Christians Die 128 
 
 XVIII. Some Tongoan "Institutions" 133 
 
 XIX. A Question of Custom 142 
 
 XX. Present Condition of the Mission 146 
 
 XX.1. The Queensland Kanaka Traffic 153 
 
 XXII. Notes and Incidents i57 
 
 APPENDIX— 
 
 The New Hebrides Mission 173 
 
 The Islands and the People 184 
 
%x5t ot ^Hustrations. 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 Portrait of Rev. Oscar Micmelskn. Fro7itispicce. 
 
 Portrait of Rev. Peter Milne 23 
 
 The Williams River, Erromanga 32 
 
 Heathen "Drums" 36 
 
 The Missionary's "Gun" 41 
 
 TONGOANS (PeLE MEN) AS HEATHEN 51 
 
 Man.vmb.vlea Preaching Peace at Pel^ 60 
 
 The Would-be Murderers Lying in Wait 67 
 
 First Mission House at Selembanga 73 
 
 New Mission Station, Selembanga 74 
 
 Maripau, one of Manambalea's Brothers 80 
 
 Maritariliu aiming at the Missionary 86 
 
 Original Mission Building at Panita 88 
 
 Ro.\d-making on Tongoa 94 
 
 Bush School House, Euta, Tongoa 99 
 
 Portrait of the Late Mrs. Michelsen, with third child ... 105 
 
 New Head Station at Lumbukuti 147 
 
 A Group of Christian Chiefs.... 149 
 
 Mission Church at Ngun.\ ■. 180 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Ny A V X N account of what is being done in a far-away corner 
 
 ki^ 
 
 of the earth, and the story of one who has nobly 
 elected to go forth and preach the Gospel to 
 islanders steeped in savage heathenism, must neces- 
 "p^^ sarily be of deep interest to faithful followers of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time, it must com- 
 mend itself to those who wonder why any one should take the 
 trouble to leave home to teach savages. Consequently, such 
 a narrative as that of my dear friend, Mr. Michelsen, needs 
 but little introduction ; it speaks for itself in all its simplicity. 
 It relates the wonderful dealings of a loving Father, who can 
 keep a single servant of His unharmed, though surrounded by 
 savages thirsting for his blood ; who would stop at nothing in 
 the accomplishment of their object, were it not that there is 
 One who can restrain the fierceness of man, and make it turn 
 to His praise. 
 
 In addition to the account of his missionary labours, Mr. 
 Michelsen gives an interesting description of the islands he 
 has visited, and their inhabitants. People living in the midst 
 of a nineteenth century civilization can hardly realize the con- 
 dition of these benighted heathen, sunk in superstition, and 
 practising the most horrible cruelties ; so that a narrative by 
 
X ^nfrotJuctiort. 
 
 one who has met them in their own haunts must be very in- 
 structive. Many who live at home in comfort and ease know 
 httle of the trials and privations, as well as dangers, which 
 those have to suffer who follow the promptings and callings 
 of an inner voice, and are ready to say, " Here am I, send 
 me." Accounts of how brave missionaries live in constant 
 expectation that a cruel club, poisoned arrow, or bullet, may 
 end their earthly life while preaching " on earth peace, good- 
 will towards men," seem to them but idle and exaggerated 
 tales. 
 
 Some who have met the missionaries in their distant homes, 
 in houses which their own hands have built, and gazed 
 upon the beautiful scenery, and enjoyed the fine climate, do 
 not realize the isolated life — -years spent away from friends and 
 kindred, with only natives to converse with, except on rare 
 occasions — the disappointments encountered, the difficulties to 
 be overcome, and the hardships to be borne. Such may come 
 back and report that the missionaries have a splendid time of 
 it, and after all, do not accomplish much good among the 
 natives ! But others, who look into matters, see how wonder- 
 fully the Gospel is making its way, surely if slowly ; how the 
 natives are learning to worship the Creator, and have faith in 
 His blessed Son ; how gladly all trials and difificulties are 
 borne, if only they may be used in fulfilling the Master's 
 command to go forth and "preach the Gospel to every 
 creature." 
 
 Having spent many months among the New Hebrides, I 
 can speak from experience as to the change that has come 
 over the inhabitants of some of these islands, and how fully 
 this book deserves its title. Before leaving Australia for the 
 Group, many of my friends, who had some years previously 
 visited the New Hebrides, warned me to be careful in my 
 dealings with the natives, as they were warlike and treacherous 
 cannibals, amongst whom it would not be safe to land without 
 
Ktttrottucfiott. xi 
 
 being well armed. Lut what a change did we find had taken 
 l)lacc in the vicinity of the missionaries — especially on Tongoa 
 and the neighbouring islands ! Cannibalism was quite a thing 
 of the iiast, and villages were living at peace with one another ; 
 they had disposed of all their weapons, so that it was difficult 
 to find any to purchase even as curios — perhaps, rather to our 
 disappointment, as we had quite looked forward to turning 
 our homes in distant England into small museums on our 
 return. 
 
 As we walked about from village to village, quite unarmed, 
 we were most hospitably received by the inhabitants, who 
 provided us with such food and refreshment as lay in their 
 power. We found everywhere peace, happiness, and merry 
 faces, where only a few years previously, cruelty, bloodshed, 
 and almost perpetual war, were the common practice. It is 
 well known that savages are proverbially thieves, showing a 
 great amount of cunning and cleverness in appropriating other 
 people's property. By way of giving an example of the good 
 fruit which Christian teaching is producing, I will mention one 
 instance out of many that came under our observation. 
 
 During our surveying operations, a boat belonging to 
 H.M.S. Dar^ was swamped by a heavy surf on the south 
 coast of Epi, just opposite Mr. Michelsen's station on 
 Tongoa ; the officer and crew having to rejoin the ship some 
 miles further along the coast, where a break in the reef 
 allowed of communication with the shore. Until the weather 
 moderated, nothing could be done towards the recovery of the 
 boat, and all that was in it. About a week later the ship 
 returned to the scene of the accident ; and there we found the 
 boat, which had been hauled up on the beach by the natives, 
 and most of the belongings, such as masts, sails, instru- 
 ments, etc., carefully collected, and piled up near it. As the 
 village was some distance off, the natives had written a 
 message, in their own language, on one of the planks. On 
 
xli Stttro&uctiott. 
 
 interpretation, this ran as follows :— " We have picked up 
 all the things we could find. We have stolen nothing." 
 This, we found, was quite true. The ropes and sails of the 
 boat must have been a great temptation to the natives ; but 
 they had learned better, and put into practice what they had 
 been taught. 
 
 Without wishing to take up too much space, I must just 
 mention one more incident that took place off Tongoa Island 
 some time after Mr. Michelsen had left for England, on 
 furlough, in 1891. A number of natives came on board 
 the Dart one day, some forty or fifty of them, and by way 
 of returning some of their hospitality, we provided refresh- 
 ment, in the shape of ship's biscuit, with a thick layer of 
 jam (they dearly love anything sweet), and plenty of tea 
 well sweetened. All had been well provided for ; but we 
 noticed that not one of them began to eat — they looked as 
 if they were waiting for something. After an awkward pause, 
 it was explained to me that they were waiting for some one 
 to say Grace. I accordingly requested the Chief Tinabua 
 to ask a blessing, which he did in the native language ; while 
 all present behaved most reverently, responding with a loud 
 " Amen." Then they set to with a will, and astonished us 
 with their appetites. It was a sight and experience not easy 
 to forget — these dusky islanders, once heathen and cannibals, 
 thanking the Creator of all things for their daily food ! 
 
 Let us hope that ]\Ir. Michelsen may long be spared to 
 continue his labours among the heathen, and help to hasten 
 that time when " the earth shall be filled with the knowledge 
 of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." 
 
 G. C. FREDERICK. 
 Kingsbury^ 
 
 Middlesex. 
 
CANNIBALS WON for CHRIST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Volcanic History of the Island — Warlike Propensities of Early 
 
 Settlers — Physical Features of Tongoa — A Moral and Spiritual 
 
 Revolution. 
 
 \C7TT\:|^ BOUT 350 years ago, so says tradition, when all 
 seemed to be peace and safety, swift destruc- 
 tion came upon the inhabitants of a large 
 island in Western Polynesia. The natives of 
 the various villages had gone forth to their 
 plantations, or were engaged in their ordinary occu- 
 pations. Hard labour was the woman's share : she 
 carried in a basket on her back the }'ams which were 
 required for planting, and in her hand the indispensable 
 firebrand ; * while on her neck, or tied in a mat in front 
 of her, was the helpless infant. 
 
 The men walked proudly on before with bows and 
 
 
 * Until the introduction of matches, the natives made fire by 
 rubbing together two pieces of wood. This being a rather tedious 
 undertaking, they usually carried with them a firebrand to the 
 plantation for lighting the fire to consume brushwood, or at which 
 to roast a yam. 
 
14 S^ongoii, ^aat tinb present. 
 
 arrows — some of these plain arrows for shooting birds ; 
 others poisoned, to be directed upon their enemies. 
 Clubs and spears were also among their weapons, for 
 use, should occasion offer, in taking human prey ; 
 and each man felt himself in a position to defy all 
 opponents. 
 
 Suddenly there was an alarming subterranean report, 
 accompanied by a violent earthquake. The shock was 
 prolonged into an irregular vibration, and the explosive 
 roar was continued day after day. No longer did the 
 proud savage reason, in the style of Lamcch of old, and 
 think how manfully he would spear and club his foe 
 if he had but the opportunity. The cry of the fearless 
 warrior was the same as that of the affrighted mother 
 and child, and it was — " Whither shall we flee for our 
 lives ? " 
 
 In the case of multitudes of people all hopes were 
 disappointed and the worst fears realized. Slowly but 
 surely large tracts of land sank into the sea, and other 
 parts of the earth's crust were raised several hundred 
 feet. At three different places fountains of fire were 
 opened up, and glowing lava sprang into the air to an 
 appalling height. 
 
 The principal remaining portion of the large island 
 which was thus sundered and destroyed is to-day called 
 Epi, or Api. At the time of which we w^ite, many of 
 the natives whose lot it was to find themselves on the 
 hills which now formed new islands in the sea — one of 
 which is TONGOA — were killed by falling stones, stifled 
 with the prevailing smoke, or burned to death in their 
 hiding-places in the forests ; which, in turn, were speedily 
 obliterated by the advancing flames. In some cases all 
 
^arlj Settlers. 15 
 
 life, vegetable and animal, was destroyed ; and luxuriance 
 and animation gave place to death and barrenness. 
 
 In these islands, even to the present day, there arc 
 no snakes, although reptiles are very common in other 
 islands in the same region. This fact is corroborative 
 of the native story of the complete desolation wrought 
 by the catastrophe. Moreover, there are evidences, not 
 only of volcanic operations in the past, but of such 
 destructive processes being still at work. There are in 
 Tongoa hot places on which the natives cook their food ; 
 and several spots where man cannot tread and vege- 
 tation will not flourish. 
 
 The several hilltops of the rent and sunken land are 
 now small islands, and are called Tongoa, Tongariki, 
 Buninga, Ewose, Laika, and Tevala. Collectively they 
 were named the " Shepherd Group " by the renowned 
 Captain Cook, and are situated about the middle of 
 the New Hebrides, of which they are a part. The 
 largest of these is designated after Tongo, who is said 
 to have been the first man to settle upon its inhospitable 
 soil, when the volcanic troubles just described had 
 passed by. He was a native of Makura, an island 
 about fourteen miles distant, and a venturesome and 
 enterprising man. Some time afterwards other settlers 
 arrived : first from Emae, a neighbouring island ; and 
 later on from Efate, about thirty miles away. 
 
 The authority of chiefs was claimed by the leaders of 
 the several expeditions, which resulted in the speedy 
 population of the island ; and these chiefs, who adopted 
 the names of the rulers in the villages from which they 
 severally came, have to-day successors who perpetuate 
 their name as well as authority. There was room 
 
i6 OTongoa, |Jast nntr present. 
 
 enough for all on Tongoa, and the land brought forth 
 abundantly to satisfy their needs ; but quarrelsome 
 propensities were not kept under control, and the sad 
 fact must be stated that, during ten generations now 
 past — or about 300 years — hardly a single chief on 
 Tongoa has left behind him a peaceful record. History 
 has been largely made up of friendly gatherings alter- 
 nating with fierce wars and cannibal feasts. Though 
 called iiataniatc (peace), and supposed to remove all 
 discord, tribal feasts have been generally followed by 
 fights ; and not infrequently have " peace feasts " been 
 got up in order to furnish occasions for hostile attacks 
 upon too-confiding guests. 
 
 The Shepherd Group lies to the south-east of Epi, 
 nearly 17 degrees south latitude, and about 169 degrees 
 east longitude. Generally, the islands are exception- 
 ally fertile, especially Tongoa ; the extent of which is 
 upwards of twenty square miles. The climate is 
 good, considering the tropical latitude ; and, though 
 common throughout the group, malarial fever is rarely 
 experienced on Tongoa. The products include : roots — 
 yam of every description, mountain taro, sweet potatoes, 
 arrowroot, and manioca ; fruits — bananas and plantains 
 in great variety, and pine apples. Of indigenous fruit- 
 trees, the most important are the cocoanut palm, 
 bread-fruit, and horse-chestnut. There are also many 
 edible fruits of no commercial value. Of imported fruit- 
 trees, oranges, lemons, custard apples, and mango arc 
 the most valuable. The exports are confined to copra 
 (dried cocoa-nut) and a small quantity of maize. 
 
 The people of Tongoa are amongst the healthiest and 
 best-looking natives in the New Hebrides. Although 
 
^ Spiritual Ctbancjc. 17 
 
 principally Efatesc, they arc taller, stronger, and lighter 
 in colour than their ancestors. This, doubtless, is due 
 to the absence of fever, abundance of food, and a 
 considerable importation of Malay blood from the neigh- 
 bouring island of Emae. Calling themselves black, 
 they are in reality of a nut-brown shade, with frizzy 
 hair. They are distributed in some ten villages — two 
 in the interior, called " the Bush," and the others near 
 the coast. The houses are of grass, thatched upwards 
 to a ridge pole, surmounting arched pieces of wood, 
 securely settled in the ground. Nowhere in the entire 
 group are there larger or more comfortable residences. 
 The domestic animals are pigs, fowls, and dogs. 
 
 Tongoa has, during recent years, been the scene of a 
 moral and spiritual revolution, no less remarkable and 
 complete than that physical change which has just been 
 outlined. Succeeding pages will unfold the story in 
 detail, and relate how peace and goodwill have begun 
 to reign where hatred and warfare were once reckoned 
 among the rights and privileges of humanity. To say 
 that the Gospel of Christ has been instrumental of this 
 mighty change is a true anticipation of what remains to 
 be written. 
 
- '-■ifSiiySi 
 
 ^iffi-raL.^-:. — ■:■■: A:-^ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 ^ht jEissionar^ ia f^ongna. 
 
 Early Life in Norway — Emigration to New Zealand — From 
 
 Commercial Life to Colportage Work — Missionary Aspirations 
 
 Realized — Departure for the New Hebrides — A Year's Residence 
 
 at Nguna — Visit to Tongoa, and Subsequent Settlement. 
 
 SCAR MICHELSEN, the missionary who has 
 been privileged to evangelize the Tongoans, 
 is a native of Norway, having been born in 
 1844. His childhood was spent in the parish 
 of Ski, where his father was sheriff. He was 
 educated for commercial life — a good drilling in foreign 
 languages doing much to stimulate his desire to see 
 lands beyond the Scandinavian Peninsula. 
 
 An intellectual father and a sympathetic mother 
 carefully nurtured a large family, but did little or no- 
 thing to develop the spiritual life. The general teaching 
 of, the National Church at that time had much to do 
 with this neglect ; for the religious duties of parents did 
 not go beyond seeing that their children were baptized 
 and confirmed. These things attended to, all was well, 
 if the communion wine and wafer were received before 
 
S^Jre ^oitrttEtt to lUefo Zttilanb, 19 
 
 death. " Yc must be born again " suggests to evan- 
 gelical Christians a body of teaching which was sadly 
 neglected in Norway at that time. 
 
 While still a lad, Oscar made the opening verses of 
 Psalm xxxii. the prayer of his heart ; and he realized 
 in some measure the blessed consciousness of trans- 
 gression forgiven and sin covered. But until he was 
 twenty-two years old, he knew little of peace of soul : 
 black world-clouds, with occasional rays of heavenly 
 light, made up the story of his spiritual life. A teacher 
 under whom he studied English, advised him to read a 
 chapter of the English New Testament every evening — 
 an exercise which he found profitable in more ways than 
 one. But, engaged in a business house, and surrounded 
 by worldly influences, he gave little continuous thought 
 to his spiritual welfare. 
 
 Two friends of the family having resolved to go to 
 New Zealand, he proposed to accompany them ; and 
 his brother, Nicolai Christian, in whose wisdom he had 
 every confidence, not only consented to this course, but 
 generously made it possible. Writing of this period, 
 Mr, Michelsen says : 
 
 " Before leaving my native country, I came in contact 
 with several living Christians who influenced me greatly ; 
 and I have no doubt their prayers went with me. My 
 limited means did not allow of travelling in the same 
 cabin as my worldly companions. This was my good 
 fortune rather than otherwise ; for instead of their 
 society, I had that of two elderly Scotch ladies, the 
 Misses Edgar, who were going to join a brother in 
 Australia. I found in them true friends, of a calm, 
 solid faith, such as I had not known among my 
 
20 ^\)C iJtissbttarj to ^on^oA. 
 
 acquaintances at home. I have no doubt that my con- 
 tact with them went far to develop my spiritual life. 
 
 "We arrived at Melbourne in June, 1867. I then 
 learned that one of my friends had decided to stay there 
 for a time, and that the other intended to proceed to 
 Queensland. I had no reason, however, to alter my 
 original purpose, so at Melbourne we parted — never 
 again to meet on earth. I arrived in New Zealand, 
 armed with a letter of introduction to a countryman of 
 mine, who ' regretted very much that he could do 
 nothing for me.' I had only money sufficient to provide 
 for one week's board. When my last shilling had been 
 spent, I secured work." 
 
 This was in the business establishment of a man 
 having a good reputation for uprightness, although of no 
 religious convictions. His wife was a decided Christian, 
 and greatly grieved that, in common with other trades- 
 men in the town, her husband kept his shop open 
 on the Lord's Day. Still influenced by Continental 
 ideas regarding the Day of Rest, young Mr. Michelsen 
 saw no objection to this practice ; but soon his eyes 
 were opened to Christian obligations and privileges, and 
 he gave notice to terminate his engagement. His 
 services were however retained, with immunity from 
 Sunday duty ; his wages also being increased by his 
 appreciative employer, who, a short time afterwards — 
 regardless of the ways of other shopkeepers — closed his 
 establishments on the Lord's Day ! The man after- 
 wards became a servant of Him who is Lord of the 
 Sabbath. 
 
 Through circumstances over which he had no control, 
 Mr. Michelsen found himself out of work at the end 
 
(Kolportagc Morh. 21 
 
 of his first year's residence in New Zealand. For 
 a considerable period he earned no more than would 
 supply bare necessities ; but he was never allowed 
 to experience want. He had, from early days of his 
 settlement at the Antipodes, become connected with 
 the Presbyterians ; and was glad when, after seven 
 years' business life in the region of the gold mines, the 
 way opened for engagement in Gospel work under the 
 auspices of the New Zealand Bible, Tract, and Book 
 Society. 
 
 This agency was the beginning of colportage work in 
 connection with the institution. Going to the bush, he 
 advocated the claims of the society, and sold books and 
 distributed tracts. He visited distant settlements, and 
 was generally received with kindness by the people. 
 At the diggings his experiences were varied and in- 
 teresting — meeting with many intelligent and generous 
 men. If outwardly rough, some were hard readers, as 
 well as desperate toilers. This colportage work was 
 a fitting introduction to a missionary career. 
 
 After a year and a half, this form of service had to 
 be abandoned, because of its excessive strain upon a 
 somewhat slender constitution. The business of the 
 Society had so developed that there was room for an 
 additional worker at the depot in Otago ; and thither 
 Mr. Michelsen went. While realizing that this was 
 a true Christian service, he set his heart upon some- 
 thing more aggressive. He thus describes the workings 
 of his mind : 
 
 " Foreign mission work had been my muffled aspiration 
 ever since the time when I first took a decided stand 
 ^s a Christi^^n. So long as I was travelling, I found 
 
2 2 ^\jt Ittissionarii to Congoa. 
 
 a kind of gratification of this desire ; but I had not 
 been long at the depot before all my old wishes came to 
 me as fresh as ever. I quietly sought to qualify for 
 mission work abroad. I made the acquaintance of a 
 Chinaman, who undertook to teach me Chinese, on 
 condition that I should instruct him in English. We 
 made very good progress. 
 
 "Just at this time, the National Bible Society of 
 Scotland advertised for a colporteur to work in China. 
 I wrote my application for the post, and sent it to 
 the post-office. The message boy arrived too late for 
 the outgoing mail, and it was a month before the next. 
 In the meantime, the New Hebrides Mission ship 
 Daysprmg arrived at Dunedin with two missionaries 
 on board, who earnestly asked my Church to send . 
 another worker. The reply was that there was no one 
 to send. A great Sunday-school gathering was held on 
 board, and there I met Rev. Lindsay Mackie, who had 
 long been my kind and wise counsellor. 
 
 " I said, ' I begin to think of these islands.' He 
 replied, ' That is exactly what I have been expecting. 
 It would suit you far better than that undertaking in 
 China : the prospect of our sending you to China is 
 uncertain ; but here is work for which I believe you are 
 fitted, and a man is urgently needed. Write out your 
 application, and I will support it.' 
 
 " I wrote my application, and sent it to the then- 
 assembled Synod. My friend warmly supported it ; 
 and, as I was well known to nearly all the ministers of 
 the Church through my colportage work, I was readily 
 accepted. After undergoing such training as was 
 thought necessary, I was sent down to the Islands in 
 
Hetr. fPefer ^ilne. 
 
 23 
 
 1878, with the expressed wish that I should spend a 
 year at Nguna with Rev. Peter Milne, before assuming 
 the responsibility of an independent station." 
 
 Rev. Peter Milne was the 
 first missionary of the Otago 
 Presbyterian Church. He is 
 still in the field, and is now 
 gathering in a rich harvest 
 as the reward of faithful ser- 
 vice extending over nearly 
 a quarter of a century. At 
 Nguna, while learning a lan- 
 guage which was to prove 
 useful in future years, Mr. 
 Michel sen rendered such 
 help as was possible to Mr. 
 Milne. In the early part of 
 the year, the two mission- 
 aries visited Tongoa, the 
 younger man being much struck with its beach of black 
 iron-sand ; and the entire island, so far as could be seen, 
 covered with green forest. 
 
 It is not a flat coral island, as these specks of land are 
 often supposed to be, but an endless number of hills, 
 some only 400 or 500 feet ; others rising to a height of 
 1500 or 1600 feet. The sight was beautiful in the ex- 
 treme. The trees — varied in shade and form — included 
 the horse-chestnut, with its glossy foliage ; the bread- 
 fruit, with its light green jagged leaves ; crotons of every 
 imaginable colour ; and banyan-trees, like forest giants, 
 some of them covering an acre. 
 
 From the extending branches of these magnificent 
 
 KEV. PETER MILNE. 
 
24 QTljc iltiaatonariT to Congoa. 
 
 trees,* roots are sent down to the ground, enlarging 
 as well as invigorating the tree. Again, from the 
 branches of the banyans were hanging convolvuli 
 and other creeping flowers ; whilst ferns and orchids 
 of every description found shelter on branches as well 
 as the trunks. Thus, plants which could not live on the 
 earth, depended upon the monarch tree for existence. 
 All over the hills were seen cocoa-nut palms, with 
 their light-coloured foliage waving in the breeze. 
 
 At the very summit of what may be called mountain- 
 tops were tree-ferns, which looked like palms, with the 
 exception that they were of a much darker hue. In 
 Mr. Michelsen's own words : 
 
 "The whole scene was delightful beyond description. 
 It wanted but one thing to complete the picture — that 
 was human life. This element was, however, soon sup- 
 plied ; one native after another walking or bounding 
 to the beach. After but slight preparation, they threw 
 themselves into the sea for a morning bath ; and when 
 * dressed ' again, seemed to think of nothing but play — 
 men, women, and children alike. 
 
 " As they thus laughed and frolicked, the thought 
 stole over my mind : ' What can I do to improve the 
 apparently happy condition of these children of nature? 
 
 * The banyan tree begins its existence as a parasite on another 
 tree. Gradually it developes into a considerable growth, and in 
 many cases the original tree withers in its embraces. The banyan, 
 however, continues to flourish, and overshadows some of its largest 
 neighbours. The natives are often reminded that, as some proud 
 tree of the forest carries this seemingly insignificant parasite, and 
 is itself soon sacrificed, so the Word of God is conveyed to the 
 people in earthen vessels which must soon wither and disappear ; 
 but "the Word of the Lord abideth for ever." 
 
^isit to tbc JslnniJ. 25 
 
 Am I really wanted here ? ' The question was intelli- 
 gently answered when I subsequently took up residence 
 in the island, and saw the inhabitants at a shorter 
 distance. 
 
 "Going ashore, we were very heartily received. Ah! 
 the chiefs expected presents, and so they were well 
 behaved. Under the grateful shade of trees, hymns 
 were sung, and the Gospel message briefly explained. 
 In the afternoon we rowed round the rock to the north 
 of the Lumbukuti landing, on the west coast of the 
 island. Some bush people were seen, and then lost 
 sight of ; villagers were afterwards heard to cry out, 
 Man-ni-biis (bush-men). Others were seen with painted 
 faces, wearing black war-plumes in their hair, and with 
 long flowing calicoes hanging from their loins. They 
 looked more picturesque, but not less dangerous, than 
 the Lumbukuti people that had been seen in the fore- 
 noon. 
 
 " We were conducted to an open space, about half 
 a mile in the interior of the island, by Tarisaliu, a 
 dashing chief, fully six feet in height ; he was dressed 
 in a white European suit, and quite ' got up ' for the 
 occasion. All the time his heathenism showed itself in 
 a pair of pigs' tusks, which dangled at the end of locks 
 of hair on each side of his face, which still had traces of 
 paint upon it. In savage fashion, his long frizzy hair 
 had been coifTured with lime, and tied up in a bunch on 
 the top of his head. Surmounting the whole was a 
 pretty yellow straw hat, which was often thrown off 
 when touched by branches of trees, and promptly 
 replaced by an attendant. Of these incidents the 
 chief was quite unconscious, for the hat was but a 
 
26 %\jt ^issionarj to f^on0oa. 
 
 roof on the heavy stack of hair which his noble head 
 sustained." 
 
 An old heathen drum was standing on the place of 
 meeting, which had once been a dancing ground, but 
 was now almost co\-crcd with scrub. Tribes had been 
 at war, and the scene wore the complexion of desola- 
 tion. The story of life from the dead was told, and 
 some Christian songs were sung. On all hands were to 
 be seen the fruits of sin ; so it was with real appropriate- 
 ness that the only regenerating power for a lost world 
 was proclaimed. Passing through deep valleys, shaded 
 by high trees, and everywhere luxuriant with ferns, 
 the missionaries observed a beautiful knoll, which was 
 pointed out as the site from which a tribe known as the 
 F6\6 people had been driven further inland by their 
 powerful neighbours of Lumbukuti. 
 
 Approaching the village of Pele, a war-fence, or pake, 
 such as were once common in the island, was seen. The 
 chief of the village, named Marimaraki, a blunt, harsh- 
 looking man, with a tuft of hair from a pig's tail in each 
 ear, was met. He was known to have been in New 
 Caledonia, so Mr. Michelsen addressed him in French. 
 The short answer of the distinguished traveller was in 
 the pigeon-English of the South Seas : " Me no savez 
 that talk ; me talk all de same as you ! " 
 
 In acknowledgment of presents to natives, the mis- 
 sionaries received yams and cocoa-nuts ; and left for 
 Nguna with definite impressions of the needs of Tongoa 
 and the prospects of work there. 
 
 All the chiefs on Tongoa seemed friendly to mis- 
 sionaries on the occasion of the visit of Messrs. Milne 
 ?ind Michelsen. One went so far as to invite the latter 
 
" l^iglr unto gcatlj." 27 
 
 to settle at his village ; but there was afterwards reason 
 to believe that he only wanted to have a tapu (sacred) 
 power to stand between himself and stronger tribes. 
 
 As the time approached for Mr. Michelsen to leave 
 Nguna for Tongoa, he was down with " island " or inter- 
 mittent fever, and momentarily expected to die. It was 
 thought by his friends on Nguna that nothing but a sea 
 voyage in the Mission ship, soon to start for Sydney, 
 would save his life. In due course however, according 
 to arrangement, the Mission ship arrived, with Revs. 
 H. A. Robertson and D. Macdonald, two missionaries 
 labouring in other islands, who had come to assist in 
 the settlement of Mr. Michelsen on Tongoa. " It's only 
 fever," they said ; " and we have all had that." 
 
 " It is but a question of dying here or there," reasoned 
 Mr. Michelsen ; and the point was not worth debating. 
 So the arrangements were duly carried out. 
 
 Arrived at Tongoa, the two missionaries, assisted by 
 sailors and natives, erected a frame-and-plaster house for 
 the new worker, who was so weak that he could not walk 
 alone up to his station. 
 
 After nine days the ship left, and Mr. Michelsen 
 found himself a solitary white man, a Christian, in a 
 population of about eleven hundred cannibal heathens U 
 Was he cast down ? No ; he remembered his God ! 
 What about dying ? He thought no more of it ; but, 
 with a courage implanted and sustained by Divine 
 grace, he addressed himself to the work which he had 
 undertaken in the name of Christ. 
 
 r-. ... 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Dealings with Tongoan chiefs — "We are afraid of you!" — First 
 
 Impressions and Experiences — Matabuti's Welcome — A Sabbath 
 
 Preaching Tour — Threatened by a "sacred" chief. 
 
 ^/HIS section, which involves a sHght retrogression, 
 '^ is given in the missionary's own words : 
 
 Our little party sailed north, a distance of 30 
 miles, from Nguna to Tongoa during the night, 
 and suddenly we found ourselves under lee of the 
 The natives, with their Taerry o-ah! o-ahl o-aJil 
 were bounding down on the dark strand, and natural 
 beauty made the landscape lovely beyond imagination. 
 
 With these scenes before me, new hopes were a- 
 wakened. Thinking of these poor heathen, who for the 
 moment seemed so merry, but whose life I thoroughly 
 knew was a ceaseless slavery in the service of the 
 enemy of souls, I was gradually drawn out to pray that 
 the Lord would give me two years of active service 
 among them, so that I might preach the Gospel in every 
 village. Though I could hardly expect to live to see 
 the people changed from a heathen to a Christian 
 
 'W 
 
 island. 
 
BettlemEttt on Contort. 29 
 
 community, I felt sure that, if I were but allowed to 
 proclaim the message of salvation to them, God would 
 bless his own Word ; and I would see the fruit in 
 eternity, if not in time. 
 
 The previous day, racked with fever, I thought of 
 little else but dying — an event which I believed to 
 be very near. The Lord had now inspired me with 
 faith and hope for future usefulness. I thought no more 
 of dying ; but was fully determined to go forward in 
 the strength of the Lord to do his work. 
 
 Some native Christians from other islands accom- 
 panied Messrs. Robertson and Macdonald and myself 
 We landed, as before, on the west side of the island, 
 on which there were but two villages, one large and the 
 other very small. No other part was so fit for a mission 
 station. Immediately on landing I asked for Mala- 
 kaleo, the chief of Lumbukuti, the larger village. 
 He soon presented himself, and did not favourably 
 impress me. A stout, gross-looking man, his eyes bore 
 testimony to his strong animal instincts. A load of 
 white beads, several pounds in weight, hung round his 
 neck ; a small whale's tooth served as a nose jewel ; a 
 fathom of Turkey twill secured a broad belt of bark to ly^ 
 his waist. With various other ornaments, these indi- 
 cated that the chief aspired to hold a place among the 
 dandies of the island. 
 
 Round one of Malakaleo's eyes a black ring had been 
 painted, and round the other a yellow one ; a plume of 
 cocks' feathers stood in his lime-besmeared hair, and in 
 one hand he carried a short rifle. These were exhibited 
 as proofs that the chief was a mighty man of war. 
 Finally, a large number of pigs' tusks, borne round the 
 
30 ^Ite jFieltt ^urbejEh. 
 
 wrist of his favourite wife, served to announce that he was 
 a social power ; for all of these were taken from pigs pre- 
 sented to him by chiefs desirous of doing him honour. 
 
 This, then, was the man I had to deal with. He 
 smiled graciously when he came down to meet me, and 
 asked at once what I had in the carpet-bag in my hand. 
 " Come up under the trees," I said, " and I will show 
 you." His eyes glistened as I took out a small hatchet 
 and gave him. Then I produced a clearing-knife, i.e., a 
 butcher's knife with a fourteen-inch blade — a useful tool 
 with which to reduce the bush for plantation purposes. 
 I also presented him with a fathom of Turkey twill, 
 and other things highly esteemed by the natives of 
 these islands. He was getting quite demonslrative, 
 and seemed nigh to embracing me. 
 
 I then asked if there were any other chiefs present ; 
 for I not only wanted to prepare the heart of this 
 all-important personage, but was desirous of doing my 
 best to remove all evil influence. Quite a number 
 of men presented themselves as chiefs. In my own 
 mind I felt — what later experience has proved to be 
 the fact — that these were nearly all "got up for the 
 occasion." However, I had intended to give away all 
 I had in the bag ; so if some real chiefs neglected 
 to defend their prerogative for the sake of helping 
 some of their friends, they did so at their own 
 expense. When the bag was empty, I thought the 
 time for action had come. 
 
 I turned to Malakaleo, and said, " I would like to live 
 here altogether. Could you not sell me a place at your 
 village, where I could put up my station ? " I thought 
 that he would surely like to have such a friend living 
 
" IT luttger for luman JFlcalj ! *' 3^ 
 
 beside him. The man's countenance fell. He said, 
 hesitatingly, " We are afraid of you." Nothing that I 
 could say was of any avail to move this stern savage. 
 Underneath the rough exterior there was a conscience. 
 He was an ambitious man, who delighted to see his 
 people victorious over their enemies, even if he now 
 and then lost a few of his own men. He also loved 
 to be shown honour at heathen feasts, which he knew 
 I would discourage. 
 
 Malakaleo was a vicious cannibal, who, soon after 
 I settled on the island, made use of the expression, 
 " I hunger for human flesh ! " To prevent cannibalism, 
 I once sent him a tin of preserved meat. He was 
 a " sacred " chief, who pretended to have power to 
 do many wonderful things. It was perhaps a matter 
 of doubt with him if these powers would bear the 
 light of day. It need hardly be added that he was 
 a thorough sensualist. How would all this agree with 
 Christianity and its representative now standing before 
 him? "Axes, knives, calicoes, beads, etc.,. were all 
 very good ; but — I cannot have this man beside me, 
 and follow my old course." These were his reasonings. 
 Hence his laconic reply, " We are afraid of you." 
 
 Should I draw back ? If I had the " I am with you " 
 as my strength, surely it would not do to allow such 
 a miserable worldling to stop me ! The Lord often 
 bids His people to go forward, but at the same time 
 requires them to stoop. There was yet that other 
 chief of the small village Panita, on the same side 
 of the island. I therefore turned to him. Maritariliu's 
 answer was, " I require some time to think over it." 
 
 After more than an hour he returned. Doubtless he 
 
32 
 
 tibc ^iclti .^urhcgub. 
 
 had consulted other chiefs. " Yes, I can sell you a 
 piece of ground for a mission station." We all pro- 
 ceeded up to his place. A native kindly allowed me 
 to lay my elbow on his shoulder, as, with a stick 
 in my right hand, I walked up to the village. When 
 
 THE WILLIAMS RIVER, ERROMANtJA. 
 
 we arrived there, he demanded payment for his 
 services ! I felt it would be making a very bad 
 beginning to give him anything ; so I told him that 
 I had come there as their friend^ and if he wanted 
 to be paid for a little kindness like that, it was quite 
 clear that he did not wish me to be there ; nor did 
 he mean all the words he had spoken to me by the way ! 
 He did not press the matter further. 
 
** Infcstcit hiitlj (Slrosta ! " 33 
 
 The chief of Panita pointed to a ridge as being 
 the spot he would sell. After examination, the land, 
 covering five or six acres, was bought, and well paid 
 for in various kinds of barter — value about £'j or £'i. 
 
 Clearing was at once commenced. I noticed that 
 the Tongoans, who were quite willing to help, were 
 particularly careful not to touch the preci.se part where 
 I wished to build the house. They left that to the 
 Efate and Erromanga Christians, who had come with 
 us to help to build.* The fact of the matter was, 
 it was a " sacred place," an old graveyard terribly 
 "infested with ghosts!" It would be a splendid thing 
 to have a missionary there — a man over whom they 
 believed the spirits had no power! His living there 
 would indeed drive away the ghosts, and make the 
 place like the neutral ground around. So the natives 
 reasoned. 
 
 My two missionary friends, assisted by sailors from 
 the Mission ship, and " the foreign natives," had the roof 
 on the house in nine days from the time w^e arrived 
 at the island. The walls were far from " light proof," 
 and there might be divided opinions as to whether 
 the house really was habitable. Being unable to do 
 anything myself, I had to be thankful that the house 
 was as it was. 
 
 The Mission ship left on a Saturday, after a stay of 
 nine days. Going ashore for good, I walked along the 
 beach — the only European on the island — to my new 
 
 • The Efatese helpers I paid for their work. The Erromangans 
 said they had done it for the Lord, and would have no payment 
 from me I 
 
 C 
 
34 STIjc JFielti ^urbcjctr. 
 
 home, to commence work for the Lord. It was a 
 joyful day. 
 
 The next morning I went down to Panita, sang some 
 hymns, and spoke to the people. The language had 
 been acquired during my stay on Nguna. The recep- 
 tion accorded me was kindly. Immediately after the 
 service I was attacked by fever, and was unable to visit 
 neighbouring villages. 
 
 During the following week visitors came from all 
 parts of the island, and I spoke and sang to them. 
 All brought produce for sale, and there was a general 
 curiosity as to what I was disposed to give them ! The 
 almost universal experience is for the missionary to 
 be well received at first ; but when it is realized that 
 his purpose is not simply to bestow temporal advan- 
 tages, but to insist upon " breaking with sin " as a 
 condition of securing heavenly blessings, the natural 
 man protests. There is, in fact, an entire change of 
 attitude. 
 
 On the Tuesday I was down with fever — the second 
 and last attack I had on the island. While in great 
 pain, the native boy from Efate, who had come with 
 me as servant, informed me that a chief was outside 
 desiring to see me. When the worst of the attack was 
 over, I called in the visitor. It was Matabuti, from the 
 village of Meriu, in the south of the island ; a quiet- 
 looking man, who spoke deliberately, and seemed to 
 have his thoughts well ordered. He had suffered much. 
 He once had inflammation in one of his eyes, and for 
 want of proper treatment had lost the use of it. He 
 had also been much oppressed by a powerful chief, 
 
^ Mon&crfiil gream. 35 
 
 Ti-Tongoa ; and, like Israel of old, sighed after a 
 deliverer. 
 
 Briefly stated, the chief's message of welcome was : 
 " I am very glad you have come. A long time ago I 
 had a wonderful dream. I thought I saw a ladder from 
 earth to heaven, and God sitting at the top. When you 
 came, I knew you were the man that belonged to that 
 ladder. I would like you to come over to our village as 
 often as you can, and tell us all about it." 
 
 The man thought I could explain everything — I had 
 come to point them the way to God ! And so it was 
 in truth. The incident cheered me very much ; not 
 only was the Lord with me, but He had also gone 
 before me, preparing some at least to hear the Gospel. 
 
 The following Sunday, the ninth day after landing, 
 the Lord having abundantly heard my prayers for 
 restored health, I felt no more effects of the fever. In 
 the morning I held a small meeting at Panita, and some 
 of the village lads accompanied me to Bongabonga. 
 They led me to the open square of the village, on one 
 side of which was the farea — a kava, or cannibal, feast- 
 house. 
 
 On the other side of the square was a sacred place, 
 upon which the most conspicuous objects were the 
 skulls and jawbones of persons who had recently been 
 eaten by the villagers. There was also a sacred stone, 
 probably an altar for articles sacrificed to the spirits ; 
 and a chest which no one would claim — perhaps it 
 belonged to some one who had died — at all events it 
 was shunned because regarded as ill-omened. The 
 dead man's treasure was left with him — not an un- 
 common practice. 
 
36 
 
 ^ht JFieltr ^urbcncii. 
 
 I got one of the natives to beat a drum — a tall, 
 hollow tree trunk erected in memory of the dead — and 
 we had a considerable congregation, who listened 
 attentively to the singing of Gospel hymns, and evinced 
 much interest in the words spoken to them. Neverthe- 
 less, in after-time this proved one of the hardest places 
 I had to deal witli. 
 
 HEATHEN 
 
 Proceeding to Meriu, I was cordially welcomed by 
 Matabuti, the chief who had had the wonderful dream. 
 He at once brought me some green cocoanuts, that I 
 might refresh myself with the milk ; and ordered his 
 wives to kill fowls, get yams, and prepare a great feast. 
 
 * See also p. 151. 
 
I promptly stayed his hand, and, to his great dis- 
 appointment, would only accept the cocoanuts and 
 some cold baked yams. I told him and his people 
 of the Gospel feast, and promised to go again the 
 following Sunday. 
 
 At Mangarisu, the village of the quiet but shrewd 
 chief, Ti-Tongoa, the majority of the people were away 
 at their plantations ; but we had a small meeting. Pro- 
 ceeding" through the bush, we reached, in the afternoon, 
 Lumbukuti, the village of Malakaleo. We found a few 
 men and a number of boys in the open square, and I 
 went into the /area and began to sing and speak to an 
 ever-increasing audience. 
 
 After a time I heard some very loud talking out- 
 side ; and bringing my address to a close, I sang the 
 Hundredth Psalm, probably with more earnestness than 
 ever before, as I suspected the noise outside to be an 
 expression of hostility to my mission. In a few 
 minutes I was convinced that my suspicions were well- 
 founded. 
 
 Malakaleo and a number of his men were in the 
 square. The chief was busy pouring the milk of a 
 young cocoanut into a hole they had dug in the 
 ground. As already stated, he was a " sacred " chief, 
 recognised as competent to deal with powers unseen ; 
 and his act at that moment was an invocation of 
 vengeance upon me, in order to cause my death ! 
 
 Going up to Malakaleo, I addressed him in the 
 kindliest words ; but he maintained a stolid indifference 
 to most of what I said. One thing, however, struck him. 
 It was my remark: " Do not be afraid of Christianity. 
 
38 f Ijc ^izlb Mnvbe^tii. 
 
 God asks you to give up a yam,* and receive a pig ! ' 
 In other words, I told him that the sacrifice which God 
 demands of His creatures is small in comparison with 
 His unspeakable Gift. 
 
 Hearing the word " pig," the chief exclaimed : " Who 
 is willing to give me a pig ? " I then explained my 
 illustration ; but the benighted man turned a deaf ear 
 to my words, and shook his club at me. 
 
 A friendly native from Panita made a sign to me, 
 whereupon I realized the danger of my position, and 
 withdrew a few steps. After some further attempts, all 
 in vain, to get his ear, I left for Panita. 
 
 Need I say that on reaching the mission station I 
 thanked my Heavenly Father for having permitted 
 me to witness for the Lord Jesus before so many people 
 in one day. I had walked twelve miles, and delivered 
 five addresses, besides singing Gospel hymns. 
 
 In my preaching I told them that Jesus had come 
 into the world — and why. I said : " God has made 
 us ; He owns us " — a significant expression among 
 the natives, for ownership should carry obedience. 
 " We have disobeyed the commands of God, and 
 brought upon ourselves His anger. God is angry with 
 us, black man and white man alike. When you are 
 afraid of the anger of the spirits, you make a sacrifice. 
 So a sacrifice has been made to avert the anger of 
 God, and that sacrifice is available for each and all 
 of us. About this I have come to tell you." 
 
 * Yams are plentiful and of small value compared with pigs, 
 which are held in high esteem ; and never overlooked when one 
 chief wishes to compliment another by way of making him a 
 present. 
 
^n Unfortunate iitistnliE. 39 
 
 When I came to reflect upon that memorable day's 
 proceedings, I realized that I had made an unfortunate 
 mistake. I took upon myself to hold a meeting in 
 Lumbukuti without previously asking the permission 
 of the chief ; hence the unpleasant occurrence which 
 I have described. I decided never to do this again. 
 Nor did I ever have occasion to force myself upon 
 the attention of any village, for I always had more 
 congregations willing to listen to the Word than I 
 was able to satisfy. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 jEaking . JFruntis. 
 
 A Curious Visitor and his Errand — Tongoan Land Customs — 
 " How many guns have you ?" — Women hear the Gospel — A Chief 
 "learns to read" — Mendicant Logic on Tongoa — Divine Provi- 
 dence Illustrated — A Blind Man's Joy. 
 
 HE missionary shall continue the story : — 
 
 Not long after settling on Tongoa a 
 stranger came into the house. He looked as 
 if he had a right there, but at the same time 
 was quite friendly. He was a man of about 
 fifty, and his whole appearance suggested that he was 
 a chief After looking round in all directions, he 
 said, " You have come to live on my land." I then 
 knew who he was, for I had learned a few days pre- 
 viously that the land I had purchased from Maritariliu 
 was the property of Malai, the real chief of Tongalapa, 
 the place where I lived. He had been driven away 
 from the island many years before. 
 
 Malai's chieftainship was called Tonga-lapa-manu, 
 lapa is " great," and i/ianu is " thousand." This would 
 
42 ittahin0 JFricnbs. 
 
 imply that this great chieftainship was spoken of as 
 having a tJiousand of a population. They were in their 
 day feared by all around ; they used to make chase on 
 all and sundry, to kill and eat them. Seeing the power 
 of this common foe, several of the other villages forgot 
 their own petty jealousies, and joined together to crush 
 their dreaded enemy. 
 
 The villages of Panita, Malatolu, and Liseiriki, and 
 probably others, joined, and proved too great a power 
 for Malai and his tribe. The people were first driven 
 over the mountain, and settled right in the middle of the 
 island. For some time they were quiet ; but at length 
 showed that they had not changed in disposition, 
 although they had been conquered. The united forces 
 already mentioned again drove Malai and his tribe 
 away. This time he fled to Meriu, where he found 
 shelter for awhile ; but even there he did not feel 
 very safe. He went over to Emae, where he found 
 hospitality at Sasake, a warlike village on the north side 
 of the island. They were only too glad to receive such 
 an addition to their population. 
 
 Malai had been a great warrior in his day, and he 
 did not seem to be wanting in cunning. Feeling that 
 he could not safely return to take up his possession on 
 Tongoa, he judged it wise to be civil on his visit 
 to me. 
 
 It is the usage among these natives that even if a 
 tribe is driven away, they do not thereby forfeit the 
 ownership of their land. Also, a custom obtains in 
 native warfare that no peace can be made until the 
 victorious tribe has paid damages for excessive injury 
 done to the vanquished enemy ! I knew then that 
 
Malai had a perfect right to order me off the land ; 
 and, at any rate, had friends enough in Tongoa to 
 make it very unpleasant for me. So I said I was 
 aware that the land was his, and that I was quite 
 willing to pay him for it. I gave him part payment 
 then, and promised to order from Sydney a grindstone 
 and some other things, which I had not with me then. 
 
 Thus I had paid for the land twice — not to mention 
 that Mr. Milne, on a visit to Tongoa years before, had 
 purchased from the great Malakaleo, who, at that time, 
 was a refugee at Panita, a small piece of ground for a 
 mission station, which I afterwards discovered was part 
 of Tongalapa ! One would think that the mission had 
 fully established its right to the land by that time ! 
 
 As a further precaution, on the advice of Rev. Dr. J. G, 
 Paton, I had also put a clause in the deeds that all the 
 trees were included in the purchase. Satisfied that I had 
 acquired every right to the place, I sent a boy to gather 
 some cocoanuts, which I required for their milk, to be 
 used as yeast wherewith to make bread. He then 
 told me that he had had trouble with the Panita people 
 about the nuts, as they claimed them as theirs ! So 
 I was compelled to climb the cocoanut tree myself 
 
 Next morning I did not neglect to mention the 
 matter in the school. " Yes," they said, " it is quite 
 right." " No," I replied, " it is quite wrong ! " I asked 
 them what the barter had been for which Maritariliu 
 had divided between his people. He did not own 
 the land, so that it could only be for the trees ! I 
 silenced all for the time, but had afterwards to pay a 
 young man for a cluster of the cocoanut trees, for 
 which he assured me he had received no payment. 
 
44 litaking Jfricnba. 
 
 \J About this time a native entered the house flourishing 
 
 a war-axe. He declared that the mission house had 
 been erected on h's land. It seemed that he had had 
 a plantation in the place some years previously. He 
 claimed compensation ; but was told that he need not 
 expect it, as the land had already been paid for to 
 Malai— and compensation also given to the chief of 
 Panita. I gave him a piece of bread and butter, and 
 commenced a friendly chat. Nothing more was said 
 about compensation. 
 
 These circumstances impressed me with the fact that, 
 though fairly trustworthy in dealings among themselves, 
 the natives had been in the habit of regarding strangers 
 as proper persons to be " taken in " when possible. 
 
 " How many guns have you ? " was a curious inquiry 
 early addressed to me by a party of Lumbukuti warriors. 
 "None," was the reply. This was quite incredible to. 
 men who would not dare to leave their village unarmed. 
 Continuing, I admitted the possession of just one gun, 
 and this I showed to my astonished interrogators. 
 Need it be said that it was the one weapon of Christian 
 warfare — the Word of God. " This," I explained, " is 
 the only gun I have; and in course of time it will silence 
 all the others on the island." 
 
 It is excusable that at that time the Tongoans should 
 declare the Book without power. They neither knew 
 it as the sword of the Spirit nor the shield of the Lord. 
 To-day a different conviction prevails, for marvels have 
 been wrought in the name of the Prince of Peace. 
 
 Within the first month or so all the chiefs called upon 
 me, with the exception of two. Most likely the object 
 
^nrjutring (Kbiefa. . * 45 
 
 of the visitors was to receive presents. One of the 
 two who did not come was Marimaraki, head of Pele, 
 the bush village, which was engaged in war at the 
 time. The other was Manambalea, of Selembanga, 
 on the east side of the island. This chief, of which 
 much will be said hereafter, was an energetic and 
 courageous man, rather pleasant in appearance. He 
 had made himself no less distinguished as a warrior 
 than as an organizer of friendly gatherings of the 
 tribes. 
 
 Manambalea thought well to inquire concerning the 
 new religion before visiting its teacher, so he despatched 
 some of his people to see what they could learn. Now, 
 a week or two before, while working for me, several 
 men of Selembanga had seen a picture of Jesus at 
 the Well, talking to the woman of Samaria. Accom- 
 panied by some women, one of these men turned up 
 at the mission house, saying they wanted " to see 
 Jesus." The picture was shown, whereupon the man 
 exclaimed, " Yes, that is it ! That is the Son of God 
 who came into the world to save us from our sins 
 and from hell, and to help us to get to heaven here- 
 after." 
 
 The women evidently thought the man had not got 
 a correct version of the story ; so they appealed to me, 
 and I explained the wonderful incident, telling of the 
 love and power of Jesus to save. They had heard 
 enough at home to impel them to walk six miles to 
 learn more ; and they went back with the feeling that 
 the half had not been told them. 
 
 At length the tardy chief made a personal call, and 
 asked for information. An acquaintance was then 
 
46 faking ^Fricntra. 
 
 formed, which has been fruitful of important results 
 throughout the history of the mission. Not knowing 
 the chiefs mind, I began by explaining that I had 
 taken up my abode on the island in order to tell the 
 people the way of salvation. Manambalea seemed 
 greatly astonished at the good news. He attended 
 evening worship in the mission house, and afterwards 
 made no sign of leaving. He ceased not to ask 
 questions concerning the Gospel ; and when I set 
 forth the truth in song, the uniform request was "Sing 
 it again ! " 
 
 At a late hour that evening he was asked to retire to 
 rest, with the prospect of hearing more on the following 
 day. His answer was : " I want to go home in the 
 morning, and tell my intentions to my people ; but 
 I will return hither in the afternoon." This he did, 
 coming back to learn to read ! At that time no 
 person of importance in the island had taken such a 
 decided stand, except Matabuti at Meriu. Meanwhile, 
 in Malakaleo's quarter, strong words and feelings were 
 prevailing against the Gospel. 
 
 Not long afterwards a company of Malakaleo's fighting 
 men appeared at the mission station, probably to inquire 
 about Manambalea's object in staying with me. When 
 they met him, they asked if he intended to work 
 for the missionary. Of course, he would be working 
 there, and it would be the easiest thing in the world to 
 say so, and conceal his real object. " No," he said 
 decidedly, " I have come to ' take the Book,' " i.e., 
 submit to religious instruction. 
 
 The tone of his voice was such as to discourage 
 further interrogation. He remained a considerable time 
 
^ Clricf (KottbcrtEtr. 47 
 
 at the mission house, and made rapid progress in 
 knowledge. It was his real determination from the 
 first to become a Christian ; I had to be faithful, and 
 the inquirer had to be honest, or it would not have been 
 possible now to report Manambalea's conversion, and his 
 humble position at the feet of Jesus. 
 
 My deliberate judgment is that there is no man on 
 Tongoa who would make the same sacrifices for his 
 Master ; nor has any one on the island exerted himself 
 so much for the Redeemer's Kingdom as Manambalea, 
 At times when all others have failed, I have found a 
 faithful friend in him. The story of this brother and 
 his work would almost require a separate volume to 
 do justice to it. 
 
 Among the many callers at the mission station were 
 not only those who had produce to sell, but such as 
 wished to honour me, a stranger, by receiving any 
 presents that I might be disposed to give. It was not 
 uncommon in the early days of the mission for a man 
 to present himself at the door with the enigmatical 
 remark, " I love you." What more natural than that, 
 conscious that my resources were distinctly limited, I 
 should say : " When I love any one, I do what I can 
 to make him happy and comfortable. Now, if you 
 love me, why have you not brought me some yams, or 
 a fowl, or something that would prove of service ? " 
 
 The native beggar, however, not impelled by want, 
 but actuated by the insatiable cry of the horseleech's 
 daughters, said, " Give, give," in terms of the politest 
 compliment ! He loved the missionary ! Ought not 
 the missionary to make him a present in return ? That 
 was the form of mendicant logic on Tongoa ! Others 
 
48 ^nkin0 JFrien&s. 
 
 again would bring me presents, not because they had 
 a grain of affection for me, but because they expected 
 a more valuable article in exchange. 
 
 There came a time, early in the work, when the 
 visitors grew few and far between. The explanation 
 was, that all the presents and barter goods had been 
 disposed of, and a considerable time must elapse before 
 the Dayspring would arrive with a fresh supply. In 
 such circumstances as these, God tried my faith. When 
 temporal prospects were very dark, I committed my 
 cares to the Lord. Not many days afterwards, and 
 before we were actually in want, a tribe of natives came 
 along, carrying taro, yams, bananas, and cocoanuts. I 
 was not a little surprised to see them at this time ; as, 
 with others, they had lately ceased to come, because they 
 knew I had nothing to buy with. " Well," I said, " you 
 have come ; but I have nothing to pay you with." 
 
 They replied, " We know that ; but these things were 
 sent down to us by Marimaraki, who requested us to 
 bring them over to you as a present." 
 
 So our wants were supplied by the least likely man 
 on the island — a man who afterwards showed himself to 
 be of the meanest disposition. The God of Elijah can 
 feed his servants by gifts from a savage black man, as 
 well as by meat conveyed by voracious ravens. 
 
 Marimaraki's life throws no light whatever upon his 
 strange act. Years later he asked the missionary how 
 much he would give him to "take the Book." The 
 providential goodness of God fully explains the occur- 
 rence, for in His hands the heart of a bush chief is as 
 tractable as that of a highly-civilized ruler. 
 
^ ^cart^j tStclcotttc. 49 
 
 From quite early days on the island, Mr. Michelsen 
 visited Selembanga. The people always gave him a 
 warm welcome. They showed him what they con- 
 sidered the most interesting object in the village — a 
 remarkably fair-skinned boy, which the wife of the 
 young chief — Manambalea's nephew — had borne to him 
 in Queensland. 
 
 They also took him to the house of an old blind 
 man, who was regarded with peculiar interest. The 
 missionary having been introduced as " the man of 
 God," the poor old pilgrim exclaimed, "Oh, is that 
 the man of God ? Let me feel him." Laying his 
 trembling hands upon the servant of Christ, he seemed 
 to experience unspeakable satisfaction. His words and 
 actions were in the spirit of the prayer of Simeon of 
 old : " Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in 
 peace ;.,.for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 ^rogrrss untrtr Bifitrulttfs. 
 
 Work at the " Sunday House " — The Mission Station Robbed — 
 
 "A Sign" — Full Restitution, resulting in New Friendships — A 
 
 Ngunese Christian Chief's Confession — Visit to Emae — Karisi, 
 
 the Little "Misi." 
 
 ^psV URING week-days Mr. Michelsen's time was 
 spent in manifold work for the good of the 
 people : teaching, visiting, etc. On Sundays 
 he would take a preaching tour, and late in 
 the afternoon and evening be " at home " 
 for visitors. Numbers of men and boys, assembling to 
 sing and hear what the missionary had to tell them, 
 made the first day of the week very different from 
 others — not to them only, but to their companions also. 
 Probably on that account the boys of the village 
 called the mission premises the " Sunday House." 
 Among the elements of day-school instruction, Mr. 
 Michelsen included the names of the days of the week 
 in English; and the proceedings at the "Sunday House" 
 did much to impress the important lesson. 
 
^ §anir of ^Ijiebca. 
 
 51 
 
 The missionary will speak for himself regarding in- 
 cidents of this time : — 
 
 " Returning home from the Synod that met in the 
 Islands, during the first year of the work on Tongoa, 
 I observed a peculiar strangeness among the people 
 
 TONGOANS (PELE MEN) AS HEATHEN. 
 
 They seemed quite friendly, but it was plain that 
 there was something I had yet to learn. 
 
 " Approaching the house, I thought I saw a change 
 in its appearance ; but I could not tell what was the 
 matter. Just then, one of the natives told me that a 
 band of Malakaleo's men had broken into the place 
 during my absence. They were led by a man from 
 Panita, who, through frequent visits to the mission 
 
52 ^ro0reaa unbcr §iflSniltha. 
 
 station, knew how to efTfect an entrance. They turned 
 over everything ; examined every nook and corner ; and 
 carried off just anything that struck their fancy. 
 
 " I cannot say I took this very much to heart, as 
 I was quite prepared for such occurrences. Changing 
 the subject, however, I told the people I purposed 
 that evening showing them Navaevaeana — the 'Sign' — 
 for thus the magic lantern is styled on Nguna. The 
 announcement did not cause nearly so much pleasure 
 as I anticipated. As a fact, my meaning was hardly 
 clear to the people. But, intending to surprise them, I 
 did not stop to explain. 
 
 " The news spread rapidly ; ' in less than no time,' 
 so to say, it reached the ears of Malakaleo's men, of 
 burglarious notoriety, in Lumbukuti. Then came a 
 message from Tinabua, the young chief, entreating me 
 to send no calamity upon the people ; and, furthermore, 
 assuring me that all the things that had been taken 
 away from the mission house should be returned on the 
 following day ! I saw no reason, however, to defer my 
 inoffensive magic lantern display. 
 
 " The next day Tinabua, accompanied by the senior 
 chief, Malakaleo, their fighting men, and many others, 
 came up to the mission house. They were all armed 
 and painted, as well as decorated with plumes of cocks' 
 feathers. They brought with them axes, knives, pieces 
 of print, and every item of my missing property upon 
 which they could lay their hands. 
 
 " I took advantage of the occasion to make Tinabua 
 a present of several of the articles. Acknowledging 
 his honesty, I admonished him to remain a just and 
 
^xa^zt ^nainercb. 53 
 
 upright ruler. I have reason to believe that this little 
 incident went far to make him a firm and constant 
 friend of the mission. 
 
 " Another occurrence made a great impression upon 
 the natives. During my absence the Panita men had 
 joined the Lumbukuti warriors against the Pele people, 
 and the only man shot in the fight was the Panita man 
 who had acted as guide to the burglars ! 
 
 "During the same year I paid a visit to Nguna, 
 in my boat. Conversing with some of the Christian 
 natives, I told them of the Lord's blessing upon my 
 labours, and of the wonderful manner in which He had 
 opened the way for me to preach the Gospel to the 
 Tongoans. One of the company expressed his surprise, 
 and a second followed suit. After several had made 
 casual remarks, Matakoale, an elderly Christian chief, 
 said : ' I am not at all surprised : further, we should not 
 be surprised. It is just what we have been praying for 
 all the time ; and God has heard our prayers. Let us 
 praise Him ! ' " 
 
 Mr. Michelsen had occasion to go to the island of 
 Emae, to make a settlement of the claim of Malai, the real 
 owner of the land at Panita on which the mission house 
 had been erected. He was received with much kind- 
 ness by the villagers of Sasake, who had heard of the 
 work on Tongoa from those who had visited the island. 
 In the evening, before retiring to rest, the missionary 
 assembled the Tongoans who had accompanied him, 
 and commenced the usual worship with a hymn. This 
 was not only a novelty, but a great enjoyment, to the 
 natives present ; and before Mr. Michelsen could engage 
 
54 ^Progress nnbzv §tfflrttltjca. 
 
 in prayer, the heathen chief demanded a repetition 
 of the hymn. This was not all ; for he continued 
 requesting encores far into the night, the hymns being 
 explained and the Gospel preached. There is reason to 
 believe that this and other meetings with the Sasake 
 people did much to open their hearts for the Gospel. 
 Since then teachers from Efate have been settled there. 
 
 An interesting visitor during the first year at the 
 mission station was a lad named Karisi. His upper lip 
 had been badly cut with a knife used for clearing the 
 bush, and he sought the missionary's surgical aid. The 
 wound was carefully sewn up, and periodically dressed. 
 After some days, the lad proposed to stay at the station 
 and serve Mr. Michelsen in any way he could ; and the 
 proposal was gladly accepted. 
 
 Karisi at once impressed the missionary favourably, 
 being a tall, spare lad, with tlioughtful eye. Though 
 fond of fun, he was all attention to religious instruction. 
 By dint of close application he speedily learned to read, 
 and his whole conduct showed him to be earnestly 
 seeking the truth. One evening, during worship, Mr. 
 Michelsen called upon him to engage in prayer. He 
 knew how anxiously he had taught the youth ; but he 
 did not know to what a degree the instruction had been 
 spiritually appropriated. To his joyful surprise, Karisi, 
 with little hesitation, stood up and offered the prayer 
 which the Lord taught His disciples. He afterwards 
 gave unmistakeable evidence of being a truly-converted 
 boy. " How can I keep from singing ! " might well 
 be given as his motto. Until late in the evening one 
 would hear from Karisi's hut the strains of one Gospel 
 hymn after another. 
 
fljE fittle "iltiai." 55 
 
 No sooner was the youth's interest in the new reh'gion 
 reported to Malakalco, than that chief devised evil pur- 
 poses. Mr. Michelsen continues the narrative : — 
 
 " In the evening, after I had gone to bed, there was a 
 knock at my door. I asked, ' Who is there ? ' The 
 answer was, ^ Kinaid' (I !). It was Karisi's voice, and I 
 let him in. In those days I was in the habit of bolting 
 my doors. I have given that up a good while now ; 
 things have changed. 
 
 " When Karisi entered, I asked what was the matter ; 
 and he answered that he had just learned that Mala- 
 kaleo intended sending up some of his men to kill 
 him — probably that night. 
 
 " I told him not to fear. We had trusted ourselves 
 into the hands of the Lord, and He would take care of 
 us. I directed him to sleep in the front room; and in 
 the event of any one coming to the door, not to answer 
 it personally, but to waken me. Then I would go to 
 the door, and he could get under my bed ! 
 
 " I went to lie down again, expecting Karisi to do 
 the same. I listened for intimations of the arrival of 
 the hostile party. After awhile I thought I heard 
 something like a human voice, and at once concluded 
 that the would-be murderers were approaching. I 
 strained my ears to distinguish the sounds, and then 
 heard more and more clearly the words of song. It was 
 Karisi ; and the hymn was the native version of ' My 
 Jesus, I love Thee ; I know Thou art mine.' Subse- 
 quently the lad engaged in prayer, asking God to 
 preserve our lives, and to touch Malakaleo's heart, and 
 lead him to a knowledge of Jesus. Further, he prayed 
 
56 fpro^rcsa uniJcr difficulties. 
 
 God to banish all heathen darkness, and establish His 
 Kingdom on Tongoa. 
 
 " That prayer of the little 'misi ' (missionary) has been 
 abundantly answered. Karisi's life was saved ; and in 
 the case of Malakaleo, the lion has been turned into the 
 lamb by the operation of Divine grace." 
 
 Subsequent chapters will show in what remarkable 
 po^yer the Kingdom of Heaven has come to the people 
 of the island. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 |op antr ^orrohis. 
 
 A Lady Missionary — More about the Little "Misi" — A Native 
 
 Peace-maker — Christianity to be "Stamped out" — Murderous 
 
 Plots Frustrated. 
 
 xTT^^T the close of the first year of his work on 
 W^Y Tongoa, Mr. Michelsen felt that it was not 
 ^i-'iA good for a man to be alone.* Sometimes the 
 /Vi^f solitude had been almost painful to him : he 
 "pOv would look at his hands, and long to see white 
 kindred. He returned to New Zealand, seeking a wife 
 as well as a brief respite from the seclusion and anxieties 
 of Tongoa. 
 
 Having married Miss Jane Langmuir, of Otago, a lady 
 who for twelve years proved the sharer of his domestic 
 joys and sorrows, as well as a partner in his mission 
 work, he returned to the island in the early part 
 of 1 88 1. The new arrival caused unbounded delight 
 among the native women. They showed their joy by 
 
 * Through the death in London, at the end of 1892, of his 
 devoted wife, he is again alone. But we must not anticipate this 
 sorrowful bereavement. Chapter XI L will give particulars. 
 
58 logs anb ^orrohia. 
 
 jumping and screeching, as they crowded round the 
 lady missionary on the beach. No reception could 
 have been more warm and hearty. 
 
 Mrs. Michelsen little anticipated the trials and diffi- 
 culties which lay before her. The next thing was to 
 make home comfortable ; and in a very short time the 
 little building which then did duty for a manse was 
 rendered bright and cheerful. Since then, to the grow- 
 ing interest of the people, a little family has been added 
 to the home. 
 
 One of the first to call upon the missionary after his 
 return to Tongoa, was the loyal Manambalea, with 
 whom the boy Karisi had been left to do his best as 
 "teacher." Mr. Michelsen asked the chief how they 
 had been getting on ; and he said, " Very well." 
 
 " Have you learned to read ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " How have you spent your Sundays in my absence?" 
 
 " Preaching, of course ! " 
 
 " What have you been doing on week-days ? " 
 
 " We have had school daily, and quite a number of 
 villagers have attended," 
 
 Manambalea added that the Sunday work began with 
 services held in his village, and afterwards extended 
 from village to village on his side of the island. The 
 chief himself beat the drum and called the people to- 
 gether ; and then, after a few words, he introduced 
 Karisi to sing and preach. The deep piety of this lad 
 has already been described. Doubtless his endeavours 
 during the absence of the missionary were an important 
 preparation for aggressive work such as was engaged in 
 afterwards. 
 
"^ ajcrj §aii fot." 59 
 
 Manambalea had, however, something to tell that was 
 not of so pleasing a character. During the missionary's 
 absence fresh war had broken out ; and the villages had 
 united in a proposal to exterminate the people of Pele, 
 one of the two bush villages. Manambalea explained 
 that the Pele people were " a very bad lot," and he was 
 sure there would be no peace on the island until they 
 had been " wiped off." Not only had all his men taken 
 part in the war, but the women also. Tying around 
 them their long aprons, they had painted their faces, 
 and decorated themselves with plumes ; then, having 
 gathered all the spare muskets in the village, they had 
 been helping the men in what Manambalea regarded as 
 a holy war ! 
 
 Was not this sad news for a missionary who had done 
 his utmost to impress upon the people the blessedness 
 of peace? Instruction proceeded among the Tongoans 
 " line upon line, here a little, and there a little " ; so 
 Mr, Michelsen was not discouraged, though much dis- 
 tressed by this terrible intelligence. While a true and 
 faithful disciple of the missionary, Manambalea had yet 
 to learn that the Kingdom of God is not extended by 
 violence, but by "righteousness, peace, and joy in the 
 Holy Ghost." 
 
 Mr. Michelsen explained that the island was not to be 
 conquered by war, but by Christianity — which is love, 
 and not hatred ; life, and not death. Manambalea was 
 soon led to see his error ; and, hastening home, he 
 imparted to his people the clearer light which he had 
 himself received. He went further, telling his tribes- 
 men that he intended to go straight up to the bush 
 village, to stop the war. All begged of him to do no 
 
i^tanambaka's ^ohicrful ^crmott. 6i 
 
 such wild thing, saying that the people of Pcle would 
 certainly kill him. As he remained firm in his reso- 
 lution, the villagers proposed to follow him in a body, 
 well armed, so as to afford protection. 
 
 This, however, was not Manambalea's wish. He 
 could see that this plan would assuredly mean more 
 war. So, settled in purpose, he went without escort, 
 only taking with him Karisi and another youth. He 
 was, however, followed by his wife and her sister, 
 who declared they would go "and die with him." 
 
 The warriors of the bush village could not understand 
 the sight that met their view that day — Manambalea, 
 with whose people they had fought many a battle, 
 coming up to them with two defenceless lads ! There 
 must be some sinister purpose ! The advance of the 
 chief is but part of a plot ! Every fighting-man of Pele 
 grasped his musket, expecting each moment to see their 
 armed enemy in force. But Manambalea held up his 
 hands, and called, " Stop ! I am not here to fight," 
 he said ; " but to speak peace to you." 
 
 At this the men threw their guns to the ground, and 
 stood up, in a respectful attitude, to hear what Manam- 
 balea had to say. In a few words he explained that he 
 had been at the mission house, and had related to the 
 missionary what had occurred. " The missionary," he 
 said, " tells me it is not according to ' the Light ' * to 
 
 * This is an expressive designation for the Gospel. Conversely, 
 heathenism is, by native Christians, spoken of as " darkness." 
 Thus : Natamoli inalingo ("man dark") is used for a heathen ; sipe 
 vialingo ("ship dark") signifies a Queensland Kanaka cruiser! 
 Could native condemnation of a hateful traffic be more plainly 
 expressed ? 
 
62 Jojs anb .^orroius. 
 
 fight and kill people ; but that we should love one 
 another and live at peace." 
 
 The worthy chieftain further said that he intended 
 to stop fighting ; and he hoped the people of Pele 
 would do the same, and become learners of the " New 
 Doctrine " ! Thus what might have been a very disas- 
 trous war was brought to an end. Returning to the 
 mission house, Manambalea described what had hap- 
 pened, and suggested that the Gospel should be taken 
 to Pele on the following Lord's Day — then two days 
 hence. The missionary was, of course, glad to agree 
 to this. 
 
 The news of these occurrences spread rapidly over 
 the island ; and it is needless to say that many 
 inquired concerning the New Doctrine which had put 
 a stop to war, and led enemies to terms of " peace at 
 all costs." The intention of the missionary to preach 
 at the bush village was also noised abroad, and soon 
 reached Lumbukuti. It greatly enraged Malak'aleo : 
 the missionary was actually going to pay a friendly 
 visit to his mortal enemies ! Therefore he would 
 " stamp out " the New Doctrine altogether on Tongoa, 
 by killing the missionary and burning down his 
 house ! 
 
 In the course of the Saturday afternoon the chief of 
 Panita sent for Mr. Michelsen, and said : " Misi, I 
 have heard that you are going to Pele to-morrow." 
 
 " Yes," was the reply. 
 
 " I do not think," said the chief, " that you should 
 go ; you cannot trust those bush people." 
 
 The missionary replied : " They are heathen as well 
 as you, and I have a message for all. I trust in God, 
 
^ |)lot to Ifiill tljc iltissionarir. 63 
 
 and consider myself as safe among the bush people as 
 among you," 
 
 " Well," rejoined the chief, " if you are determined to 
 go, you should not walk along the ordinary road." 
 
 This remark let the missionary into a secret. It was 
 obvious that the chief did not so much fear the harm 
 which the bush tribe might do, as he reckoned upon 
 the intrigue of the Lumbukuti people, 
 
 Mr, Michelsen related the facts to his wife, who 
 suggested that perhaps he should not go. His prompt 
 answer was : •" Do not be afraid ; if there is any danger, 
 the Lord will let us know in due time." Though pre- 
 pared to flee from village to village, the missionary and 
 his devoted wife determined, with God's help, to remain 
 on the island and continue their Gospel work. They 
 might be harassed, but they would not " emigrate." 
 
 Mr. Michelsen continues the story thus : — 
 
 "We retired to rest as usual that evening, after having 
 committed ourselves into the hands of God. About one 
 o'clock on Sunday morning, however, there was a knock 
 at the door, and voices were heard outside. I sprang 
 up, and asked what was the matter. Voices said : 
 ' We have come from Selembanga, and want to speak 
 to you.' 
 
 " Opening the door, I found some women who had 
 come round the coast on the south side of the island. 
 They informed me that some men from Kurumambe — a 
 village on the north side of the island — had come over 
 and told them that, while at Lumbukuti the previous 
 afternoon, they heard that Malakaleo had ordered nine 
 of his men to go up in the bush and wait on the road 
 
64 Jfojs antr ^orrohia. 
 
 where the missionary would pass in going to P^le, and 
 then kill both him and Manambalea. He had also 
 instructed another company to go over to the mission 
 station, and burn down the premises in the absence of 
 the missionary. What was to be done with Mrs. 
 Michelsen was not disclosed. 
 
 "This intelligence showed that Malakaleo had matured 
 his threatened plans to ' stamp out ' Christianity ; and 
 that the visit to P^le of myself and the peace-making 
 chief was to open the way. But I at once decided not 
 to take the course which would make the desired 
 occasion. I took the intimations I had received as 
 a message from God ; and made up my mind not to 
 go to Pele as at first agreed. 
 
 " After conducting service on Sunday morning at 
 Panita, instead of going on the proposed journey, I 
 returned to the mission house. Subsequently, the 
 band of men whom Malakaleo had instructed to burn 
 down the house, appeared. The leader seemed some- 
 what taken aback when he found me about the place ; 
 and his hand trembled as he held it out to press mine. 
 The band afterwards walked round to where my servant 
 boys were, and there they found Manambalea, a man 
 in whom I never found a trace of timidity or fear. 
 He knew all about the plot, but he spoke quite cheer- 
 fully to the men. 
 
 " ' Oh, you have come ! ' he remarked. 
 
 " ' Yes,' they replied ; ' we are passing on to the next 
 village to borrow a canoe ! ' 
 
 " Manambalea continued : ' Do not tell us that. Just 
 do what you have come to do ! ' 
 
 " ' We have not come to do anything,' said the leader, 
 
hoping to get well and speedily out of his difficult 
 position. 
 
 " Again Manambalea taunted them : ' Now just do 
 what you have come to do,' 
 
 " ' What do you say we have come to do ? ' asked the 
 Lumbukuti men. 
 
 "'Why,' replied Manambalea, glad that this point had 
 been reached, ' to burn down the mission house, of 
 course. We know your designs ; now do your work !' 
 
 "Having again assured the chief that they had no evil 
 purpose, the men passed on. Instead, however, of 
 going to the village they named, and there borrowing a 
 canoe, they made for the beach, and returned to their 
 own village. 
 
 " Malakaleo's evil devices were that day frustrated. 
 Far from * stamping out ' Christianity, his wrath led 
 to measures which resulted in a speedy establishment 
 of the ' New Doctrine ' in the hearts of many who 
 would otherwise have continued to thirst after truth 
 and light." 
 
 As for "the little Misi" — Karisi — he served for a 
 short time as teacher at Kurumambe, with lasting results 
 attending his work. He had a great thirst for know- 
 ledge ; was endowed with a remarkable memory ; and 
 acquired much facility in the use of the English tongue. 
 In course of time he went to Queensland ; and it has 
 recently been reported that he is devoting his energies 
 to mission work among the Kanakas there. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 ^ yUgljt for tiff. 
 
 Change of Mission Centre — A Weary March — Arrival on the 
 East Side of the Island — A Gracious Deliverance. 
 
 HE time had undoubtedly come for another 
 spot to be selected on which to plant the 
 headquarters of the mission. Not only 
 would the Lumbukuti people not suffer 
 the Gospel to be proclaimed in their own 
 village ; they had determined to drive ' the missionary 
 out of Panita. Night after night the mission house 
 had been eyed by commissioners from Malakaleo ready 
 to shoot at any one that might appear. 
 
 Nearly every village in the island was desirous of 
 hearing the missionary's message, and it seemed a great 
 pity to do anything that might unsettle the work. Yet, 
 if Satan's agents were to be foiled, the mission centre 
 must be changed — at least for a time. It was resolved 
 without delay to remove to Manambalea's village, which 
 meant going from the west of the island to the east. 
 Nothing could have pleased Manambalea more than 
 this arrangement. His village was near several others, 
 and it was no rash calculation that, with God's blessing, 
 
THE WOULD-BE MURDERERS LYING IN WAIT 
 
68 ^ |^l:0ljt for fife. 
 
 the entire side of the island might be reached from 
 that centre. 
 
 Manambalea hastened home, and beat the war drum. 
 Having thus called his people together, he explained 
 the situation. His proposal that the missionary should 
 be received at Selembanga was heartily accepted, and 
 there was no delay in forwarding his kindly conceived 
 plans for the removal. 
 
 The eventful Sunday having passed without harm to 
 the mission, but to the utter defeat of Malakaleo's 
 designs, a new era began in Christian work on Tongoa. 
 At one o'clock on Monday morning, the women and 
 children of Selembanga arrived at Panita and cleared 
 the mission premises, carrying everything to their own 
 village, which was, they rejoiced to realize, to have the 
 distinction of receiving the missionary and his wife. 
 The men of the tribe also turned out, and stood sentry 
 the while, cheerfully protecting the large body of 
 carriers. There are no conveyances on Tongoa, so 
 everything had to be taken by hand — or by head. 
 Through devious passage-ways, along slippery precipices 
 which would inspire fear in uninitiated pedestrians, the 
 willing people made their way, some carrying unwieldy 
 articles of furniture on their heads, others with arms and 
 hands engaged with goodly loads. 
 
 Among the Panita boys who were at this time stay- 
 ing at the mission house, was a nephew of Malakaleo.* 
 
 * This youth is now chief of Lumbukuti. He stayed for some 
 time at the mission station, and when Mrs. Michelsen arrived on the 
 island, he joined with the native women in the rejoicings already 
 described. In honour of that event he took to himself the name 
 of " Missis." On one occasion he put on a pair of stockings which 
 
tftttcrhictoeit bij |ftalakako. 69 
 
 With the others, he was shut up during the removal, lest 
 by any means the people of Lumbukuti should prema- 
 turely learn what was going on. Altogether, about 
 three hundred natives of Selembanga took part in the 
 removal operations. In the forenoon a band of fighting 
 men from Lumbukuti came up. They were led by their 
 chief, who desired a conversation with the missionary. 
 This was willingly granted. 
 
 " Is it true that you are going away ? " asked 
 Malakaleo. 
 
 " Yes," replied Mr. Michelsen. 
 
 " Why ? " asked the chief, blandly. 
 
 The missionary gave answer, " You have never under- 
 stood, Malakaleo, why we came to Tongoa. You seem 
 to think that we have come to distribute axes, knives, 
 calicoes, and other things that are desirable for this 
 world's use. We have come here to preach the Gospel, 
 and for nothing else." 
 
 Malakaleo : " Do you regard Selembanga as a better 
 place than this ? " 
 
 Mr. Michelsen : " I do not seek the best place, but 
 people who are willing to hear the Gospel. You do 
 not wish to hear it ; the villages on the east side do. 
 Therefore, I go to them. When you wish for the 
 Gospel, let me know ; and I will come and give it to 
 you also." 
 
 the lady missionary had discarded, and otherwise " got up " in his 
 attire, paraded the beach to the amusement of all beholders. The 
 seed of the Gospel was, however, sown in his heart ; and later on, 
 while at Queensland, he developed into an active Christian worker 
 (see pp. 138 and 170).' His proper name was Timataso, but he is 
 now known by the chieftain's style of Tinabua. 
 
^o % JFligljt for fife. 
 
 Seeing he could effect nothing by this conversation, 
 the chief addressed Manambalea, showing himself 
 very angry that the latter should " take away the 
 missionary." Manambalea insisted upon the mutual 
 character of the arrangement — the missionary wished 
 to go, and he wished to have him. 
 
 The Lumbukuti people having gone away in a rage, 
 the work of removal was proceeded with. Of necessity, 
 this was slow and tedious ; and it was Tuesday after- 
 noon before the old quarters were left, to the regret 
 of the chief and people of Panita. 
 
 There was neither time nor inclination to travel round 
 the coast to Selembanga, in the footsteps of the carriers. 
 So the journey was made across the island. Manaura,* 
 senior chief of Mangarisu, the good Manambalea, and 
 a young man from his village, escorted Mr. and Mrs. 
 Michelsen, and two youths followed. It was a weary 
 walk through the bush, with all its risks and dangers. 
 Only God could protect them against the murderous 
 bands that infested the region ; and into His hands 
 they committed themselves ere ascending the hills. 
 The young man from Selembanga walked cheerfully 
 in front, swinging his gun over his head. He said, 
 " If you hear a shot fired, you will know they have 
 shot me. Then you can run back with all haste." 
 
 The party walked on, the silence being broken only 
 by the guides, who talked about the points at which 
 the enemy might fall upon them. Happily, they spoke 
 the Selembanga language, which Mrs. Michelsen did 
 
 * Manaura was still a heathen ; but he was friendly, and open to 
 receive a present for his services. Besides, he was a "sacred" 
 chief, whom no one would dare to hurt. 
 
^ ^turbcrous Attack J^bcrtcir. 71 
 
 not understand. In a state of health which quite 
 unfitted her for the fatigue of such a long and heavy 
 walk, her mind was fortunately spared the additional 
 agitation which this conversation would assuredly have 
 caused. 
 
 The last two miles of the journey of seven or eight, 
 were " tramped " in utter darkness. When passing 
 through questionable regions, the travellers maintained 
 complete silence. Just before dark, there was a shout 
 by one of those walking ahead. The missionary feared 
 that the enemy had appeared, and his mind was at 
 once occupied with various possibilities and courses of 
 action. 
 
 " What is the matter, Manambalea?" 
 
 " Oh, we are beyond all danger now." The territory 
 of the Pele people had been reached, and the Lum- 
 bukuti warriors would not venture that far. 
 
 Arrived in Selembanga, the missionary and his wife 
 made their temporary home in a grass hut which 
 Manambalea had put up, on land which, some time 
 previously, had been bought for an out-station mission 
 house. They felt much relief in the thought that, 
 humanly speaking, they were "out of danger," in a sense 
 which they had not enjoyed for a long time past. 
 
 It afterwards transpired that a band of murderers 
 had been out, lying in wait under a large banyan tree, 
 beside the path ! This was passed about twenty minutes 
 before the shout was heard. Why did the savage band 
 not carry out their purpose ? The God of Daniel 
 knows — and so do His servants who trust in Him. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 ^tbj Jlttsston (Quarters. 
 
 School Work Advanced — Native Expectations Realized — Sad Fate 
 of a Murderous Band. 
 
 Y^JTAVING made Selembanga the headquarters of 
 |t the mission, Mr. Michelsen sought to make his 
 home comfortable and establish evangelistic 
 ^ agencies around him. Houses without floors 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 are a frequent source of fever ; so he lost 
 no time in building one more conducive to healthful 
 living. This was made of reed walls and a thatched 
 roof, and had a floor made of boards which were 
 brought from Panita. 
 
 In the meantime, material which Dr. J. G. Paton 
 had kindly purchased for Mr, Michelsen arrived from 
 Australia. It was a two-room frame, with an iron 
 roof. The much-needed addition was at once made 
 to the mission buildings. A kind providence timed 
 the despatch of these things, so that the Mission ship 
 did not deliver them at the old station ; in which case 
 they might have been a burden during the flight which 
 has been already described. 
 
ittission "^01:30 at ^£kmban0a. 
 
 73 
 
 School work was prosecuted with all possible vigour ; 
 and Gospel meetings were held in two parts of Selem- 
 banga, and also at Euta, P61^, and Kurumambe. Yes, 
 indeed, at P^le, as was promised by Manambalea, when 
 he told its chief that he wished to live at peace with him. 
 
 FIRST MISSION HOUSE AT SELEMBANGA. 
 
 Even Marimaraki, the chief of P^e, afterwards showed 
 himself friendly to the mission and to Manambalea ; 
 but it was clear that he cared little for the Gospel. He 
 would ring an old cow-bell (stolen in New Caledonia !), 
 to collect the people on Sundays ; but he afterwards 
 scolded such as responded to the call and listened to 
 
74 
 
 ^Eto ^tisaiott 0|xtartErs. 
 
 the missionary ! The truth seems to be that the old 
 rogue prized the friendship of Mr. Michclsen, in order 
 to keep on good terms with Manambalea, and to be 
 eHgible for occasional presents ! 
 
 After the new house had been built at Selembanga, 
 many of the natives recognised, in the sights that met 
 their eyes, a fulfilment of things that had been spoken 
 
 NEW MISSION STATION, SEI.EMUANGA. 
 
 a century or two before, by " a prophet of their own." 
 A long time ago, said the people, before our grand- 
 fathers had heard of white men, there was a man 
 among us on Tongoa whose name was Marikitilangi — 
 freely translated : the Son of Heaven. He was not 
 like the rest of the people ; even in his youth he never 
 went with the fighting men, but always lived at peace 
 with all. 
 
% fulfilment of |3ropbec5. 75 
 
 That man used to walk about the island, visiting 
 alike the enemies and friends of his village, and 
 speaking kindly to all. Everybody knew him, and no 
 one interfered with him. When he was an old man, 
 and unable to go to the plantation like others, one day 
 he met those who were returning, and said : — 
 
 " I have been away to-day. I have seen what shall 
 come to pass many years hence. You shall bury me, 
 and after then these things shall happen : people shall 
 come here who are not like ourselves, but their skin 
 is white. This bark cloth that we use now shall be 
 thrown away, and nice soft cloth that they will give 
 us will be used instead. These stone adzes which we 
 are now using will also be thrown away, and a different 
 kind of tool will be employed. Almost everything shall 
 be changed. Upon the hill there [pointing to the site 
 on which the new mission house had been erected] shall 
 the man live who will show you the Light." 
 
 Taking the people down with him to the beach, 
 Marikitilangi pointed out a cave formed by a large 
 flat stone lying against the rocks, and said : — 
 
 " Look at this ! Our houses are all covered with 
 grass, but the roof of his house shall be like this ; 
 it shall be vatu " — that is, iron or stone, for one word 
 indicates both in Tongoan. 
 
 When the natives who had heard this tradition saw 
 the mission house with an iron roof, standing on the 
 identical hill, they wonderingly said : " This is exactly 
 what Marikitilangi said would be ! " When, later on, 
 the missionary made a road from one end of the 
 island to the other, the natives recalled another of 
 
76 l^cto iitisaion (l^uarhrs. 
 
 the old man's predictions, to the effect that the teacher 
 who would come would " cut the island in two ! " 
 
 So, as the Gospel was taken from village to village, 
 the people said to the missionary : " This is just what 
 Marikitilangi said you were going to do ! " Thus, in a 
 remarkable manner, the natives of the island had been 
 prepared for God's message ; and as of old, one had 
 " made straight the way of the Lord." 
 
 What appears to be a very important link in the 
 history of the mission was the sad end of Matokae 
 and six of his followers. This man, Malakaleo's 
 "creneral," was the leader of the band who, with mur- 
 derous intentions, lay under the banyan tree when the 
 mission party fled from Panita. One day he was 
 winding his way through the bush, past the deserted 
 mission station and the notorious cannibal village of 
 Bongabonga, when, on coming to Meriu, the village 
 of Matabuti, he met Maribatoko (freely translated : 
 Father-leave-him-alone), engaged in building a house. 
 
 A quiet laconic man, who seemed to think a great 
 deal ahead of what he said, Maribatoko had stood 
 many a battle with the dreaded Ti-Tongoa, and had 
 shown a firm adherence to principle from the beginning 
 of his Christian life. Matokae asked Maribatoko what 
 he was doing. The reply was, that he was making a 
 /^^«-house, i.e., a place of worship. 
 
 " But you did not ask us about that ! " 
 
 " No ; you are not interested in these things." 
 
 " Well, but you should not begin building a /c///-house 
 without asking our leave to do so." 
 
 " You speak as if we were subject to you ; though of 
 you we are quite free, and do as we choose in these 
 
^ (KruEl Ebrcat. 77 
 
 matters. Besides, the house is for God, not for you. 
 We know God wishes us to build it, so we have asked 
 no one's permission." 
 
 These words were too strong for Matokae, who 
 summed up his indignation with a threat : " You build 
 it, then ! We will come and take out one of the 
 sticks, and lash you to it Then we will carry you 
 home and eat you ! We will burn down the house, and 
 that will be an end of it." 
 
 The Christian native replied, " You may do as you 
 like ; in the meantime the building will go on." 
 
 Matokae went to Mangarisu, where he was received 
 with every token of hospitality by Ti-Tongoa. He was 
 invited to remain till the next day ; which implied that 
 the chief intended to kill a pig, and make a feast for 
 him. This was according to his gross disposition. 
 After eating and drinking, he lay down to sleep, 
 thinking all was peace and safety. The chief's wife 
 went, during the night, to Marimaraki, her brother, 
 and informed him that his dreaded enemy, Malakaleo's 
 "general," was in their village, and would be going 
 through the bush next morning. Marimaraki's eyes 
 flashed with delight. He speedily called together his 
 fighting-men, to whorti he gave information and explicit 
 instructions. 
 
 Next morning Matokae made his way through the 
 bush. He carried a large piece of pork, a present from 
 Ti-Tongoa ; and two guns, with which to avenge himself 
 on possible enemies. The main object of trust, .how- 
 ever, was a " sacred stone," hidden in his belt. When 
 he came near to the banyan tree, where he had, some 
 months previously, awaited the mission party, he was 
 
78 lUctD fission C^uarters. 
 
 shot dead by the Pele men, carried off to the village, 
 and eaten. Marimaraki was ready to make any capital 
 he could out of this. So he afterwards remarked to 
 Mr. Michelsen, "Now we have killed Matokae for you." 
 The ready answer was, " I never asked you to do the 
 deed ; in fact, I do not at all approve of it." 
 
 Further, in order to impress the entire island with a 
 sense of his disapproval of what the chief and his people 
 had done, the missionary, who had been in the habit of 
 visiting Pele every Sunday, paid no personal visit to the 
 village for a considerable time. Preachers were sent, 
 but the missionary's face was not seen. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that, although several months 
 had elapsed from the time of the flight to Selembanga, 
 and that to be shot in a fight was quite an ordinary 
 thing, no one had been killed on the island from the 
 day of Matokae's murderous expedition until the morn- 
 ing when he himself was shot, and made the subject 
 of a cannibal feast. Not long afterwards three men of 
 the same desperate band were killed and eaten by the 
 bush people. Some time later another three of the 
 band were killed on board a Queensland ship, while 
 attempting to take possession. Only two men of the 
 nine are now alive : one of them is a Church member ; 
 the other is, to say the least of it, very friendly to the 
 mission, and there is reason to hope that he will ere 
 long take a decided stand for Christ. 
 
 These facts made a profound impression on the 
 people of Lumbukuti ; and doubtless had much to do 
 with the friendly attitude of the village at a subsequent 
 period, when the mission centre was again changed. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 Cannibals lUsrmtr from Cannibals. 
 
 Villagers Rescued from the Jaws of Neighbours — Thrilling Inci- 
 dents, with Remarkable Sequel — A Grand Gospel Triumph. 
 
 '^'TT'Ty^iHILE the mission house was at Selem- 
 '^\ /\ I banga, a deeply interesting incident oc- 
 ^Mr^^ curred, which the missionary shall narrate 
 ^^A »fr^ in his own words : — 
 
 "^ At the beginning of 1881 news reached 
 
 us from Epi that a small village there was being eaten 
 up by a stronger tribe. For generations there had been 
 war between these villages ; and at length one of them 
 became so reduced that it was no longer reckoned an 
 enemy, but treated as a prey. Every now and then 
 the stronger village would promote a raid upon the 
 weaker, and capture one or two of the people. These 
 were killed outright, and carried off for a cannibal feast. 
 Thus the smaller village was being gradually extermin- 
 ated. The circumstances invited prompt action, 
 
 I sent over some of our most energetic and enterprising 
 
So (Kannibala HcaruciJ from Cannibals. 
 
 men, including Manambalea and two of his brothers, 
 telling them to ask the poor people to come and stay 
 with us at Selembanga. Two boat-loads were brought 
 
 MARIPAU, ONE OF MANAMBALEA S BROTHERS. 
 
 back, about two-thirds of the remnant, which numbered 
 forty all told. 
 
 It was impossible for the boats to touch the rocky 
 shore of Epi. The rescuers had therefore to swim 
 ashore through a rapid current. After inducing the 
 people to accompany them, they returned, being 
 
llEacutng a KSlcali Cribe. 8i 
 
 followed through the foaming breakers by the refugees 
 escaping for dear life, some of them with infants on 
 their backs. 
 
 The people seemed very much inferior to those of 
 Tongoa, being very thin and haggard. The abdomen 
 was unduly developed, indicating that they had been 
 accustomed to unprofitable food. Fever, early marriage, 
 and consanguineous unions had also left unmistakeable 
 marks on the race. 
 
 For the comfort and, if possible, protection of those 
 still remaining, Maripau, one of Manambalea's brothers, 
 was left behind on Epi. Bad weather set in ; and for 
 some days the transportation could not be completed. 
 However, it was hoped that all \\'Ould go well with 
 Maripau and his timid charge — for the most part old 
 women and children. In the meantime, on a Sunday 
 afternoon, Maripau appeared quite unexpectedly at the 
 mission station. The enemies of the people whom he 
 had remained on Epi to look after, had visited, in a 
 body, the partly-deserted village, and called upon him 
 to explain his action. The brave fellow faced them 
 boldly. 
 
 " You do not know us," he said ; " we are the people 
 of God. Now God loves people, even those whom you 
 are destroying ; therefore we have come to take them 
 away, and care for them." 
 
 Taken aback somewhat, the leader of the cannibal 
 tribe did not at first manifest much severity. After 
 a few moments he showed by threats the bloodthirsty 
 temper of his party. Maripau's situation was critical. 
 He was not afraid, however. " Full assurance of faith" 
 was one of the graces which he enjoyed. Resuming, 
 
 F 
 
82 Cannibals l^lcscucii from Cannibals. 
 
 he addressed the savage Epians : " Remember, I am 
 God's man. You may shoot me if you Hke ; but if 
 you do, you fight against God." 
 
 The spokesman of the tribe remarked : " You say you 
 are God's man, and love men. Why, then, do you carry 
 that gun in your hand ? " 
 
 This put Maripau somewhat in a difficulty. At 
 length he replied : " We are all accustomed to carrying 
 guns. But you need not suppose that I have any 
 intention of shooting you." With that, he threw the 
 weapon to the ground. 
 
 Not much more was said at the time ; but Maripau 
 learned from the people whom he was endeavouring to 
 rescue, that the enemy had determined to kill him. 
 Having surveyed the situation, he thought it would be 
 best to make for home, in the hope of hastening the 
 completion of the work of delivering the distressed 
 people. After threading his way through the bush, by 
 unknown paths, a distance of eight miles, he found him- 
 self on the south coast of the island. A small canoe lay 
 on the beach ; and, praising God for the means of flight 
 (for he could not thank the unknown owner), he made 
 for Tongoa — paddling across a very treacherous current 
 in stormy weather. 
 
 Maripau's thrilling story caused much excitement 
 in and around the mission house. The day after he 
 landed, the sea was calmer, and the remainder of the 
 poor people were fetched — Maripau himself accom- 
 panying his brother and Manambalea on the expe- 
 dition. 
 
 The refugees were miserably short of clothing ; so the 
 first thing that had to be done by their benefactors was 
 
^n (Bib (Kljicfs Hcflcction. 83 
 
 to adapt " calico " — which is the common name for all 
 kinds of clothing fabrics — to their immediate needs. 
 The party included an old chief, who, on arriving in the 
 open square, looked around in all directions, and ex- 
 claimed : " Azi't-, azue ! " — " Dear me, dear me ! " 
 
 He had been in Selembanga before ; and he called to 
 mind that the last visit was about thirty years pre- 
 viously, when he attended a cannibal feast as an invited 
 guest. He was one of those who helped to eat forty 
 Purau men whom the people of Selembanga* had 
 slaughtered. Now, having been rescued from cannibal 
 jaws, he was welcomed with tender compassion by 
 those who had learned a better way of life ! Mrs, 
 Michelsen was the first white lady the old chief had 
 seen, and he was so alarmed at the sight that he did 
 not venture to shake hands with her when she cor- 
 dially greeted him. 
 
 The sad experiences of this tribe were evidently over- 
 ruled by God for the furtherance of the Gospel on Epi. 
 A good while after they had been domiciled in Selem- 
 banga, messages were received from their old enemies, 
 asking them to return and live on friendly terms. I 
 refused to consent to any arrangement for a time ; but 
 replied that when the refugees were Christians, I would 
 let them go. After the small tribe had passed several 
 years with us at Selembanga, and all were nominally 
 Christian, I acceded to the proposal, on the under- 
 standing that a larger tribe should join the smaller 
 under one teacher. 
 
 What a grand Gospel triumph is this ! No human 
 wisdom was displayed, and no power according to this 
 * See page 120. 
 
84 Cannibals tlcscnctJ from Cannibals. 
 
 world. There was love for Christ and those whom He 
 came to save ; and it proved stronger than the strong 
 one, and those who, under him, were " servants of sin." 
 Need I add that these events made a profound im- 
 pression upon the people of several villages on Epi. 
 From these I received a number of requests for teachers. 
 They rightly thought that, if Christianity was able to 
 make those who had been enemies for generations to 
 live in peace together, it must be something good, and 
 something which they would also like to have. 
 
 Two or three villages on Epi speak the Tongoan 
 language ; the refugee village, however, was not one of 
 them. I had frequently been asked for teachers by the 
 Tongoan-speaking people ; but had none to send. Other 
 missionaries who had some to spare did send. 
 
 This part of Epi was for some time under the super- 
 vision of Rev. R. M. Eraser, whose station is on the 
 west coast of the island, about thirty miles distant. 
 It was finally arranged by the Mission Synod that it 
 should form part of my district. If I had been in a 
 position to supply teachers at the time I was first 
 asked, the work of God on Epi would doubtless have 
 been much in advance of what it actually is. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 ^notlji^r Cljangi of Itotalt. 
 
 The Missionary again Escapes Death — Hindrances Eventuate in 
 the Furtherance of the Gospel. 
 
 "iTTTli^FTER labouring for three years mainly on the 
 y \\ ^^^^ ^'*^^ °^ ^^^^ island, Mr. Michelsen decided 
 ,^^1^ to return to the west. While absent he had 
 \>^42. sent evangelists every week. It was clear that 
 "P-.^n. to reach Lumbukuti and the islands beyond 
 Tongoa, residence on the west coast was necessary. 
 Such a step involved the serious undertaking of 
 cutting a road across the island, from Selembanga to 
 Panita, a distance of six miles, through virgin forest. 
 
 The chief of Panita, Maritariliu, whose attitude to 
 the mission was formerly quite friendly, was now an 
 opponent of the work. He had never been in real 
 sympathy with Christianity, but had expected his 
 village to grow in influence through the residence 
 of the missionary. When the mission station was 
 changed to Selembanga, he was disappointed. Hence 
 his present opposition. At this juncture, however, a 
 
"he raised his gun to fire, when MRS. MICHELSEN 
 APPEARED." 
 
 [Page 
 
Quarrelling toitlj tijc IHissionary. 87 
 
 kind Providence sent him to Queensland, in a trading 
 vessel, on board which he engaged as boatman. Thus 
 the only difificulty in the way of resumed work at 
 Panita was removed. 
 
 This change of locale took place with the warm 
 approval of Manambalea. That unselfish Christian 
 chief assembled his men to transport the necessary 
 mission furniture, and even went with the missionary 
 to reside at Panita until the work was re-established 
 in the west. The resumed operations were attended 
 with signally abundant . blessing. Abandoning their 
 heathen customs, the people readily placed themselves 
 under Christian instruction, and a work of grace was 
 evident in the hearts of many. Everything was inspir- 
 ing gratitude and hope, when a sudden change came 
 over the scene. Maritariliu returned ; and, to his great 
 disappointment, found the people rallying to the mis- 
 sionary, and that his was the only heathen family in 
 the village ! 
 
 This was too much for him ; so without delay he 
 sought to pick a quarrel with the missionary, and harass 
 the people back into heathenism. His wives, whom he 
 had strictly forbidden to have anything to do with 
 Christianity, had been unfaithful to him during his 
 absence ; and as he could say nothing else against the 
 " New Doctrine," he scolded the missionary for not 
 having kept his wives from improper behaviour ! Of 
 course, the charge lay at the door of the heathenism 
 to which the chief had bound them. 
 
 All day long the chief raved and shouted ; and one 
 Sunday morning he sought Mr. Michelsen at a very early 
 hour at the mission station. He reiterated the blame 
 
88 knottier Cljattrjc of fJoralc. 
 
 which he had already expressed. It was evidently his 
 purpose to shoot the missionary. He retired to a 
 suitable distance, and raised his gun to fire, when Mrs. 
 Michelsen, who had heard all he said, appeared. This 
 broke the evil spell ; and the man, ashamed, lowered his 
 weapon, and went down into the village. 
 
 ORIGINAL MISSION BUILDING, WITH AUDITION, AT PANITA. 
 (Nolu removed to Luinbukuti.) 
 
 Following him, by request, Mr. Michelsen witnessed 
 other noisy scenes. The man was undoubtedly " pos- 
 sessed with a devil." He repeatedly said that the devil 
 had told him to kill some one, and that he would 
 assuredly do it. In the midst of the turmoil, people 
 fled from the village, until there were only a few left. 
 For the most part they went to Lumbukuti, the respon- 
 sible chief of which was now Tinabua, an intelligent 
 
Opposition (Oiicr-rulcti bn (Gotr. S9 
 
 and righteous man. After a^iiile this chief sent Mr, 
 Michelsen a message requesting him not to leave the 
 west side of the island. 
 
 The reasonable answer to this was, that it was of no 
 use staying in a village where there were no people. 
 Mr. Michelsen added that, if Tinabua wished the mission 
 station to be on his side of the island, he would need to 
 find accommodation for it in Lumbukuti. This was 
 done, and the land was purchased on which the principal 
 station of the Mission was in due course erected. So, 
 at last, the most suitable place on the island became 
 the headquarters. Malakalco, the retired chief, saw the 
 Gospel established in the village in which, five years 
 earlier, he refused to allow the missionary to preach ; 
 and in wdiich several plots had been hatched against the 
 missionary's life. God overruled all the opposition, and 
 brought to naught the devices of the wicked. 
 
 From Lumbukuti the Gospel has spread, not only 
 throughout Tongoa, but to heathen islands in the region. 
 The place is of such commanding importance, and its 
 chief so influential, that villagers far away on the south 
 side of Epi remarked, after Lumbukuti became a Chris- 
 tian village : " When Tinabua puts his foot on our soil 
 we also will become Christian." 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 Da^ bu Daij nn ^ongoa. 
 
 "It is day; let us sing" — First Duties and Breakfast — Morning 
 School— An Accident ; the Patient " Baked "—Road-Making at 
 Selembanga — The Missionary's Children and the Native Babies — 
 Sewing-Class Work — Dinner in Comfort and Tea with " Love 
 Apples" — Opening a Mission Box — "Tongoa Toddy" — Transla- 
 ting the Scriptures into Tasiko — Examination of Candidates 
 for Baptism — A Bush School House — How a Church was 
 13uilt — " Fire ! Fire ! " — Visitors from Emae— Sabbath Rest and 
 Engagements. 
 
 ]\f[rr^, HE missionary thus describes the daily round 
 from the mission centre of Lumbukuti : — 
 
 Ton kokoreko — " The cock is crowing " ; and 
 the songsters of the forest announce the 
 approach of day. No hyenas, no lions, no 
 tigers are there to seek a cool place before the heat 
 of the sun makes life a burden to them. No giant 
 snakes are lying in wait for the early passer-by. Our 
 swarthy island brother has had a refreshing night's rest, 
 and now he stretches himself on his somewhat hard bed 
 of reeds, peeps out of the door, and says to his friends 
 in the house, '' E pci aleati ; timga lega" (" It is day ; let 
 us sing.") The well-known tune of " I am so glad that 
 
 X 
 
 
praise anti ^ragcr. 9^ 
 
 our Father in heaven," or another equally familiar, is 
 heard from every hut, though the sound is muffled 
 through the grass walls. 
 
 After praise and prayer, one and another finds his 
 way out. Among the first are the women, in order to 
 light the fires, whereat to bake a few small yams or 
 breadfruit, whichever may be nearest at hand. Whilst 
 the yam is being baked, the various members of the 
 family are quiet with their books, each studying to fix 
 the daily lesson in his mind, prior to going to school. 
 But even before any one was astir in the other houses, 
 morning devotions were past at the mission station, in 
 the house in which are lodged the young women who 
 stay with us for instruction in life and Godliness. All 
 these girls have had their morning bath, for without this 
 they are not allowed to enter the mission premises. 
 The kitchen lamp having been lighted, a yam or two 
 is peeled and baked in the oven, a breadfruit being also 
 roasted on the open fire. Whilst their business is to 
 prepare our breakfast, these young folk likewise bake 
 something for themselves to take before school. Another 
 girl has skimmed the milk, and is shaking a bottle of 
 cream to make butter for the day ; all this before the 
 sun is up. 
 
 ■ With the dawn of day one or two more girls come 
 along. They are to sweep the dining-room and set the 
 breakfast-table. In the meantime the cow-herd and the 
 goat-herd appear, each with a billy-can of milk.* The 
 nurse-girl is in the children's bedroom with a tub of 
 water, bathing the little ones. After performing my 
 
 * The missionary introduced cows, also goats ; and they have 
 fared very well on the island. 
 
92 ^aj h|j ^aiT on tongort. 
 
 own ablutions, I take a hurried look at the passage of 
 Scripture which the natives are to say at morning 
 school, and from which I am to speak. Mrs. Michelsen 
 is soon out setting the cow's milk, and giving the 
 finishing touch to breakfast preparations. The goat's 
 milk has already been strained, and is being heated 
 to make it healthier, and so that it may keep. The 
 entire family is now ready for the morning meal ; a 
 reeking plate of porridge, and a jug of cold goat's 
 milk from last night, are ready for us. Also, an 
 abundant supply of yams, two breadfruit, a dish of 
 warmed-up native mushrooms, a native pudding, and 
 a small piece of bread and butter, with a cup of coffee ; 
 these make a good and wholesome breakfast, such as we 
 could not get at the best hotel in Europe, 
 
 But whilst the children are chatting, King Sol has 
 made his appearance, and the old bell out of the 
 Madeleine, which was wrecked on our shore, is jingling. 
 One is often provoked to wish for another and more 
 suitable bell for church and school use ; but for all 
 that, there is power in the old bell yet. The second 
 half of the meal is gone through with less ease and 
 comfort than the first. From the impetuous manner 
 in which the boy is ringing, it is getting clear that the 
 school-house is nearly filled, and that he can see no 
 reason why the remaining scholars should not also come 
 along: I hasten down to the school, and so do all the 
 natives on the mission premises, leaving Mrs. Michelsen 
 and the children alone. School over, I go home to 
 attend our morning devotions before the various duties 
 of the day crowd upon us. This morning, however, 
 this quiet season is not to be enjoyed undisturbed. 
 
''§rtlun0" a IJaticnt. 93 
 
 A man named Pakoa — meaning " Shark," a prre- 
 nomcn as common as the EngHsh " John " — has come 
 from one of the bush villages, informing me that a man 
 has met with an accident. Having climbed a tree for 
 a breadfruit for breakfast, he had fallen and sustained 
 some internal injury. " Have they done anything for 
 him ? " " Yes ; they are baking him." This answer re- 
 quires some explanation. A long ditch is dug, large 
 enough for the patient to lie down in ; a fire is then 
 made in the ditch, a quantity of wood being burnt. 
 Green leaves having been spread over the excavation, 
 the man is laid into it, and thoroughly covered up with 
 foliage and mats. The situation is steaming warm ; 
 hence the utility of the treatment. When I came to the 
 place I found the " baking " operation still in progress, 
 and was pleased to hear that the man was improving. 
 I did not disturb him, so long as he was comfortable 
 and doing well. After awhile, however, we took him 
 out. From a careful examination, I concluded that the 
 case was not a very serious one. I gave what further 
 attention I thought necessary, and left, promising to 
 call the next day. 
 
 I hurry on to Selembanga, where a large party of 
 men and women are busily working at a road, de- 
 signed to open up a thoroughfare through Pele. On 
 my arrival, Manambalea placed himself on a large 
 stone, feeling rather proud of the fact that this obstruc- 
 tion had been effectually rolled off the road. A 
 heathen chief from Tongariki, Samaki by name, stood 
 behind him, smoking his pipe. He was obviously 
 much interested in the road-making enterprise. 
 
94 
 
 gan b^ ^av on ^Tongoa. 
 
 Returning home, I find everything going on very 
 much as usual. Our children had been down into 
 the village with some of the native women, to look 
 at the new babies. It had become a very common 
 thing for them to make such visits ; and the mothers 
 were pleased, as well as were our little girls. Dinner 
 
 KO.\U-MAK.IN(i UN TUiNGUA. 
 
 (Heathen Chief from Tongariki locking on.) 
 
 was waiting my return. Our flock of about lOO goats 
 was coming in from the bush ; the cows too were 
 •in their stalls, looking quiet and satisfied. A number 
 of women were busy on one side of our verandahs 
 sewing their dresses ; another crowd of natives waited 
 on the other verandah. These latter had come from 
 Selembanga ; but Mrs. Michelsen had been too long 
 with her sewing-class to attend to them. They were 
 
cooking a dish of rice, and enjoying the delay. Two 
 members of the sewing-class were also preparing rice. 
 So we sat down to our dinner with feelings of satis- 
 faction that all near and around us had been provided 
 for. One thing, however, was a burden on my mind — 
 the forenoon had passed without my getting any 
 translation work done. So I sent word down to my 
 Tasiko pundits to hold themselves in readiness — to 
 come and help me immediately after dinner. Between 
 the women who had come to sew their dresses, and 
 the Selembanga people desiring to sell their produce, 
 my wife, too, had her hands full. Indeed, she was kept 
 very busy until four o'clock, when the bell rang for her 
 writing-class. 
 
 When daylight failed me, I dismissed my pundits, 
 and went out for half an hour's work in our flower 
 garden. When called for tea, I brought with me a 
 handful of love-apples, vulgarly called tomatoes. A 
 dish of boiled pumpkin tops, slightly stewed with a 
 little cocoanut cream, and a beautiful mealy yam, were 
 placed on the table ; also home-made bread, home-made 
 butter, and home-made sponge-cake, and a home-made 
 cup of tea — all of them such as can only be got at 
 Jionie, and are best enjoyed in the company of one's 
 own dear wife and children. Everything seemed com- 
 plete ; but the love-apples had not been placed on 
 the table. They were soon brought, and then we 
 could wish for nothing more to make up domestic 
 happiness. Blessed is the man who has a happy home ! 
 Whilst the table was being cleared, a few pleasant 
 minutes were spent with my two little girls — one on 
 each knee — looking at a picture-book just arrived in 
 
9^ ^aj Jbj ^a^ on Songoa. 
 
 a " mission-box " from New Zealand. There being no 
 natives waiting to be attended to, we were able to 
 have worship with our children. Then thc}' were put 
 to bed ; and I sat down to refresh myself with a look 
 at The Christian — a friend in New Zealand having sent 
 me his copies for an entire year. 
 
 The table was cleared, the children were in bed, and 
 native servants were busy over their tea. Another 
 mission-box was opened, for our friends had been 
 very generous this time, and had sent us two. Now 
 is one of those happy hours which only a missionary 
 knows ! A flat parcel is taken from the box. It is 
 turned over, and we read, " From Mr. S.'s children — 
 for the children." We spontaneously remark, " Poor 
 things ! won't they be pleased to see another lot of 
 picture-books ! " Then comes a heavy parcel of printed 
 fabrics. " For the mission-box, with many prayers and 
 best wishes, from Mrs. J. L." Another with similar ex- 
 planations. Here is a tin. It is pulled out and opened. 
 It contains a well-frosted cake ; but on the top of 
 this is a small slip of paper, which is, indeed, to us 
 the most valuable part. On -it is written, " To Mrs. 
 Michelsen, with kind love and best wishes, from 
 Mrs. T." And so on. Then we lift something special— 
 a suit of clothes. The inscription is : " For Manam- 
 balea, with best wishes, and prayers that he may long 
 be spared to help in the good work." Another parcel — 
 •' For Mrs. Michelsen and the children." Tinware, 
 boxes of pocket knives, jews' harps, two large axes, 
 and a few dresses for native women, make up the 
 multitude of gifts from Christian friends. Most of 
 the articles are valuable in themselves ; others are of 
 
double value on account of the kind words sent with 
 them. 
 
 By the time everything is put away, we find it past 
 ten o'clock, and we feel a need for some refreshment. 
 A little water is heated on the kerosene stove, and 
 what has been called " Tongoa Toddy " is made. For 
 the benefit of those who are not abstainers, I may 
 explain how this most invigorating drink is compounded. 
 Take less than half a cup of good goat's milk ; one 
 or two heaped teaspoonfuls of oatmeal — real Scotch 
 and fresh ; then a little sugar ; and — fill up with hot 
 water. Nothing more is required to make a palatable, 
 refreshing, and nourishing drink. Every drinker of this 
 "toddy" will have to find out for himself how much he 
 can take of it, without disturbing his sleep ; otherwise, 
 we guarantee — " no headache." While enjoying our 
 "toddy" we go over the mission-box again in con- 
 versation, and come to the conclusion that our friends 
 have not forgotten us after all. 
 
 The next day begins very much as already described ; 
 except that I am not called away, and can go on with 
 my translation work. This goes very well until I 
 come to the words "deliver up" (Matt. x. 21). I look 
 at the Ngunese version ; it does not seem to me to be 
 satisfactory. I ask the pundits to give me that in 
 Tasiko. They do so. The result sounds even worse 
 than the Ngunese. Several places where the same 
 word is used are looked up ; the idea required to be 
 expressed is carefully explained to the pundits ; and 
 they suggest a word which is all that could be wished 
 for one place, but when used in another passage it is 
 found not to suit. A number of words are tried, and 
 
 G 
 
one after another is rejected as failing to express the 
 sense adequately. No satisfactory solution of the 
 difficulty is arrived at, so the subject is left till 
 the following day. This is no isolated instance of the 
 difficulties encountered in the work of translating the 
 Scriptures for the islanders. Frequently much time 
 is spent in arriving at a correct rendering of the Inspired 
 Word. 
 
 Just at this time my wife informs me that we have 
 nothing for to-morrow's dinner. I hasten to the goat- 
 herd to see if there is a kid suitable for our purpose. 
 The act of killing is performed by a native boy, and 
 I do the more scientific part of the butcher's work. By 
 the time I am ready, tea is waiting. 
 
 Arrangements having been made for the baptism of a 
 number of natives, some men and women have called 
 in order to have a private conversation with me during 
 the evening. Tea over, I examined them individually 
 on the fundamental doctrines of sin and salvation ; and 
 in most cases received very satisfactory answers. In 
 some instances I found that the replies to certain ques- 
 tions had been "got off" between the candidates. I 
 therefore put my questions in unexpected terms ; but 
 as a rule, after the examination, I formed opinions very 
 similar to those of the native teachers, who had a more 
 particular knowledge of the individual character and 
 life. The whole evening is thus occupied ; my wife 
 being engaged in putting the children to bed, setting 
 the bread, and writing letters to friends far away. 
 
 The next morning* I have to make an unusually early 
 start — to be up at one of the bush villages in time 
 for school. I arrive shortly after the proceedings have 
 
^ ^uslj ^cljool '^ouse. 
 
 99 
 
 opened ; and, some time before reaching the place, I hear 
 a shrill voice saying " ba^' and a deep bass voice repeat- 
 ing the word. Then I hear " be" then " bi^' then " bo^' 
 and so on. More or less throughout the school similar 
 spelling exercises are in progress ; and the attendants, 
 as usual, range from the oldest man to the youngest 
 
 i;l".iii school house, euta, tongoa. 
 
 child. School is opened and closed with singing and 
 prayer. 
 
 On looking round, I find that some of the " pupils " 
 are repeating portions of Scripture ; there are among 
 them aged folk who can quote several long passages 
 of the Word of God, which they have learned by this 
 process, although unable themselves to read a single 
 word. To find things proceeding in this rough and 
 
100 gaij bg 5 an on ^ongoa. 
 
 ready, somewhat scampish, way, did not surprise me ; 
 for the natives have continually to be checked in their 
 teaching operations, which appeal excessively to the 
 ear, and too little to the eye. Gaining attention, I 
 give the school a short lecture on the art of teaching 
 and learning. Routine work being continued, there is 
 half an hour's reading. After this I examine them in 
 a simple Scripture catechism. Here they do better ; 
 every one can answer the questions perfectly — by 
 whatever means they had learnt the subject. Subse- 
 quently I give an address of about a quarter of an hour, 
 specially dealing with the answers that have been given 
 during the catechizing. After school there is more or 
 less of a feeling for some additional reading, so several 
 of the scholars sit down outside the building for this 
 purpose. 
 
 Less than an hour's walk brings me to Selembanga, 
 where four or five natives are waiting for me. The 
 erection of a new church is no small undertaking, and 
 for a long time preparations had been in hand. The 
 material — Australian hard wood — had been got from 
 Sydney, whilst the rafters were of Norwegian fir. The 
 native assistants had shown themselves quite expert 
 with saw, chisel, and hammer, and to-day the whole 
 village was called together for the crowning event. 
 The side walls — sixty feet long by twelve feet high — 
 were, to the great astonishment even of those who did 
 the deed, lifted bodily and placed in position ; and 
 then, amid rejoicings, the ends were raised and fastened, 
 making the building thirty-three feet wide. Thus the 
 edifice was reared in one day. I returned in the evening, 
 about eight o'clock, perhaps feeling, no less than the 
 
''fire! fire!" loi 
 
 people of Selcmbanga, that a good day's work had been 
 done. 
 
 I was hoping, after a late tea, to spend the remainder 
 of the evening quietly. About 9.30, however, we were 
 startled by calls from the distance. I went out on the 
 verandah to hear what it was, and distinguished voices 
 on the sea calling out " Nakdpit ! nakdpu ! " (Fire ! 
 fire !) It was a boat from Emae, with a little com- 
 pany on board who had been rowing for hours against a 
 strong current, and were wanting to see the landing- 
 place ; hence their call for a light. The people of 
 the village, as well as some from the mission station, 
 have heard the call, and fire brands are speedily seen 
 moving from all quarters down towards the beach. 
 
 The boat is soon ashore, and the Tongoans give the 
 visitors a hearty welcome, assisting them in every way 
 possible. The luggage includes baskets of shells, 
 brought to the mission station for sale, and baskets 
 of yam to serve as presents to friends. Ascertaining 
 the fact that visitors had come, we ordered that a pot 
 of rice should be cooked. In due course the strangers 
 reached the mission station, which is about three- 
 quarters of a mile from the shore. Men and women 
 came into the house to press our hands, and then we 
 learned the character of their principal business. A 
 couple wished to be married, and as Emae was under 
 my charge during the absence of Rev. Peter Milne in 
 New Zealand, it was desired that I should tie the knot. 
 After supper, a teacher and a few others from Emae 
 engaged us in conversation regarding the work of God. 
 It was near midnight when we retired to rest, happy 
 
in the thought that the Emae party was hospitably 
 entertained. 
 
 The week's work being ended, the much-needed Day 
 of Rest has come. Whilst firmly believing in a/l the 
 Ten Commandments as the unalterable law of God for 
 the life of man on earth, I have always endeavoured to 
 make the sweet memorial of our Lord's Resurrection 
 to dawn upon the Tongoans as a holy privilege for the 
 people of God, rather than as a stern ordinance from 
 the Judge of all the earth. This latter aspect cannot, 
 of course, be entirely overlooked ; and it must be made 
 clear to the people that we are commanded to keep 
 the day holy. It has been our wont to observe the 
 day in the way that would be most glorifying to God, 
 and most for the spiritual benefit of the people. We do 
 not by any means lay down a strict rule about taking 
 nothing but cold food, nor how much is to be cooked ; 
 but we teach them to do as little work as is consistent 
 with health and a fair amount of comfort. The result, 
 I feel sure, is that the day is bright and happy, and 
 that the enjoyment of it is more in the sweetness of 
 holy exercises than in mere rest and exemption from 
 work. 
 
 There being no school on the Lord's Day, the people 
 rest a little longer than usual. At sunrise a few small 
 yams or breadfruits are soon baked, which make the 
 principal part of the breakfast. Besides this, we always 
 give all who are staying on the station a cup of tea 
 and a piece of bread, so as to reduce their cooking to 
 a minimum. In every hut is heard the voice of song 
 and praise. Then one may see some reading, and 
 others getting themselves dressed for church. At 
 
^ .iiabljatlT ^a\fs |lrcarljing Coitr. 103 
 
 nine o'clock the churches are filled with worshippers. 
 The service lasts about an hour and a half, and after- 
 wards the people gather themselves into small groups 
 in various houses, and have a hymn and prayer. That 
 over, a good while is spent reading the Word of God. 
 While my wife returns to the station with the children, 
 to give them some instruction, a few of the natives — 
 perhaps some five or six— gather round me, and follow 
 me on my preaching tour round the island. This, of 
 course, is a most interesting, though very fatiguing, 
 work. I have no fixed plan for this tour. I consider 
 the weather, my own strength, and the need of the 
 villages. 
 
 As a rule, I return to my station some time after 
 dark, having walked and preached continuously from 
 nine o'clock in the morning. Whatever the day has 
 been to others on the island, it has been no day of 
 rest to me. Tea is waiting ; but I cannot take it. 
 Two or three sips must suffice ; and, after twenty 
 minutes' rest and a warm bath, I am revived, and able 
 to join my family at the table. 
 
 Whilst the day has been thus with me, some of the 
 native teachers have been moving about on similar 
 errands, and other converts have been rendering such 
 assistance as lies within their power. At the mission 
 station, in the afternoon, there is Sabbath-school, and, 
 in the evening, a native teacher conducts public 
 worship in the church. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Jane Langmuir — Parentage and Training — Missionary's Wife and 
 
 Helpmeet — Devotion to the Mission — "I am so Unworthy!" — 
 
 Departure " to be with Christ." 
 
 fENTION has already been made in a note on 
 page 57 of the sad bereavement which has 
 quite recently befallen Mr. Michelsen. The 
 deceased lady was a true helpmeet in the 
 work on Tongoa, and this story of perils 
 and triumphs must of necessity include a sketch of her 
 life from the pen of her bereaved husband : — 
 
 My beloved wife was the daughter of John Langmuir, 
 who was the son of a farmer near Paisley. Having learned 
 the business of a gardener and florist, and married an 
 Irish lady, he went to Australia about 1838. For many 
 years they lived near Melbourne, and had a large family, 
 whom they nurtured in the fear of God. After about 
 twenty years' residence in Victoria, they removed to 
 New Zealand, in order that their youngest daughter, 
 Jane, might have the benefit of a more bracing climate. 
 They settled near Dunedin, and the change was bene- 
 ficial in the sense desired. 
 
^bc fate JHrs. iHubcIscn. 
 
 105 
 
 In Scotland John Langmuir had been connected with 
 the Established Church ; in New Zealand he became 
 connected with Christians known as " Brethren " ; whilst 
 his children attended the Presbyterian Sabbath School, 
 and some of them became teachers there. In 1877 he 
 
 THE LATE MRS. MICHELSEN, WITH THIRD CHILD. 
 
 passed to his rest, aged about 66, leaving a widow 
 and six children — three sons and three daughters — 
 to lament their loss. Some of these had already- 
 left home, and others were soon to do so. At length, 
 Jane alone remained to sweeten the home of the lonely 
 widow, 
 
 I had seen her often with her father at the Depot of 
 
io6 ^n SlttCiepcctcti Cloutr. 
 
 the New Zealand Bible, Tract, and Book Society, at 
 Dunedin. She ^vas rather slender, and looked excep- 
 tionally thoughtful for her age — then a girl of seventeen. 
 I cannot say that I thought then that she would be- 
 come my wife. But no one could help noticing one of 
 her age enjoying so much the company of Christians 
 of mature experience. A word I once heard from a 
 young lady friend and companion of hers, did much to 
 awaken my interest in Jane. I said, " Those Langmuirs 
 seem very nice Christian people." " Yes," she said, "and 
 particularly the youngest." 
 
 In 1878 I left New Zealand for the mission-field. 
 After spending a year on Nguna, I went to Tongoa to 
 commence a mission by myself. A lonely European 
 among a thousand savages, I could not remain alone. 
 Indeed, a very unpoetic resolution was passed by the 
 Synod in Otago, that I should take a trip up to the 
 colonies to be married and ordained ! The second of 
 these could easily be done, and I felt confident that 
 the Lord would help me also regarding the other. 
 There was no lack of friends who were ready to give 
 me advice and help if needed. My mind was directed 
 to the sweet Christian girl I had seen every day on 
 her way to the High School in Dunedin, and who 
 had often visited the Book Society's sale room. I laid 
 my proposal before her. She had two difficulties — 
 one was that she did not think she was fit for such 
 a work ; and the other, that she thought of her 
 duties to her aged mother, who had no one else with 
 her. She said nothing about the cannibals ; an objection 
 which I might well have expected, as she had a few 
 days previously been present at a meeting at which I 
 
^rcparcb to go. 107 
 
 had given harrowing accounts of cannibalism. Indeed, 
 some candid friends had cautioned me : " If you wish to 
 find a wife, you had better not say anything about the 
 cannibals." My argument was, that I wanted a wife 
 who would be prepared to meet anything for Jesus. 
 
 When I saw her again, she said she was prepared to 
 go if her mother was agreeable ; but she felt it her duty 
 to submit to her mother in this matter, as it meant 
 leaving her alone. I shall never forget the moment 
 when her dear old mother gave me her reply. With 
 trembling voice she explained to me how that Jennie 
 had been her only comfort in widowhood — now about 
 thirteen years — and that, more than ever, she needed 
 some one with her. It was not a question with her 
 whether her daughter would make a good match or not. 
 The case stood before her mind thus : — The Lord had 
 asked for her, and although she had no one dearer on 
 earth, she could not keep her from Him. She knew 
 quite well that she would go away to live among the 
 South Sea cannibals, of which the people of the colonies 
 had heard so much ; so that an account of her daughter 
 being devoured by them would be no surprise. 
 
 After the dear old lady had given her consent, I felt 
 exceedingly unhappy about taking her daughter from 
 her. The weeks soon passed away, however, and I 
 have no doubt they seemed too short altogether for the 
 poor mother. When she stood on the wharf to bid us 
 farewell, and felt that she could do no more for the 
 child for whom great sacrifices had been made, and 
 who, in turn, had been such a comfort to her, she 
 called after me between her sobs and tears : " Take 
 care of my daughter," I tried to smile as kindly as I 
 
io8 ^n StnexpEctctr ffiloutr. 
 
 could, and told her that her guarantee was that she 
 was now Diy ivifc. I do not think she knew what I said, 
 but I heard her say : " Yes, yon may smile . . ." 
 When others had left the wharf, she remained to lift 
 up her feeble arm, to wave her handkerchief to the 
 daughter whom she scarcely expected to see again. 
 
 My young wife landed on Tongoa amid the stormy 
 rejoicings of the native women. Natives came from all 
 parts of the island to see the lady missionary, and even 
 Malakaleo seemed quite moved when listening to her 
 playing on the organ. The chilly, unhomely house 
 was soon turned into a happy home. Cleanliness, 
 order, and brightness, became impressive elements in 
 the new order of things. When returning from a 
 fatiguing tour over the island there was a warm bath, 
 a tidy table, a well-cooked meal, and a loving recep- 
 tion — a very different state of things from that which 
 obtained a year before. I was often calling to mind 
 some words of Rev. Dr. Inglis before I left Dunedin : 
 " You need not think of working in the New Hebrides 
 without a wife. Many will remind you that you should 
 find a lady with a teacher's certificate, and all that sort 
 of thing. My advice is: 'Get a good wife.' You will 
 have to do most of the teaching ; but a good wife will 
 make your life easier, and thus enable you to do more 
 work. She will also save you from an endless variety of 
 trivial things which you otherwise would have to do." 
 
 Months and years were made bright and happy, and 
 the wisdom of the worthy Doctor's remarks abundantly 
 verified. Not that she was deficient in the art of 
 teaching, nor that she did not do it. She did much 
 in this direction, and also instructed the women in 
 
sewing and housekeeping ; she was an excellent house- 
 keeper and cook. But her help to me lay mainly in 
 making home comfortable and happy, and in being a 
 true and wise companion and counsellor. 
 
 This beloved helpmeet has now been taken from me ; 
 therefore I can speak with freedom of her worth. In 
 all possible ways she shared my responsibilities and 
 anxieties. She carried on a Sabbath School, as it might 
 be called — a class for the young. To her disappointment, 
 at first, she found that several of the better instructed 
 young men of the village attended. Feeling that they 
 received useful instruction, they continued to come, and 
 in increasing numbers. She was almost invariably with 
 me on my voyages from island to island ; and if ever 
 she thought I might be in danger, she insisted on being 
 with me. When a savage lifted his gun at me to fire, 
 she appeared on tlie scene ; as she afterwards said, she 
 thought it was time for her to come out too. Her 
 presence saved my life. 
 
 As a doctor she was an important acquisition to the 
 mission. She had little faith in what generally passes 
 for orthodox physic ; in difficult cases she generally 
 consulted all the books within reach, and then' took 
 the course which commended itself to her own judg- 
 ment. Though I was supposed to be the doctor, I 
 always had a private consultation with her before 
 treating any case involving special care. 
 
 She loved singing, but had not a strong voice. Two 
 of her favourite hymns were those beginning : 
 
 " At the feet of Jesus, listening to His word ; " 
 and 
 
 " When peace hke a river attendeth my way." 
 
110 ^n StncipEctetr dioub. 
 
 It was in London, on December 30th, 1892, that she 
 was called home. She had given birth to a little boy, 
 and was hoping to recover her usual strength ; but 
 fever supervened, and in a few days her course on 
 earth was finished. She had almost a painful sense of 
 her own unworthiness. The day before she died, she 
 asked my pardon that she, who was so unworthy and 
 unfit, had had the presumption to go with me to the 
 mission-field. It was her earnest desire and prayer 
 that the Lord would give her another opportunity to 
 serve Him more faithfully than she had done. I re- 
 minded her of the perfect goodness and the love of God, 
 whereupon she exclaimed, " Yes, He is so good — so 
 good ! " but with a tone which implied what she so 
 often had said, " and I am so unworthy." She loved 
 the work with her whole soul, and while on furlough often 
 remarked : " I wish we were home again on Tongoa." 
 
 When I told her not to be troubled about her four 
 little ones, as I was sure the Lord would care for them, 
 she said, " I am not the least troubled about them ; I 
 knoii) He will care for them." Again, when I asked her 
 to forgive me any unkind word I might have said to her 
 at any time, she replied, " Yes — everything" ; and added 
 in an energetic voice, " God bless you ! " 
 
 Towards the end of her pilgrimage, she often sang, 
 
 with much feeling : — 
 
 " Master, the tempest is raging ! 
 The billows are tossing high." 
 
 When she felt the surging billows of Jordan around 
 her, I read the hymn to her. On coming to the chorus : 
 
 "The winds and the waves shall obey My will. 
 Peace/ be still!" 
 
Ifast ittomcttts, m 
 
 her soul seemed as if it were on the other side already. 
 She exclaimed in a strange and distant voice, " Yes ; 
 oh yes ! " Though naturally rather timid, it may be 
 testified of her that she lived out the counsel of the 
 lines : 
 
 "Where duty calls or danger, 
 Be never wanting there." 
 
 Her mother had the joy of seeing Jennie just once 
 after first bidding her farewell. That was in 1884. She 
 was hoping soon to embrace her again ; but has survived 
 to hear of her daughter's departure " to be with Christ." 
 For each and all of us there is the consolation : " Neither 
 death nor life... shall be able to separate us from the 
 love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 (tannibaltam antr its Ijorrnrs. 
 
 The Motives of Cannibalism — Deeds of Honor, and Talcs 
 of Woe. 
 
 fHE horrors of cannibalism cannot be realized 
 by written descriptions. Mr. Michelsen's 
 missionary career from the first has been in 
 the midst of people sunk to this depth of 
 degradation. 
 
 What is the motive of cannibalism? Unquestionably 
 the depraved appetite of fallen man, in his lowest 
 estate, is gratified by the taste of human flesh. The 
 chief of Pcle, an island near Nguna, once remarked : 
 " Pig's flesh is bad, and human flesh is good." This 
 is a declaration of the comparative excellence of the 
 latter as estimated by the cannibals themselves. 
 
 Another motive is a wish to show how entirely they 
 can vanquish their enemies : they make food of them ! 
 Malakaleo, the chief, who was so bitterly opposed to 
 the Gospel at first, answered a message from his enemies 
 with the threat — "We will eat you!" In the old days 
 
^ Jfcarful iJturtJcr. 113 
 
 there were no feasts so high as those at which human 
 flesh was partaken of.* 
 
 One day, while Mr. Michclsen was helping Mr. 
 Milne on Nguna, news arrived of a fearful murder 
 having been committed on the island of Efate, the other 
 side of Nguna Bay. The two missionaries repaired to 
 the spot, and ascertained the facts. A number of 
 natives from the island of Makura had arrived in 
 Efate, just opposite Nguna, to dig some taumako^ a 
 vegetable similar in appearance to the potato. The 
 chief who instigated and led in the murder, had been 
 among Europeans, in Queensland and elsewhere, for 
 thirteen years, and could speak English well ! He 
 denied having killed any one ; but while the words 
 were in his mouth, evidences of his guilt were forth- 
 coming. In the surf on the beach lay the trunk of a 
 hqman body ; in a canoe alongside was the head ; and 
 the arms and legs were roasting on a fire in the 
 neighbouring village. 
 
 Confronted with proofs of his crime, the brutal fellow 
 readily excused himself The things said by the mis- 
 sionaries were quite right and good for the white man, 
 but they do not suit the black man ! Accompanying 
 the missionaries was Matakoale, a Christian chief from 
 Nguna. Stepping forward at this juncture, and laying 
 
 * Next in honour as food came the pig, which is to-day held in 
 high esteem on the island. Pigs and fowls (and no other animals) 
 multiply in every village. When a man bought a wife in the old 
 days, he would pay for her in so many pigs— ten or fifteen, accord- 
 ing to assessed value. It was customary to sacrifice both classes 
 of animals to the spirits. Pigs so devoted were killed by a knock 
 on the head, and not by being bled. When Christianity began to 
 make head-way, the question came into vogue — " Is the pig bled or 
 not ? " If bled, there was no heathenism about it. 
 
 H 
 
114 Ctattttibalism ant its '^orrora. 
 
 his hand on his breast, this man said : " I am a black 
 man, and I know that Christianity suits me." 
 
 Seeing they could accomplish nothing, the mission- 
 aries left for the mission station in the boat which had 
 conveyed them across the bay. When a short distance 
 out from land, they saw a procession along the beach. 
 The body of a man, lashed to a stick, was being carried 
 by two persons. A shell* was blown, and some young 
 men went in front, swinging spears over their heads. 
 This was in bravado of the act of murder. Others 
 followed, filled with the same evil spirit. When the 
 true facts came to light, the worst fears were realized ; 
 for several persons had been killed, and the bodies were 
 sent as presents to friends ! 
 
 The crime was excused by the statement that, some 
 time previously, a number of natives of Epi, working 
 for a planter on Efate, had stolen his boat, in order to 
 make their way home. While passing Makura, they 
 were induced by the natives to go ashore, and forth- 
 with were murdered and eaten. The chief of Makura, 
 on whose order this horrid deed was committed, was 
 the man whose mutilated body the missionaries found 
 in the surf at Efate, as just described. Thus the act 
 was one of revenge. It was also explained that the 
 Makura men on a previous visit had taken some earth 
 with them from Efate, and by means of it, i.e., by 
 incantation, had caused a drought from which the 
 islands were then suffering ! 
 
 * A conch shell. Sometimes these are about a foot in length — 
 two shells being joined together. They are capable of producing 
 an alarming roar. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 ^hvtt W'OnQoan ittartgrs. 
 
 Not " Moved Away " — Manoai's Firmness — A Bush Tragedy — 
 The Last Cannibal Feast. 
 
 iHORTLY after the second break-up of the 
 
 Panita station, it became necessary for Mr. 
 
 and Mrs. Michelsen to take a trip to New 
 
 ^f^y Zealand. No sooner had they left the island, 
 
 f^^ than the chief of Panita caused one of his 
 
 men, who would not be removed away from the faith 
 
 of the Gospel, to be shot. That man, though simple 
 
 and uninfluential, was the first martyr in the island. 
 
 The second witness unto blood was also shot during 
 the missionary's absence. There was an elderly man at 
 Selembanga, named Manoai, a decided and earnest 
 Christian. He was too old to be sent out as a teacher ; 
 when, however, he heard of the missionary's intention 
 to leave the island for a time, he asked what he could 
 do to advance the work. He was glad to receive 
 instructions to visit the refugee Epians daily, to see 
 that they attended school, and otherwise to exercise 
 
•ii6 ^Ijrcc Con0oatt l^tartjrs. 
 
 an influence for Christ among them. This charge he 
 kept faithfully so long as he lived. 
 
 He did not live long, however. One of the bitterest 
 enemies of the Gospel in the village was a man with 
 whom, as a heathen, Manoai was formerly on friendly 
 terms. This man, hating the light, conceived a hatred 
 for his former friend ; and meeting him one morning 
 in the road, inquired where he was going. Manoai's 
 answer was, that he was about to visit the Epians. His 
 enemy knew the religious object of the visit, and at 
 once declared his intention to shoot his Christian 
 neighbour. 
 
 " You may do as you like about that," said Manoai. 
 " You can kill my body, but you cannot do any more ; 
 my soul shall go to heaven." Manoai stood still, looking 
 his opponent in the face. The murderous threat was at 
 pnce put into execution ! 
 
 The third martyr sealed his life-testimony about five 
 years ago, under singular circumstances. Many years 
 previously, when the village of Pele was at war with 
 another, one of the wives of the chief fled to Kurumambe, 
 her native place. She had her infant boy with her. 
 After the war, the chief insisted upon his wife's return ; 
 and she went back, leaving her boy at Kurumambe. 
 As he grew up, he was in the habit of visiting Pele, 
 where he had free access, as the then ruling chief, 
 Marimaraki, was his half-brother. 
 
 The young man's name was Bulilio, and in the course 
 of time he confessed Christ. Of an earnest disposition, 
 whenever he went to Pele, he preached the Gospel to 
 his kinsmen and others. This gave great annoyance to 
 the chief, who at length decided to put an end to it. 
 
iltarfnrttom at an (Bn&. 117 
 
 He instructed his men to shoot him ; and this was 
 done as he was passing through the bush from the 
 village. The young man ran some distance, and then 
 fell. It was thought that he had escaped ; but some 
 days later the body was found in a state of decom- 
 position. 
 
 What followed shows the ferocity of Marimaraki. 
 When the corpse was conveyed into Pele, the people 
 said : " Let us not eat this man ; he is one of our 
 own — brother of the chief." 'The chief himself replied, 
 " If you will not eat him, I shall," 
 
 Not having the moral courage to insist upon burial, 
 the people assented to the proposal. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Michelsen, at Lumbukuti, saw the smoke of the enor- 
 mous fire which was kindled for the purpose of roasting 
 the corpse. 
 
 TJiis ivas the last martyr on Tongoa for the faith of 
 Christ. And it was the last cannibal feast on the island I 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 Ilatili^ Superstitions : ^ Krligion of Bruatr. 
 
 Native Acknowledgment of the Creator — "Sacred" Men — 
 
 Kai/nasi, or Witchcraft — Other Cruel Customs — Fear of 
 
 '' Deceiving Spirits." 
 
 [[I O far as they are capable of being grouped 
 together, the superstitions of Tongoa make 
 up a system of fear. It was held to be 
 necessary continually to appease the wrath 
 of the " spirits." 
 Tongoan superstitions, for just twice in the year, 
 acknowledged an omnipotent Creator. In the times of 
 planting (about October-November) prayer was offered 
 for His blessing ; and at the gathering of the first-fruits 
 (about February) thanks were offered to Him for His 
 bounty. Doubtless the spirits were recognised here 
 also ; but yet the truth remains that, with all their 
 darkness and ignorance, the Tongoans admitted the 
 witness of God, that He "gave rain from heaven and 
 fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and glad- 
 ness " (Acts xiv. 17). 
 
"^ am ottl^ Johin0." 119 
 
 Every village had its sacred man, who was sometimes 
 a chief. He undertook many functions : sacrificing to the 
 spirits, to avert their anger, on behalf of sick persons ; 
 and practising Kainiasi (a kind of witchcraft), to com- 
 pass the evil, or bring about the death, of obnoxious 
 individuals. Sometimes these occupations were in very 
 skilful hands. Cases of sacred women are less common. 
 One at the village of Fila, on Efate, was so powerful 
 that she kept Christianity back several years by her 
 enchantments. 
 
 Samori, the chief of Voitasi, a small village on Tongoa, 
 was the representative of a once influential family, 
 which also held chieftainship on Emae. Amongst 
 sacred chiefs, his position was so high that he was called 
 "the Son of God." Addressing him on the subject of 
 Christianity, Mr. Michelsen reminded him that, being 
 " the Son of God," he ought to be the foremost to accept 
 the Gospel ! When the man showed a procrastinating 
 disposition, he was asked whether, in case he were living 
 away from home, a letter from his father would not 
 secure his utmost attention. He replied in the affirmative ; 
 whereupon Mr. Michelsen told him that he was the 
 bearer of a message from God. Feeling the force of the 
 argument, the chief replied, with regard to his pre- 
 tensions : " I am only joking." If he had maintained 
 his claims, he would have felt compelled either to accept 
 or to reject the message brought by the missionary. 
 
 The practice of Kaiinasi, which is similar to the 
 Nahak of Tanna, is essentially witchcraft, and is very 
 mischievous. It is believed that, by becoming possessed 
 of remnants of what a man has eaten, or of anything 
 
I20 l^attbc .Superstitions: ^ ftcli^ion nf ^rcab. 
 
 that has come from him, his death may be caused 
 When the sacred man buries the remnant or morsel, the 
 unsuspecting man's death-warrant is sealed ! Therefore, 
 if a native sucks sugar-cane, he is careful to retain the 
 fibre for destruction when he gets home. Again, if a 
 native is away from his own village, and eats bananas, 
 he takes home all he does not consume, so as not to 
 come under the power of actual or possible enemies. 
 Thus, in many circles, fear and revenge become the 
 warp and woof of social life. 
 
 Death from a natural cause was no part of the creed 
 of Tongoa before the missionary gave the people the 
 Gospel. If a man died, some one had caused his 
 death— that was at once fact and argument. Aged 
 believers to-day relate many illustrative occurrences. 
 Here is one : — 
 
 About thirty years ago, the chief of Selembanga died, 
 probably of consumption. After consultation with 
 soothsayers, it was " ascertained " that the death had 
 been caused by the people of Purau, another village. 
 Of course the act must be avenged ! After the days 
 of mourning — probably a hundred days — the people 
 of Purau were invited to attend a feast at Selembanga. 
 Nothing suspecting, they went, and a carousal followed. 
 In the middle of the night, while engaged in a dance 
 of the vile character usual on such occasions, the 
 people of Purau were suddenly set upon by their 
 treacherous " friends." About forty men were slain. 
 
 Cannibal feasts were afterwards held, bodies being 
 sent in all directions to acquaintances and friends of 
 the murderers. Moreover, the people of a village on 
 
^urictt ^Ubc! 121 
 
 the island of Epi, to the north, were invited over to 
 Selembanga to help to eat the victims of the mas- 
 sacre.* 
 
 The chief Malakaleo had an only daughter, whom he 
 loved dearly. She sickened and died. To show his 
 affection for her, he ordered that two of his wives should 
 be buried alive in her grave. Thus the departed one 
 would have, in the spirit-world, companions who would 
 attend to her requirements. The poor women appealed 
 in vain to the chief; he was deaf to all entreaties for 
 mercy, as also were other men of influence who were 
 visiting at the house of mourning. Malakaleo himself 
 struck them with clubs, and drove them into the grave ; 
 and thus his decision was carried into effect. 
 
 Though the savage heart was not touched by the 
 cries of his sacrificed wives, Malakaleo's conscience was 
 not at ease after the terrible event. He always imagined 
 that their spirits were about the place, and that they 
 threw stones into the house at night. So, regularly, at 
 the close of the day, he hung a basket of food outside, 
 for them to partake of should they desire ! Even then 
 the miserable man was haunted with the notion that 
 his wives were avenging his cruelty. So he ordered 
 his other wives to fence off the house in which they 
 were buried ; for, as is often the case, the grave was 
 in one of the family houses. The incident shows that 
 in dark Tongoa, with all its brutality, there was a real 
 bondage arising from fear of death and dread of the 
 dead. 
 
 * To this very feast came the old Epian chief who was after- 
 wards, with his people, rescued from cannibals, as related in 
 Chapter IX. (page 79). 
 
122 llatibE Superstitions: ^ fl£lt0ton of ^rcatr. 
 
 The story has already been told of some families who 
 were rescued from cannibals on the island of Epi, and 
 cared for at the Selembanga station. The son of the 
 chief, the object of all the family hopes, died. Though 
 he owed his life to Christians on Tongoa, the old man 
 was not at the time so weaned from the cruelties of 
 native superstition as to have mercy upon his wife. 
 According to custom, he determined that she should be 
 buried with the boy. 
 
 Mr. Michelsen describes what followed : — 
 
 " I entered the house just as the old man was getting 
 hold of his gun. When I took that weapon from him, 
 he seized an axe, hoping to do his heartless work there- 
 with. I took the axe also out of his hands. He raved 
 with anger ; and while I reasoned with him, he put his 
 fingers in his ears. As he would listen to no argument, 
 and was deaf to all appeal, I sent for some Christian 
 natives, and instructed them to take the wife under their 
 protection until the youth had been buried. This was 
 done, and the woman's life was saved." 
 
 Here is another tale of cruelty : — 
 
 The chief Tarisaliu, of Purau, and his people, notor- 
 ious as thieves and ruffians, incurred the displeasure of 
 nearly every tribe on the island. Settling near Lum- 
 bukuti, and placing himself under the protection of the 
 chief, he sought to cement the subsisting friendship by 
 a horrid deed. One day, out walking, he saw in front 
 of him an old woman belonging to his own village. 
 He took his gun and shot her dead, sending her body 
 to the chief as an expression of bis affection ! 
 
^creibing Spirits. 123 
 
 " Laying the spirits " was a serious matter. On a 
 report that spirits had been seen about, there was 
 nothing to be done but to discharge a goodly quantity 
 of gunpowder in the locaHty. Whether as an act of 
 defiance towards the spirits, or as a menace to more 
 substantial intruders, this measure had the reputation 
 of being eminently satisfactory. The trust of the 
 natives was, in a very emphatic sense, in the gun ; 
 although they all grieved at times over its ravages in 
 their family circles. 
 
 In the following incident the missionary illustrates 
 the popular fear of " spirits " : — 
 
 " One evening, during the year spent on Nguna, I 
 had been over to Efate with three natives. Just as we 
 came out of the narrow boat passage at Havannah 
 Harbour on to Nguna Bay, we saw a squall coming 
 up from the west. We hoped to be across the Bay 
 before this would reach us ; and as the sun was just 
 setting, we could not afford to wait. The squall over- 
 took us, however, much sooner than we anticipated ; 
 a heavy sea came in, and darkness enveloped us. 
 
 " The boat was fast being filled — it was only a small 
 craft that two men could easily carry — and we com- 
 mitted ourselves to Him who holds the waters in 
 the hollow of His hand. The sea and wind grew in 
 strength, until one of the natives was so paralysed 
 with fear that I was compelled to take his oar, and 
 ask him to steer. This arrangement had not long 
 been made when the man who was steering saw a 
 light on Nguna. This would certainly have guided 
 US to the coast, although it might also have led us 
 
124 |5.attiic Superstitions: ^ flcligion of greair. 
 
 into a strong and dangerous current which ran along 
 the shore. The man, however, directed the boat away 
 from the Hght, which he concluded was a manifestation 
 from 'deceiving spirits.' We rowed for hours, not 
 knowing where we were. 
 
 " About twelve or one o'clock we heard breakers, and 
 I moderated the rowing, lest we should be swallowed 
 up. When able to see more clearly, I recognised the 
 outline of Efate near the point from which we had 
 started ! We followed the land, and before we knew 
 of it, we found ourselves in a great calm. We were 
 back in the boat passage from which we had started 
 some six hours previously ! 
 
 " Then I learned how it was we had toiled in vain ; 
 for the superstitious man took credit for not being 
 misled by the ' deceiving spirits.' Moreover, I was 
 satisfied that his ignorance had been overruled to the 
 saving of our lives ; for, if we had attempted to land 
 at Nguna in such a sea, we might have been drowned 
 by the swamping of the boat." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 Itn0 lEr^rks: a Contrast. 
 
 The First : attended with Plunder and Cannibal Designs — The 
 Second : the Occasion of Kindly Hospitality. 
 
 tYEAR or so after the mission station was 
 established at Selembanga, the Queensland 
 labour trader Chance sailed round Tongoa, and 
 
 /K^^T her boats called at the village. A young man 
 "?CA who was a servant at the mission house went 
 on board with the intention of going to Queensland. 
 The missionary despatched a note to the captain, 
 requesting him to send the lad back. He added the 
 words : "If the boy is not sent back, I will see to it 
 that he comes back." The meaning was not obvious ; 
 but Mr. Michelsen was mindful of the fact that it was 
 contrary to the provisions of the Queensland Labour 
 Act to remove a white man's servant. 
 
 The message vexed the captain very much, and he 
 sent the young man ashore ; but at the same time 
 made strenuous efforts to carry off several scholars 
 of the Mission. In this he succeeded. Exceedingly 
 grieved, the missionary prayed the Lord yet to send 
 back the youths that were thus going beyond his reach. 
 In conversation with some of the natives, he told them 
 
126 ^hio 'SStrcchs: a Otontrasi. 
 
 what he thought of the Queensland traffic ; and added : 
 "If some should insist upon going, do not go in the 
 Chance ; because I know she is a dangerous vessel, and 
 w'fll go down some day. It has, in fact, been reported 
 to me that her plates are as thin as a sixpence ! " 
 
 There the matter was left ; and Mr. Michelsen hardly 
 expected to hear more of it. The next day, to his 
 surprise, he saw one of the scholars whose departure 
 he had begun to lament approaching the mission sta- 
 tion. Inquiring, " Are you paid off already?" he was 
 answered : " Yes ; and we paid ourselves ! " The youth 
 then explained that the ship had gone on the rocks near 
 the heathen village of Mangarisu ; but that the people 
 there had stopped them from proceeding earlier to the 
 station, as they were plundering the ship, and did not 
 wish the missionary to interfere. 
 
 Accompanied by Manambalea, Mr. Michelsen at once 
 walked over to Mangarisu. Before they got down to 
 the beach, they met a number of natives carrying 
 bundles of axes, cases of tobacco, rolls of calico, tins 
 of preserved meat, gin, gunpowder, and other com- 
 modities of " civilization." Questioned respecting their 
 conduct, they paid little attention ; they had made 
 great hauls, and were excited and beyond control. 
 
 The captain and ship's crew — some of them under the 
 influence of intoxicants — walked up to Meriu, where 
 there was a schoolhouse, in which they sought refuge. 
 Meanwhile, the Mangarisu men were engaged in a 
 consultation about slaying and eating the strangers. 
 As many of the white men as were sufficiently sober to 
 walk, accepted hospitality at the mission station, and the 
 others were given into the care of trustworthy men. 
 
hospitality sboton h^ l^atibes. 127 
 
 So the island was spared what might have proved a 
 cannibal feast of a specially tragic type. One of the 
 sailors explained that, as fast as the goods were con- 
 veyed ashore, the people carried them off. • 
 
 The agent of the Queensland Government, an excep- 
 tionally refined man, sailing in the C/iance, transferred 
 the fire-arms to a boat, and brought them to Selembanga. 
 Many of the villagers were little more than heathen at 
 the time, and they thought this a splendid opportunity 
 to help themselves, Mrs. Michelsen, having seen the 
 boat, appeared on the scene just in time ; ordered the 
 restoration of every piece that had been handled ; and 
 organized a band of women who carried the fire-arms 
 up to the mission station. 
 
 Ultimately the shipwrecked company was taken away 
 by another vessel, and landed safely at Queensland. 
 
 Another wreck-scene on the island is altogether 
 different. About five years later, in 1888, while the 
 head-quarters were at Lumbukuti, the Queensland ship 
 Madeleine left her moorings, and was blown ashore in a 
 hurricane. The contents were safely lodged in Mr. 
 Michelsen's boat-house, the natives rendering all the 
 help in their power. The captain proceeded in a boat 
 to the island of Malekula, and invited other ships to 
 attend an auction sale on the beach at Lumbukuti. 
 This was held, and everything was sold. That captain 
 has never tired of acknowledging the hospitality shown 
 by the natives on the occasion. 
 
 The contrast is remarkable, and nothing need be said 
 to emphasize it. The difference is as between brutalized 
 heathens and Christianized men. 
 
in them. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 ■Jlotu ^ongoEH christians Die. 
 
 Manamoana's Vision — Manaura's Testimony— Tinabua's Peace. 
 
 NE of the first of the natives to show an interest 
 in the Gospel was a Panita man named Mana- 
 moana. He was a quiet pleasant-looking 
 individual, and one day after a Gospel service, 
 said to the missionary, " O misi ! these are 
 good words you are telling us. There is life 
 Most of our people let them go into one 
 ear, but they also let them go out of the other. These 
 are not words we should allow to go out again." 
 
 Mr. Michelsen rejoiced to see that the Word of God 
 was reaching the poor man's heart, and was disposed to 
 anticipate help in the work from one who had thus 
 early become an attentive listener. He was sorry, how- 
 ever, not many weeks afterwards, to hear that the man 
 was seriously ill. Going to his house, he ascertained 
 the facts. Rather than talk about his health, however, 
 the man, pointing heavenwards, desired Mr. Michelsen 
 " to speak to the Great One up there." After prayer, 
 he remarked : " Oh, that is good ! Speak to Him again 
 for me." This was done, and at his request again 
 repeated. 
 
'* S^ljc ^tt^elfi Ijahe comz for me! " 129 
 
 Frequent and prolonged visits were paid by the 
 missionary to the dying man, and the way of sal- 
 vation explained to his delighted soul. On the last 
 occasion, though very weak and exhausted, he suddenly 
 sprang up on the bed, and excitedly pointing to the 
 door, said : " Don't you see them ? " 
 
 Mr. Michelsen asked : " What do you see ? " 
 
 Again pointing, he said : " Do you not see the angels 
 there ? They have come for me." 
 
 Mr. Michelsen, desirous of calming the man, said : 
 " Wait a little ; your time has not yet come." 
 
 Induced to lie down, Manamoana continued peering 
 through the door. 
 
 After a hasty dinner, Mr. Michelsen proceeded again 
 to the poor man's house ; but was no sooner outside than 
 he heard the familiar death-wail. The rapturous vision 
 of angel-hosts was speedily followed by Manamoana's 
 spirit being recalled by " the Great One up there." At 
 the house the hired women-mourners were sitting round 
 the corpse, continuing their lamentations. 
 
 Manaura,* senior chief of Mangarisu, one of the party 
 who escorted Mr. Michelsen through the bush on the 
 occasion of the flight to Selembanga, had been a 
 notoriously wicked man. He had probably caused 
 more people to be killed and eaten than any other 
 man on the island in his generation. He was said to 
 have had as many as fifty wives. Should any one 
 offend him and flee from his village, a message fol- 
 lowed the fugitive, instructing the chief under whose 
 
 * He was a thin, hunchbacked man, with sharp features. He 
 occupies second place in the procession of engraving on page 67. 
 
 I 
 
130 ^oto Congoan dljnatiatta ^ic. 
 
 protection he might be to " kill him and eat him " ! 
 Rather than insult Manaura, fcllow-chicfs would un- 
 hesitatingly obey such a command. 
 
 On one occasion, in early life, a brother of this chief 
 aroused his wrath. Manaura sent to Selembanga — 
 where the culprit was living — orders that he should be 
 buried alive. Manambalea, his half-brother, who was 
 then but a boy of seven or eight years, was made to 
 hold the torch for the grave-digger in the man's house — 
 a dark hut. The man was compelled to go into the 
 grave, and two of his wives went with him. All three 
 were buried alive ! Such was Manaura's influence as 
 a " sacred " chief, that no one dared to interfere. This 
 man's life was made up of deeds of cruelty and blood. 
 At last he became very ill. At the request of Mr. 
 Michelsen, Manambalea invited his kinsman over to 
 Selembanga, in order that he might receive medical 
 attention at the mission house. The invitation was 
 accepted, and Manambalea conveyed him on his back. 
 
 Whilst, however, efforts to benefit the body failed, 
 other influences were more successfully brought to 
 bear upon him. By the blessing of God, Manaura was 
 led to repentance for his sins of ignorance and wicked- 
 ness, and to find in Jesus the Great Saviour whom he 
 needed. 
 
 When the old man's son and other heathen friends 
 saw that death was near, they entered the mission 
 house by night and removed him. Their object was 
 to bury him with heathen rites and ceremonies. While 
 Manaura continued to live, both Manambalea and Mr. 
 Michelsen frequently visited him in his own village, 
 and were much cheered by what they saw and heard. 
 
^ia ottlg llcmark— ''leans!" 131 
 
 His son, however, did not cease to maintain the advan- 
 tage of being buried as " a great chief," rather than to 
 be put in the ground at the mission station with nothing 
 attending the proceedings beyond a rehgious service. 
 What was this in comparison with a feast — an eating 
 of pigs and a drinking of kava* — extending over at 
 least a hundred days ! 
 
 Dressed in a garment with which the missionary had 
 presented him, the lingering invalid would come out 
 of his hut, and listen to the Word of God as it was 
 preached in the village. He also used his influence to 
 get others to listen. Sad to say, however, he never had 
 the opportunities for good which allowed of such vig- 
 orous action as he formerly showed in the service of 
 sin and Satan. This was his grief 
 
 At last he died. During the closing moments, hea- 
 then acquaintances surrounded him, and talked of the 
 grand feast they would make in his honour after death. 
 Six months previously this would have carried his 
 sympathies, and have satisfied all his ambition. Now, 
 however, his only remark was — " Jesus ! " They told 
 him how much they wished him to die as he had 
 lived in former years — a heathen ; and to be buried 
 with the same pomp and display as his ancestors. 
 Moreover, in the course of a year or two, a memorial 
 feast — such as never had been held before on Tongoa 
 for magnificence — would be held, with dancing and other 
 accompaniments. These things had no longer any 
 charm for Manaura, who answered every argument with 
 the word — " Jesus ! " No other name had in it the 
 music which could " refresh the soul in death " of that 
 * See description, page 136. 
 
132 '^oto ©ongoan Cbriatxans ^'tt. 
 
 weary, worn-out — but penitent — sinner ! His friends 
 afterwards told the missionary : " He said just one 
 word — that word you ahvays talk about — ' Jesus ! ' " 
 
 Tinabua, nephew of Malakaleo, was a firm friend of 
 the Mission ; and it was mainly through his influence 
 that the mission house was put up at Lumbukuti. 
 Quiet and thoughtful, slow to act and speak, and of a 
 peaceful disposition, he did not say much about Gospel- 
 work ; but his heart seemed increasingly drawn to the 
 Word of God. 
 
 Early in 1890 he was taken ill ; and although it was 
 difficult to say that anything serious was the matter 
 with him, he grew weaker and weaker. On a bad cough 
 being followed by a condition which was hopeless, he 
 was told that his end was drawing near. He sank 
 very rapidly. Asked whether he was prepared to face 
 Jesus — the Saviour and Judge — he articulated the simple 
 word — Taviate* (Peace). 
 
 " Are you quite sure that you have laid all your sins 
 on Jesus, and that you are saved by Him ? " 
 
 In the midst of great suffering he answered the same 
 word — " Peace." 
 
 Not many hours afterwards he slept in peace. Few 
 among the natives were better instructed than that 
 young chief, who never missed an opportunity to learn 
 of God and the plan of salvation. 
 
 * An interesting word, signifying that calmness which often 
 characterizes the Pacific Ocean. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 ^ottxt ^owQoan *' ifnstitutions." 
 
 Infanticide — Circumcision — Polygamy — A'i:J7/a- Drinking — Com- 
 memoration of the Dead — Sacred stones — Chieftainship— Installa- 
 tion of Timataso — The New Chief Commended to God — The 
 Queensland Labour Traffic — United Action — " Rocks Ahead !" 
 
 uTf^NFANTICIDE was very common on the island 
 iM^ when Mr. Michelsen went. It cannot have 
 
 c^ Ai.v% been practised for many generations, however, 
 "vl^j^ or the people would not have been so numer- 
 
 "'^^ ous. It is very likely that it dates from the 
 time when the Queensland traffic was commenced. 
 This parted husbands and wives for several years, and 
 infanticide (more often pre-natal) was an expedient to 
 put away the evidences of unfaithfulness on the part of 
 the women. Once introduced, the practice became 
 general. 
 
 In spite of constant wars, the population of the island 
 must have increased steadily from the time of original 
 settlement, in the sixteenth century, up to about fifty 
 years ago, when it was probably three times as large as 
 at present. During the past generation there has been 
 a continual decrease. For this, infanticide and the 
 Kanaka traffic are mainly responsible. The natural 
 resources are equal to a population ten times as large 
 
134 ^omc ©ongoan " 3fnstxtuti0ns.*' 
 
 as the present, which is a little over a thousand. Since 
 the introduction of Christianity, infanticide has ceased ; 
 and in some of the villages a large number of women 
 fondle babies on their arms. 
 
 Among the social practices — of no definite religious 
 significance on Tongoa — is circumcision. Though 
 very general on some of the islands, it is only 
 observed by a section of the population of our island ; 
 and then not in infancy, but when about twelve or 
 fourteen years of age. It is not a caste badge, but very 
 probably a survival of a tribal custom. There are, on 
 some of the islands, more indications of caste than 
 appear on Tongoa. 
 
 The polygamous practices of the people have been 
 a great drawback to Gospel work. Chiefs and others 
 of an ambitious turn of mind, have spared no effort 
 to increase the number of their wives ; others have 
 added them to their households as " women " to do 
 their bidding. 
 
 Although making it a rule not to baptize polygamists, 
 Mr. Michelsen has ever distinguished between preaching 
 the Gospel and merely denouncing sinful customs. 
 Though speaking against polygamy, and not with- 
 holding clear statements regarding the moral law, he 
 has put his strength into making known the Gospel, 
 before which alone the evil ways of the people must 
 fall into ill-favour. In his own words : " I did not per- 
 suade them to pTit away their wives — I left the truth 
 to do its own purifying work. I make it clear to them 
 that polygamy is not God's holy way, but a practice 
 which sin has brought into the world." 
 
'' |)uttin0 ^hian" Ijis Kotibcs. 135 
 
 And the truth Jias done its purifying work. Once at 
 Epi Mr. Michelsen addressed a large and hearty meeting 
 of several villages. On that occasion he said nothing 
 about polygamy ; but, after the gathering, he saw a 
 cluster of people, one of whom was speaking very loud, 
 almost excitedly. On inquiry, the missionary was told 
 that a man wished to put away his wives ! The simple 
 fact was, that the Gospel had reached the man's heart ; 
 but the poor fellow could not look up to God, because 
 of the sinful manner of life that interposed between 
 himself and the Holy One. 
 
 In some countries the social customs are such that 
 the natives have to face many perplexing questions on 
 proposing to put away their wives. Not so in the island 
 of Tongoa, where, under the old order, a woman was 
 as well off without a husband as with one. Women 
 have their own plantations, so they need not starve. In 
 many cases they are thankful to be free — marriage is 
 bond-service ; and to be " put away " often amounts to 
 having their liberty given them ! 
 
 The wives of a Tongoan chief were expected to serve 
 him as he might direct. Chiefs were held in honour 
 according to their capacity to buy " women." A chief 
 would have a number of houses — one for himself, and 
 one for each of his wives. In the event of a man dying, 
 the wife or wives passed over to his brother, somewhat 
 after an arrangement which God suffered to obtain 
 among the ancient Israelites. 
 
 Marriages were arranged by parents even while the 
 parties were infants. Thus, a boy who was to be a chief 
 had many wives bespoken for him. The girl was paid 
 
136 ^omc ®on0oan ** ilnstitutions/' 
 
 for — so many pigs. As there was much ambition 
 among parents for their girls to be the wives of chiefs, 
 the proposal generally emanated from the feminine 
 side. Since the influence of Christianity has been felt 
 on the island, these hateful customs have fallen into dis- 
 repute. Marriages are now arranged by the young men 
 and maidens themselves ; and some interest attaches to 
 the fact that the right to open the question is not the 
 exclusive privilege of the stronger sex. 
 
 Kava is a stupefying drink, common in the islands. 
 There are various methods of preparing it ; all of them 
 essentially objectionable, and in their outcome decidedly 
 hurtful. It is prepared from the root oi piper methysticum, 
 and the process is attended by a peculiar ceremony. 
 Standing up in a circle, the men of Tongoa took a leaf, 
 and laid it upon the opening formed by the thumb and 
 first finger of the left hand, and then struck it with the 
 palm of the right. This was an act of " sacrificing to the 
 spirits," Exclaiming "iVrt/rtwm/^" ("spirits of the dead"), 
 the Kava devotees practically dedicated the drink to 
 the entire spirit-world. To the " spirits " they gave the 
 useless leaves ; their own sensual tastes were indulged 
 by the use of the root. 
 
 The root was cut into small pieces, which were dis- 
 tributed among men, who masticated them in their 
 mouths. The pulp was spit out, squeezed in a cup, and 
 repeatedly chewed by one after another of the company; 
 then it was strained through fibre of the cocoa-nut 
 husk. Retiring to the corners of the square surrounding 
 the Kava-house — and every village had such an insti- 
 tution — so as not to be seen in the act, the men drank 
 the filthy liquid. 
 
JFcasls obcr tljc ^cnb. 137 
 
 This drink induces a variety of stomach troubles, and . 
 causes the death of many people. While unable to urge 
 upon uninstructed heathens the sinfulness of the prac- 
 tice because of its association with spirit-worship, the 
 missionary boldly declared the habit sinful, because it 
 interferes with the natural functions, and destroys the 
 human body. 
 
 There is no trace of a holy day having been observed 
 on Tongoa before the Gospel introduced the Sabbath of 
 the Lord. Feasts over the dead — such as are known as 
 " wakes " in some parts of the British Empire — were 
 frequent. The bodies of the dead were dressed up 
 and painted, and kept until decomposition had so far 
 advanced as to necessitate burial. The body symbol- 
 ized the spiritual presence of the departed one at the 
 feast in his honour. Every tenth day during the mourn- 
 ing, and in commemorations in after years, was invested 
 with a special character. There may in this be the 
 survival of a periodical festival. 
 
 Sacred stones, which were inserted in belts, were held 
 to protect their wearers from many evils. These charms 
 were handed down from one generation to another as 
 heirlooms and tokens for good. Some of the sacred 
 men had large numbers of them, which they " worked " 
 in connection with various " arts." Needless to say, 
 they expected reward for their divination. Moreover, 
 at the season of planting it was customary to put into 
 the ground stones, similar in shape to the expected fruit, 
 which were supposed to act as charms, and influence the 
 harvest. 
 
 Chieftainship is hereditary, designation also. If a chief 
 
138 ^omc ^ongoait " Jnstxtittions/* 
 
 dies, and his son is an infant, the chief's brother, with 
 the consent of the people, assumes authority until such 
 time as the young man may " come of age." It is the 
 rule for chiefs, when advancing in years, to introduce 
 their sons to the responsibilities of office. In such cases 
 the senior chief guides the junior in his work. 
 
 The great work of the chief in heathen days was the 
 ordering of feasts. Ruling was nothing to this — indeed, 
 this amounted to good ruling. When a man gets old, 
 he is glad to make these duties devolve upon younger 
 shoulders, to whom, as a rule, they are less irksome and 
 more agreeable. 
 
 The young man Timataso* was installed as Tinabua, 
 on the death of Malakaleo's immediate successor. The 
 ceremony was of an essentially Christian character. A 
 shed was erected adjoining the church at Lumbukuti, to 
 hold the great crowd that assembled to witness the pro- 
 ceedings. In compliance with the desire of the chief- 
 elect, the people were in mourning for the late chief — 
 an arrangement nev^er known before, but showing a fine 
 trait in the disposition of Timataso. In some measure 
 the ceremony was a working out of the old custom ; 
 but the whole was characterized by a becoming so- 
 lemnity. 
 
 Not only were all the villagers present, but all the 
 chiefs of the island, and a large number of other people 
 as well. The relation of the chief to the people, and 
 the responsibility of the chief as such to God, were 
 explained in detail by the missionary. As an inno- 
 vation, it was made clear that the chief does not own 
 the people, but is their head ; and should be a ruler 
 * See note on p. 68. 
 
SfnstaUafion of a Cijicf. i39 
 
 of willing subjects. It was also shown that it is as 
 a servant of God that the chief is called upon to act. 
 
 The presence of other chiefs was in honour of an old 
 custom, which, however, had in the past only been 
 partially carried out. Because of the constant wars 
 between the various villages, no such complete re-union 
 had before been possible. It is the rule on Tongoa for 
 the young chief to receive office from the retiring chief: 
 as the last chief of Lumbukuti had died, his predecessor 
 was again called in to act as "retiring chief." 
 
 The installation ceremony began with all the villagers 
 coming up to the new chief and pressing his hand — the 
 imported form of greeting — and promising to be faithful 
 subjects of Tinabua, who, on his part, engaged to rule 
 them for their happiness. This was a new element 
 in the ceremony, as formerly the chief was regarded as 
 the rightful ozvner of the people ! This part of the 
 programme — somewhat tedious, it is true — was followed 
 by Malakaleo transferring the chieftainship by laying 
 his hand upon the young man, and saying, " Be thou 
 Tinabua." After that, Tinabua joined hands with all 
 the other chiefs, forming a circle round the missionary 
 and Malakaleo — implying that he was not only the 
 chief of Lumbukuti, but one of the federation of chiefs 
 on Tongoa, and accepted by them as a brother ruler, 
 
 " There is no power but of God ; and the powers 
 that be are ordained of God." In recognition of this 
 important truth, the missionary engaged in prayer, 
 asking the King of kings and Lord of lords graciously 
 to accept the services of Tinabua, and to bless his efforts 
 to make the people of Lumbukuti happy through the 
 fear of God. The singing of a hymn concluded the 
 
140 ^omc ^on0Oiin *' BFnstitutions.*' 
 
 ceremony. A feast worthy of the chief's influence, and 
 in harmony with the auspicious event, followed. The 
 installation thus described in detail is one of several 
 that have taken place on the island since Christianity 
 has asserted its power there. 
 
 The idea of oneness of interest and obligation on the 
 part of the chiefs, suggested by their joining hands 
 during these installation proceedings, is more and more 
 taking a practical turn. On one occasion, the chiefs 
 conferred together regarding the Queensland Labour 
 Traffic, and decided to petition the Governor of the 
 Colony, protesting against the Kanaka " recruiting," 
 which is such a scourge to the Islands. They thought 
 he might respect their rights over their people ; and 
 they duly appointed a scribe, who prepared a memorial 
 which they all signed. This was then translated by 
 the missionary, and forwarded to the authorities in 
 Queensland. To the unspeakable delight of all, the 
 petition was respected ; and no " recruiting " has since 
 been done on Tongoa. 
 
 Another instance of united effort is furnished by a 
 more recent occurrence, during the absence of the 
 missionary from the island, while on furlough. One 
 day, while H.M.S. Dai-t — Captain Frederick in charge — 
 was at anchor at Tongoa, all the chiefs went on board. 
 Tinabua was the spokesman, and in quite creditable 
 English he explained to the Captain that the inhabi- 
 tants feared " rocks ahead " in regard to European 
 influence. Having seen the benefits of British pro- 
 tection in the Fiji Islands — and doubtless also having 
 their feelings stirred up through the Christian and 
 gentlemanly conduct of Captain Frederick and his 
 
" Our (Kljief antr Ijcr l^amil^." 141 
 
 officers — they begged that Her Majesty might be 
 petitioned to take the people under her benign pro- 
 tection.* The Captain undertook to convey their views 
 to the Foreign Office. The chiefs of Emae, hearing 
 what had been done, speedily made for Tongoa, and 
 presented a similar request. 
 
 As another illustration of the native confidence in 
 British rule and care, mention may be made of a 
 childish expression on the part of the eldest son of 
 Marimaraki, the chief of Pele. The missionary had 
 just received a beautiful picture of the Queen and the 
 Royal Family ; and this was shown to the young man 
 and some other natives as — " our Chief and her Family." 
 After admiring the numerous and interesting group, the 
 youth exclaimed : " If they are so many as all that, why 
 does she not send one of them to Tongoa ? " That is, 
 as Governor, of course ! Conscious of their individual 
 weakness, the chiefs of the island gladly combine for 
 strength ; but, even then, they feel the need of resting, 
 if possible, upon the powerful arm of Imperial Britain. 
 
 * Would that the inhabitants of the New Hebrides were as 
 happily situated as the Fijians ! At a Missionary Conference held 
 at Aneityum, in June, 1892, it was resolved : — "The Synod, having 
 heard with alarm of the threatened early annexation of these 
 islands by France, and feeling that such annexation would be 
 ruinous to our work, and to the best interests of the natives gen- 
 erally, urges upon the Presbyterian churches of Britain to use 
 their influence with Her Majesty's Government to prevent such 
 annexation." At the meeting in 1891, a similar resolution was 
 recorded. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 ^ OJiiestton of Custom. 
 
 Serious Dispute on Epi — Great Victory for Christian Honour — 
 Noble Determination of the Natives. 
 
 "*^"W/ UST about the time of the return of the refugees 
 ^p x to Epi, Manambalea again showed himself an 
 ^M^K advocate of peace principles on the basis of 
 r^ the Gospel. He heard that some of the other 
 
 )^ villages of Epi speaking the Tasiko language 
 were at war. Taking with him, as interpreter, a Tasiko 
 man, who happened to be on Tongoa, he went to the 
 troubled region, and made peace between the contending 
 parties. Shortly afterwards these people applied for 
 teachers ! At the time, the villages were under the 
 charge of Rev. R. M. Eraser ; so Mr. Michelsen could 
 do nothing. One of the villages in Epi, by name 
 Tonomia, the strongest in that part, kept back until 
 1 89 1, and then it seemed less likely than formerly to 
 admit Christian influence. In the meantime the villages 
 had come into Mr. Michelsen's care. An event then 
 occurred, which proved the beginning of a new era. A 
 woman had left the village to become the wife of a 
 man belonging to another village — to which a teacher 
 
fpa^tttcnt for lExbes. 143 
 
 had been sent She was asked to go back, but refused ; 
 and the man likewise was not willing to part with her. 
 At the same time, he did not seem disposed to discharge 
 the alternative obligation — so many pigs ! 
 
 Mr. Michelsen had gone over to Epi, just at that 
 time, determined, if possible, to see the last heathen 
 village in his district placed under Christian instruction 
 — so to give practical effect to the labours and prayers 
 of many years. Hearing of the trouble respecting the 
 woman, he made for the village which was determined 
 to compel its neighbour to observe a well-known custom 
 regarding payment for wives received from other 
 tribes. After a long walk through the bush, the village 
 was reached. Only a youth was to be seen, and he 
 explained that the men had gone into the forest. He 
 led the way ; and a mile or so distant, Mr. Michelsen 
 came upon the tribe in fighting order under the shade 
 of some enormous trees. All had guns, except the few 
 old men who were not so far advanced in " civilization " : 
 they were armed, some with bows and poisoned arrows, 
 others with spears. 
 
 The missionary was received in a friendly manner. 
 Explaining to him the reason of the hostilities that were 
 in progress, the leaders said that the " Christian " people 
 had been dealing unjustly with them. The injustice 
 complained of lay in the fact that pressure had not been 
 brought to bear upon the man who took a wife from 
 Tonomia without paying for her. Mr. Michelsen pro- 
 posed a visit to the offending village, in order to a 
 friendly conference. Armed men were not likely to 
 look kindly upon such a suggestion ; and, in fact, it 
 was at once ruled out of the question. To be sure, it 
 
144 ^ OJucstion of Custom. 
 
 would involve a moral courage which is not necessarily 
 cultivated by the engagements of the field of battle. 
 Brave to fight, the forces of Tonomia hesitated to face 
 the foe on any other terms. 
 
 A little reason having been brought to bear, Mr. 
 Michelsen succeeded in persuading the men to go with 
 him. At the other village they found a divided feeling. 
 The chief, who was a decided Christian, would like 
 to have the matter settled peaceably. The man who had 
 taken the woman, as well as some of his friends, did 
 not put in an appearance. At last they were found, 
 and made to face the facts. 
 
 These facts were set forth by the missionary in an 
 address to this effect : Whatever you do, you should 
 live at peace with one another. No lasting peace can 
 exist where there is unfair dealing. The woman went 
 away from her village, and became the wife of a man 
 whom she wished to have, and who wished to have her. 
 So far, all right. According to heathen custom, if a 
 woman leaves one village to go to another, the former 
 village expects to receive some compensation from the 
 village which gains a new resident. When you all 
 become Christians — here and there also — payment will 
 not be made for any woman. But Tonomia, which is 
 yet heathen, expects payment for the woman. So I 
 say that you must pay the usual price, or the woman 
 must go back again ! The last clause was strongly 
 emphasized ; and the key-note, thus sounded, guided 
 the proceedings, and carried the day. The chief was 
 quite willing for the woman to go back ; but the 
 husband wished to retain her. At the same time he 
 seemed unable to pay the price — ten or fifteen pigs ! 
 
" ®Ijc Ciun ate Ijim ! " 145 
 
 Several speeches followed, all in favour of peace. A 
 heathen stood up, and, pointing to a boy, said : " Where 
 is that boy's father ? The gun ate him ! " He pro- 
 ceeded : " Look at that young man. Where is his 
 brother ? The gun ate him ! " And so on, naming a 
 large number whose relatives had been killed in war. 
 All agreed that the villages ought to live in peace. 
 Moreover, it was affirmed all round that this could not 
 be until all became Christian ! 
 
 After two hours the warriors of Tonomia left, with 
 the understanding that the woman would be paid for. 
 Next morning the missionary heard that there had been 
 some difficulty in getting together a sufficient number 
 of pigs. Thereupon he sent a message in these terms : 
 " Then the woman must go back." This had the 
 desired effect, and the obligation was discharged the 
 next day. The pigs on such occasions are generally 
 served up at a village feast. 
 
 A teacher was then settled in Tonomia — the only 
 village in the district that remained entirely heathen. 
 Mr. Michelsen has several times heard of the progress of 
 his work there. It is joyous to relate that everything 
 goes to confirm the remarkable promise that was made 
 when the teacher was settled : " We are determined to 
 make up for lost time." Education and evangelization 
 are being zealously promoted, with the earnest co- 
 operation of the people. 
 
 That was the last battle with open heathenism, fought 
 by Mr. Michelsen in the district allotted to him by 
 the Mission Synod. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 present Ctnnbition oi the jEiasion. 
 
 Extent of the Work and its Needs— Singing — Communication 
 
 between the Islands and Australasia — Statement by 
 
 Mr. Michelsen. 
 
 ""^^^'HE work around which these incidents cluster 
 has expanded to such an extent that there 
 were, in January, 1893, four stations in Mr. 
 Michelsen's district — two on Tongoa, one on 
 Tongariki, and one on Epi. The missionary 
 stays at the stations alternately, spending most of his 
 time at the head station at Lumbukuti. 
 
 The villages of the entire district number 32, with 
 a population of 2070. There are no heathen ; the 
 people have been Christianized. The church member- 
 ship in June, 1891, when Mr. Michelsen left for a period 
 of furlough, was 194. False professors are becoming 
 more and more unhappy, and true believers increasingly 
 earnest. 
 
 Weekly collections, in the direction of self-support, 
 have recently been commenced. As much as i6s., in 
 pennies and half-pennies, has been taken at a single 
 meeting at Lumbukuti from 200 people. If the same 
 
f Ijc f umbultutt .Station. 
 
 147 
 
 result were attained throughout the district, the mission 
 would be self-supporting. The realization of this may 
 be in the distant future ; but there is reason to believe 
 that the hope is not Utopian. 
 
 Not all at once did the educational work assume its 
 present advanced shape and importance. Some of the 
 first teachers that were sent out were young, and more 
 zealous than wise. When people would not attend 
 
 school, these advocates of " compulsory education " 
 discussed means to force them ! To-day the majority 
 of the people can read, and many can write. The 
 enlarged district, including part of Epi, has a population 
 of over two thousand. 
 
 While in many parts of the Group teachers are 
 urgently needed, so far as Mr. Michelsen's own district 
 is concerned this is not the case, for every village has 
 
148 present Coniiition of t)jt illission. 
 
 its teacher. Of course, these humble workers have not 
 had a seminary training ; but there is a prospect of the 
 standard of efficiency being raised in the future, for 
 Rev. Robt. Lamb, M.D., is about to open an institution 
 for the higher education of islanders at Ambrim. It 
 is hoped that, after a course of suitable training, the 
 teachers of the future will be equipped for assuming 
 larger responsibilities. This, in the first place, would 
 do much towards reducing the force of European mis- 
 sionaries ; and, in the second place, it might be the 
 stepping-stone to the formation of a native ministry. 
 
 Not without much effort has the present condition 
 of things been attained. Mr. Michelsen had, generally 
 speaking, to educate his teachers before he could have 
 their services. If it had been possible, in the early days 
 of the mission, to procure from neighbouring missions 
 an adequate number of teachers, the present happy state 
 of things on Tongoa would, humanly speaking, have 
 been anticipated by a period of several years. 
 
 The Roman Catholic priests have already arrived in 
 the Group, and are doing their utmost to establish their 
 footing. The traffic in strong drink by unscrupulous 
 traders is also a crying evil. An urgent need is a Mis- 
 sionary reinforcement that shall work all the islands, 
 and by advancing the Gospel and true civilization, 
 enable the people to withstand Romish superstition 
 and other snares and temptations. 
 
 Singing has exercised a useful ministry on the island. 
 The first attendants at the school eagerly picked up 
 the hymns that were sung to them. To the great joy 
 of the missionary, the Gospel story went before him in 
 
Cljnstian dljtcfs. 
 
 149 
 
 the songs which thus travelled from village to village. 
 Wherever he went he heard hymns ; walking to their 
 plantations or at their work, the people were singing 
 Christian melodies instead of the old heathen songs, 
 which were, almost without exception, impure. 
 
 Through the operations of the Australian United 
 Steam Navigation Company, there is constant com- 
 
 I 2 ;:{ 4 5 67 
 
 I Eldest SOIL oj Mari)iiaralci. 2 The lute Jin.ilnta. 3 Tar':salhi. 4 Matabiiti. 
 
 5 Maritariliu. 6 Saiiiorl. 7 Manainbalea. 
 
 A GROUP OF CHRISTIAN CHIEFS. 
 
 munication between the Islands and Australasia. A 
 small steamer performs the inter-island service ; and 
 once a month a large steamer leaves Sydney for the 
 Islands, advancing healthy trade among the popula- 
 tions. The Australian New Hebrides Compan}', 
 another medium of communication, is being worked 
 by Christian men in Australia, who are concerned 
 
150 present (Koitbition of tljc litissiott. 
 
 about the development of wholesome commerce with 
 the natives, with a view to helping the Missions.* 
 
 The contrast between the past and present has thus 
 been stated by Mr. Michelsen himself: — 
 
 " Cannibalism is now a thing of the past ; the Prince 
 of Peace reigns over two thousand natives, who from 
 time immemorial had lived in almost uninterrupted 
 war. Souls enslaved with chains of superstition are set 
 free indeed, for the Son has made them free. Selfish- 
 ness and hatred are fast vanishing before the rising Sun 
 of Righteousness, which now on many an occasion 
 brings former enemies together in the name of Jesus, to 
 ' show forth the Lord's death till He come.' 
 
 " Once a week, believers from every part of the island 
 meet to study the Word of God under the missionary's 
 guidance. From almost every house in the whole 
 district, at the dawn of day, silence is broken by the 
 song of praise. From one dwelling is heard the well- 
 known words of ' All people that on earth do dwell,' 
 in the native language ; from another, ' There is a 
 Name I love to hear ' ; perhaps from another, the 
 23rd Psalm or the I2ist ; or ' Rock of Ages, cleft 
 for me.' 
 
 " Then they have prayer. As this usually takes place 
 before there is sufficient light to see to read, there is 
 no reading of the Word until the meetings for morning 
 school and worship. Where the evenings were spent 
 in idle, and worse than idle, talk, the people are now 
 gathered in groups round the light of a modern lamp 
 
 * These established means of communication explain the im- 
 portance of all letters for the Islands being addressed "via 
 Sydney." 
 
in every house, reading, singing, and uniting in prayer. 
 The aged are cared for,* and infant Hvcs are sjjared. 
 In every village, where formerly men and women had 
 feasts — each sex in turn dancing round their heathen 
 drums,! singing songs that were the product of an im- 
 pure heart, and spending the whole night in the vilest 
 revelry — to-day is to be seen the entire population 
 going up to the house of the Lord, and each village 
 strives to excel the other in spiritual activity ; whilst 
 former enemies are never forgotten in their prayers. 
 
 " Most of the people have learned to read ; and very 
 satisfactory progress is being made in the knowledge 
 of the Word of God. Not only have the natives 
 throughout the district shown themselves ready to 
 speak a word for Jesus ; but in many instances have 
 wrought with their hands in the erection of schools 
 and churches, with no less zeal than that which they 
 formerly exhibited in preparation for their heathen and 
 carnal feasts. Some have gone forth to other islands, 
 taking their lives in their hands for the sake of making 
 known to the heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ ; 
 and many more are waiting to be fully instructed for 
 the work. 
 
 * In former times, the aged, when unable to provide for them- 
 selves, were frequently left to die of hunger in desolate huts. To 
 bury them alive was suggested by feelings of comparative pity — as 
 less harsh than cold neglect. 
 
 t These were in clusters, or " groves," recalling the Canaanitish 
 abominations " in every high hill, and under every green tree." 
 They were often erected under large banyan trees. Interchange 
 of clothing by the sexes, and other details of obscenity such as 
 characterized the worship of Baal-Ashtoreth, were not unknown on 
 the island. See engraving on page 36. 
 
152 IJrcscnt Conbition of tlje ^tissiort* 
 
 " In former days their greatest desire in death was 
 that they might be buried with due heathen honours. 
 In recent times many have died fearing no evil — ■ 
 for ' Thou art with me.' But whilst praising God 
 for what He Jias done, I earnestly invite the reader 
 to join in the prayer that past experiences may be 
 as nothing in the light of future blessings, but that 
 unparalleled numbers of such as are already nominal 
 and outward Christians may be called forth into the 
 eternal life in Jesus, and be led to exclaim : ' Behold, 
 what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon 
 us, that we should be called the children of God ; 
 aiid such we afe.'" 
 
 J' 
 
 Extract from letter by " Billy," a Christian Teacher on Tongariki. 
 
 (Peculiarities in pronunciation : Vowels as in German ; ^=ng; d=r\A ; / = gbw ; 
 j> also does duty for b.) 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 Misi, We two have gone to Tongariki. The people of Lakilia are being 
 affected by the Light ; the men no longer become stinking [?'.<;., intoxicated], 
 and the women no longer smoke. Maleisere is dead ; the many saw it, and 
 feared ; and they are now coming out well to the meetings. . . . Our 
 hearts are drawn out to you, because you again press upon us the urgency 
 of the work of God, and we rejoice. Yes, that is all. 
 ^ I (am), Billy. ^ 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 ^)jt C^uf^nslantr Ifi-anaka I^rafili:. 
 
 The word "Kanaka" — The "Third Plague" — Tongoa free from 
 the Scourge — Deplorable Facts — " Pinis " inevitable. 
 
 k!^^^[|EVERAL allusions have already been made 
 X^^^ to the Kanaka Traffic, on which a brief state- 
 )^^^ ment must now suffice. The word Kanaka 
 ^.'^lY means " a man " in the Hawaiian and other 
 T^ islands ; in the Samoa and Maori languages 
 it is Tajiga-ta ; and in Tongoan, Na-ata, or, in desig- 
 nating the people of a village, Na-ka. So the Kanaka 
 traffic means a traffic in huvian beings ! 
 
 After the whaling and sandal-wood trades, the Kanaka 
 traffic has come in as the third plague in the New 
 Hebrides. It began about 1863. There is no need to re- 
 hearse in these pages the horrors of the traffic ; others 
 have made it their business to bring these before the free 
 citizens of the British Empire. Nor is it asserted that 
 the Kanaka traffic is the same to-day as when the 
 Carl and similar atrocities were perpetrated some 
 twenty-five years ago. Women as well as men are 
 by it deported to labour in the sugar plantations of 
 Queensland. 
 
154 t^Ijc djuccnslantr lianalia fraflSr. 
 
 On representations from the missionaries and other 
 friends of the natives, the traffic has been regulated 
 more and more stringently during the past twenty 
 years ; and it may almost be said that nothing more 
 can be done for the protection of the natives, so long as 
 the traffic continues to be sanctioned. A Queensland 
 Government Agent is found on board every " recruiting" 
 vessel ; ships of war are cruising about the Islands 
 ready to enforce due observance of the regulations — 
 and splendid work has been done by this means by 
 Captain Davies and other faithful servants of the Queen. 
 The opinion prevails among friends of the natives that 
 the traffic cannot be furtJier regulated. 
 
 I do not assert that all the regulations are carried 
 out ; indeed, if the " recruits " were not paid for, in 
 cash or kind, to the chiefs of the villages, or others 
 who may be considered as owning them, the natives 
 would regard the traffic as man-stealing, and bloodshed 
 would inevitably attend its pursuit. Owing to the 
 united action of the chiefs of the island, as described 
 on p. 140, Tongoa has of late enjoyed complete immunity 
 from the scourge. 
 
 The deplorable fact is that the traffic takes the 
 greater part of the young, strong men of the Islands 
 away from their homes, leaving their wives unprotected. 
 They are engaged for periods of from three years to 
 nine or ten, but in the majority of cases do not return ; 
 instead of welcoming their husbands back, poor women 
 only receive the news of their death in a strange land. 
 These circumstances are productive of immorality, and 
 probably gave rise — as is mentioned elsewhere — to the 
 fearful destruction of infant life, now so common on all 
 
 1 UAjwd'^^ rA iM/^SM/^ Oi/^e4 
 
the heathen islands. In a great many of the villages few 
 people are seen besides women and old men, and a very- 
 small number of children. The able-bodied men, who 
 ought to be the strength of the Islands and the strength 
 of the mission, are in Queensland. Only about a third 
 of them return home ; the other two-thirds die in the 
 colony. Moreover, the fact should not be overlooked that 
 natives suffering from consumption or other incurable 
 diseases, are frequently sent home simply to die. 
 
 It is often said that the native races " die when they 
 come into contact with civilization." This does not 
 adequately explain the high rate of Kanaka mortality 
 in Queensland. White men often pronounce the natives 
 " lazy" ; if inclined to dispute the correctness of the state- 
 ment, I should say that my observation is, that in their 
 plantations at home the natives work as much as they 
 are physically able — that is, probably eight hours a day. 
 In Queensland they are made to labour as no European 
 could under the same climatic conditions ; and that is 
 much beyond their capacity. It is very doubtful if the 
 South Sea Islanders can, without injury to health, do 
 more work in the colony than a European. 
 
 Queensland planters object to coolies and Chinese, 
 who are able to work in the climate without serious 
 injury to themselves ; doubtless the objection arises 
 from the fact that this class of labour would not pay 
 so well. If the Kanakas were only expected to work 
 according to tJieir strength, it is probable that they 
 would be the less profitable class of labourers. It 
 seems clear that the margin of profit for the planters 
 lies between what the Kanakas are able to bear, and 
 what they are not able to bear, but yet are made to do. 
 
156 ®ljc 0Juccnslan6 |fianaha CraflSc. 
 
 In other words, the profit of the sugar planter is propor- 
 tionate to the number of Kanakas worked to death. 
 
 An incident will help us to realize what this traffic is 
 doing for the Islands. I was once sailing with some 
 Tanna men from Port Resolution (Dr. J; G. Paton's 
 first station) to Futuna. Conversing with the men in 
 broken English, I inquired if there were many people 
 then living about Port Resolution, One of the party 
 laconically answered, " Pints " (" Finish "). That was 
 to say, there were none ! Many a Government agent, 
 when asked if the traffic would soon be stopped, has 
 remarked : " Really, it does not much matter ; for if 
 it is not stopped, it will soon stop itself." This, I 
 believe, is true. If the traffic is not discontinued, a 
 period of twenty or thirty years may suffice to end it ; 
 and to witness the return of a Kanaka ship to the 
 colonies with the sad report — " Phiis " ! 
 
'■^^^tejj^< a^!^iA' "" 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Tongoans as Warriors — Waiting for the Gospel — A Curious 
 ' Caution — Pulling down the Hurricane — Dawn of Christian 
 Reform — The Currency of Tongoa — Merciful Deliverances — 
 Native Cunning and Simplicity — "The Pharisee and the Publi- 
 can " — The " Wine " of Tongoa — The Languages of Mr. 
 Michelsen's District— Tongoans and " The Blessed Hope "— 
 Saved to Save—" That's what ' the Light ' does for us ! " 
 
 -'^~ ^1 H E courage and enterprise which led to the first 
 ^^l Hi*- settlement of Tongoa, some 300 years ago, 
 after the great volcanic disaster, seems to 
 have been maintained to the present time ; 
 although old men complain that those of 
 the younger generation are not equal to their fathers. 
 There is not a village on the island without a long story 
 of bloody battles fought. 
 
 It often happened that when walking through the 
 forests, places were pointed out to Mr. Michelsen as 
 former sites of various villages. The Pele people have 
 been driven from their place once since Mr. Michelsen 
 went to the island ; the Lumbukuti tribe were just 
 building their new villages when he arrived, after living 
 several years at Panita. Even the Selembanga men were 
 
158 llotcs atttr ^fncibcttts. 
 
 driven off their land ; and so with Mangarisu and 
 Kurumambe. Tarisaliu, that cruel cannibal of Purau, 
 was driven from his place three times during Mr. 
 Michelsen's residence. 
 
 This, of course, is only the negative side of the 
 matter. But it implies the other. Nor has their war- 
 fare always been confined to their own island. Thus, 
 several years ago, a wife of Ti-Tongoa (afterwards 
 called Manaura), on leaving Queensland, where she had 
 been engaged in sugar plantation work, did not return 
 to her own island. During her stay in Queensland, 
 she had consorted with a man from Siviri, on Efate. 
 It is a very common thing for women, during their 
 three years' stay in the colony, to be wives of other 
 men. Knowing what a cruel master her rightful owner 
 was, the woman preferred to go ashore with her/r^? tcni. 
 Efatese husband. This fact was soon reported to 
 Ti-Tongoa, who called together all his friends on 
 Tongoa, and even some from other islands, and, after 
 a feast, laid the matter before them. They agreed to go 
 and bring the woman back. 
 
 Fifty canoes were fitted up. They set out on their 
 voyage of over thirty miles one afternoon, came up to 
 Efate in the night, and had the village surrounded by 
 fighting-men when the people emerged from their huts 
 in the morning. Though savages, they did not lose 
 sight of their real object, i.e., to get the woman back. 
 Before attacking the people, they made known the 
 purpose of their visit. The Siviri people thought pru- 
 dence the better part of valour, and gladly delivered 
 up the woman, with a reasonable number of pigs as 
 war indemnity. The invading Islanders returned 
 
t!flla:ting for tijc (Sospcl. 159 
 
 the next day, satisfied with the result. They had 
 also left a lasting impression on the minds of the 
 people of Efate, who never again ventured to offend 
 the Tongoans. 
 
 Years before Mr. Michelsen went to Tongoa, news 
 reached the island of the settlement of missionaries 
 on Efate. This did not affect the general population ; 
 but there was one upon whose mind it made a deep 
 impression — a woman named Leinasu. She made all 
 possible inquiries, and earnestly longed to hear the good 
 news from the mouths of the missionaries. 
 
 This woman had a kind of presentiment that she 
 should live to see the day when " the Light " would be 
 known in the island. She passed through much suffer- 
 ing and many trials. Her husband was shot in one of 
 the wars, and she herself carried home his body to save 
 it from being eaten by the enemy. Fleeing from the 
 savage bush village to which she belonged, she took 
 refuge in Selembanga. 
 
 No sooner did Leinasu learn that a missionary had 
 arrived, than she sought the knowledge for which she 
 had so long been thirsting. She was one of the first 
 on that side of the island to embrace the Gospel, and 
 was for some years the faithful servant of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Michelsen. Her quiet Christian conduct and kindly 
 bearing were influential in a high degree. 
 
 Telling her own story, she has often said that before 
 finding peace through believing in Christ, she trembled 
 at the thought of her sins. This statement is the more 
 remarkable because a sense of sin is not readily admitted 
 by the natives. But this woman's conviction was such 
 
i6o llotea anir InnirctttB. 
 
 as to impress her with the exceeding sinfulness of sin. 
 She afterwards became the wife of an earnest Christian 
 teacher on the island. 
 
 During the first year Mr. Michclsen was on Tongoa 
 he proposed a visit to the village of Sakau, on the 
 island of Epi. Some native boys asked to accompany 
 him, and were allowed to do so. One questioned the 
 missionary as to what he was going to do. The answer 
 was : LotH—'' Worship." " Well," said the youth, " let 
 us pray when we get there, but do not let its shut our 
 eyes ; for the Epians are not to be trusted ! " This is 
 not altogether a new version of " Watch and pray." 
 
 Mr. Michelsen rejoiced to find, however, that the 
 story of Jesus, the Way to Eternal Life, made a 
 profound impression upon the minds of the people. 
 When they heard of the glory in store for those who 
 trust in Jesus, several interrupted and exclaimed, " Let's 
 all go there!" 
 
 There is a grim interest in the story of Ti-Tongoa 
 and the hurricane which he claimed to command. 
 While yet a heathen, this " sacred " chief invited the 
 chief of Euta to a feast. The invitation was not 
 accepted, on the ground that the proceedings would 
 be simply heathen. Thereupon Ti-Tongoa conceived 
 coercive measures. 
 
 " If you will not come," he said, " I will pull down 
 the hurricane upon you." 
 
 A terrible threat, unquestionably; but still the chief 
 of Euta declined. Not many days afterwards the hurri- 
 cane came, and did fearful damage. Curiously enough. 
 
^afort of dljnstirttt itcform. i6i 
 
 however, its strength was spent upon Ti-Tongoa's land. 
 The grounds of neighbouring chiefs, being sheltered, 
 suffered very little. 
 
 Meeting Ti-Tongoa about that time, the missionary 
 charged him with having brought on a hurricane. The 
 impeachment was stoutly denied. Carrying his banter 
 a step further, Mr. Michelsen added : " You said your- 
 self you would pull down a hurricane ; and it would 
 seem that you pulled the wrong string." To this 
 Ti-Tongoa made no reply. He is now of a different 
 temper. Being thoughtful, he exercises a good influence 
 on the island. 
 
 The Sabbatarian zeal of the good chief, Manambalea, 
 led him once to a curious expedient. Tongoans have an 
 appetite for fowls ; and Manambalea, preparing for a 
 Sunday dinner, had to face the question of dressing 
 and cooking the fowl. He saw no objection to the 
 dinner being provided on Sunday, and then the fowl 
 could be killed. In the meantime, however, it could be 
 plucked ! At this operation, Mr. Michelsen was horrified 
 to find one of the chief's servants engaged on the pre- 
 vious Saturday ! 
 
 The fowl was screeching wildly ; and on the mis- 
 sionary looking out, the lad ceased his work, and the 
 fowl stalked about in a nakedness which was painful 
 to witness. The lad explained that Manambalea did 
 not want to make too much work on Sunday ! The 
 incident showed a savage thoughtlessness rather than 
 a savage intention. The missionary thus had to 
 inculcate lessons of mercy, as well as rules for pious 
 living. 
 
 L 
 
i62 lHotca anb Ifnciitents. 
 
 In the early days of the Mission, all dealings with the 
 natives were conducted by means of barter ; and as Mr. 
 Michelsen has had sometimes as many as fifty natives to 
 support — catechumens and intending teachers — there 
 was much " dealing " to do. In fact, nearly half the 
 missionary's time was spent in procuring things needful 
 for the large household. 
 
 To simplify such transactions, he made some signed 
 tickets, which were received by the people as money ; 
 and afterwards " honoured " on presentation — some 
 being of the nominal value of a halfpenny, and others 
 of one penny. Shrewd half-heathens soon hit upon 
 the idea of " making money " by splitting these cards — 
 overlooking the fact that the missionary's initials were 
 on one side only. Moreover, this perishable " coin " was 
 found unserviceable. The next step was to introduce 
 English money ; and this civilized form of exchange 
 speedily became an established institution on Tongoa. 
 Much disappointment is prevented, and time is econo- 
 mized in a very satisfactory manner. 
 
 " Some trust in princes," but Mr. Michelsen has not 
 had any such uncertain protection. British and French 
 vessels cruise about the islands, to guard European in- 
 terests ; but it is a remarkable fact, that only once, from 
 the day when he first landed on Tongoa, until all the 
 villages had been placed under Christian instruction, 
 did he receive a visit from a man-of-war ship. 
 
 He was driven from his mission station, and had to 
 live in a native hut, under the protection of a heathen 
 tribe ; but there was neither inquiry by, nor support 
 from, representatives of great military powers. It 
 
lEcrctful §cUhcrftttcC3. 163 
 
 mattered not.* His confidence was expressed in the 
 words, " The Lord is our refuge and strength : there- 
 fore will we not fear ! " 
 
 The exception referred to is hardly worth naming ; 
 for it was a French vessel that called — not to ask what 
 it could do for the missionary, but to inquire what the 
 missionary could do in the way of giving information 
 about a boat, with crew belonging to a French vessel, 
 that had gone to sea, and been heard of no more. 
 
 During the first year of the work, when his life was 
 in danger, and help from man could not be expected, 
 and, therefore, was not sought, a chief came on his own 
 initiative, and walked about the house night after night, 
 carrying a loaded gun, and every now and then blowing 
 his pans-pipe, to break the monotony of the still hours. 
 That same man proved, at a later period, his personal 
 opposition to the Gospel by threatening to shoot the 
 missionary ! f His act of rendering protection to Mr. 
 Michelsen was in obedience to an impulse which no 
 one could account for, except by concluding that, for the 
 moment, he was doing God service without knowing it. 
 
 * Specially gratifying were the visits, in 1890 and 1891, of 
 H.M.S. Dart, with Captain Frederick and his noble officers. 
 Whilst cruising about in the Group, to render any necessary 
 assistance if called upon, the object of the visits to Tongoa was of 
 the most pacific character — namely, adjusting the charts. Captain 
 Frederick is no less a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus, than of 
 her Imperial Majesty ; and it was to him a profoundly greater joy 
 to witness God's victory over sin and ungodliness, than it would 
 have been to see the Queen's cause triumph over enemies 
 vanquished in martial conflict. The Christian conduct of the 
 Captain and his officers did more to impress the natives with 
 an idea of the greatness of the British Empire, than could have 
 been effected by the thundering of cannon or any other warlike 
 demonstration. t See p. 87. 
 
164 ^0tes anb ^ncthcnts. 
 
 The natives are not such artless children as some 
 would imagine. A story will show them to be by no 
 means wanting in cunning when they can exercise it 
 to personal advantage. In 1886, during the Tarawera 
 eruption in New Zealand, there was a heavy fall of 
 volcanic dust on Tongoa. 
 
 It fell on the mission house at Selembanga during 
 the night with the gentleness of snow, and covered the 
 ground like a thick black carpet. As much as a 
 hundredweight was swept from the iron roof of the 
 mission house. The fact that the dust closely re- 
 sembled gunpowder suggested a wicked trick to the 
 minds of some of the non-Christian natives. 
 
 Some time previously the supply of firearms and 
 ammunition had been stopped at Queensland. Many 
 heathen, having gone to the colony in the hope of 
 laying in a stock of these, returned to their islands 
 much disappointed. Why not pass off upon them as 
 gunpowder some of the volcanic dust ? The thought 
 developed into a settled design. Old flasks were filled, 
 and the occasion awaited. By-and-by a ship anchored 
 at Tongoa, having on board some heathen natives of 
 the Solomon Islands and other groups to the north. 
 Tongoans boarded her, and offered the dust for sale as 
 gunpowder. 
 
 The " returns " — men who had served in connection 
 with the labour traffic — were ready to pay any price for 
 that which would give stilts to their pride on rejoining 
 their people. They gave axes, knives, calicoes, tobacco, 
 pipes, and anything else the Tongoans asked for ; and 
 for a time were satisfied with their bargains. If in the 
 end there was dissatisfaction, there is the consolation 
 
Mtljite ^catljen. 165 
 
 that the " ammunition " did nothing worse than pro- 
 claim the folly of those who bought it, and the knavery 
 of those who sold it. 
 
 Kanaka " returns " have not always been well paid. 
 The temptation has been to load the men with trinkets 
 instead of giving them substantial recompense A 
 native of Tongoa, on one of the Fiji islands, received 
 with much gratification a roll of bright-coloured wall- 
 paper, which he thought was " calico." Going to a 
 great feast, he cut off a piece and " clothed " himself — 
 according as the fashion is for such to attire themselves. 
 When the time to dance arrived, and the festive round 
 caused profuse perspiration, the man's finery ill became 
 his noble figure. First it hung to him ; and at length it 
 left him. 
 
 It need hardly be said that the man's want of shrewd- 
 ness afforded the best part of the evening's entertain- 
 ment, and taught all the lesson of not depending too 
 implicitly on European honesty. Indeed, the natives 
 have to-day a not very complimentary term in their 
 vocabulary; "white heathen " with them designates all 
 Europeans who are not " missionaries," z>., God-fearing 
 persons. Yes ; such is the truth. God-fearing visitors 
 to Tongoa, whether traders or naval officers, are by the 
 people called " missionaries." 
 
 Before leaving the island on furlough in 1891, Mr. 
 Michelsen intimated his willingness to baptize a few 
 believing' natives. Among the candidates were two 
 old men who answered to the description of the two 
 who, in the parable, went up into the temple to pray — 
 " the one a pharisee, and the other a publican." 
 
1 66 itotts anir Innirenta. 
 
 One of the two, of quiet demeanour, said he desired 
 baptism. He was asked : " What about your sins ? " 
 " Oh," he repHed, " I have no sins." 
 
 " But," inquired the missionary, " how was it with you 
 before I came ? " The benighted man said : " I have 
 always been as I am now — ^just as you see me." 
 
 " But have you not sinned ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Well then, I am sorry to say that Christ is not for 
 you : Christ only came to save sinners." 
 
 All that Mr. Michelsen could say failed to convince 
 this man that he was a sinner. He endeavoured, how- 
 ever, to make it plain to him that baptism was only for 
 such as had gone to Jesus for salvation from their sins. 
 
 The other candidate had been a " sacred man," whose 
 former life was well-known to the missionary, and had 
 been anything but sinless. 
 
 " What about you ? " 
 
 " Ah ! I have killed men ; I have eaten men ; I have 
 stolen ; I have been guilty of witchcraft ; and, indeed, 
 I do not know what wicked thing I have not done." 
 After a brief pause, the penitent continued : " My son 
 is a Christian, and so is my daughter. I am an old 
 man, and perhaps may not live until you come back 
 again. My heart cleaves to the Lord ; and I want to 
 confess Him as my only Saviour." 
 
 This man had not attended the course of regular 
 instruction required of candidates ; but the missionary 
 had no doubt as to his duty to baptize one who could 
 make such a confession. " This man went down to his 
 house justified rather than the other." He belonged to 
 Panita, the first station of the mission. He long did 
 
S:ijc '"Hinc" of ^onQoa. 167 
 
 business as a " sacred man " throughout the island. 
 The people soon learned, however, that the missionary 
 could deal more effectually with their sicknesses. 
 Losing his trade, the man went to a neighbouring 
 island to " practise." When Christianity was introduced 
 there, he returned to Tongoa, His business having 
 entirely gone, he realized his need of Divine consola- 
 tion, and threw in his lot with the Christians. His son, 
 a very fine young fellow, is one of the worthiest believers 
 on the island. 
 
 That young man, Taviroto, spent some time in 
 Queensland ; and, amongst other occupations, he served 
 a milk-dealer. On returning to the island, he stayed 
 at the Mission House. On one occasion he saw Mrs. 
 Michelsen setting the milk-dishes. He wanted to know 
 w^iy she had not put the water in ! In the simplicity 
 of his heart he thought the milk-dealer's practice in 
 Queensland was the correct thing, rather than an ex- 
 pedient to increase his profits. 
 
 There has been considerable discussion among 
 Christian workers in the South Seas regarding the 
 way in which believers should " show the Lord's 
 death till He come." With the natives wine is a 
 drink passing under the general name of " grog," against 
 which the missionaries utter loud and constant warn- 
 ings. What wine was in the East, the milk of the 
 cocoanut is in the South Seas. 
 
 The question has, therefore, been asked, May not the 
 cup of remembrance be filled with the grateful drink for 
 which the Christians cannot but be thankful to God, in 
 preference to the beverage which, as imported from 
 
i68 lHotes anil BInniicnts. 
 
 abroad, is a noxious mixture of chemicals, coloured and 
 strengthened to suit an acquired taste ? The " cup of 
 blessing" may, in the opinion of some workers in the 
 islands, very appropriately contain that drink which is 
 practically the native substitute for " the fruit of the 
 vine." The Communion rite would, it is maintained, 
 lose nothing of its significance by the oriental wine 
 being replaced by its New Hebrides counterpart — the 
 milk of the young cocoanut. 
 
 The question remains an open one. Mr. Michelsen 
 tells of a native boy who, relating to some acquaintances 
 what he knew of Christianity said, " They have a ' holy 
 eating,' at which they eat bread and drink grog." The 
 heathen thought this a grand feast ; and it must be 
 capital to be a Christian, so as to have the special 
 privilege of drinking the grog against which the 
 missionaries warn them. Rev. Dr. Inglis held that 
 cocoanut-milk is the wine of the islands, and should 
 have the preference. 
 
 There are three distinct languages spoken in Mr. 
 Michelsen's district — the Tongoan, which is the same 
 as that spoken on Nguna ; the Makura, which is not 
 so widely used ; and the Tasiko, which is one of a 
 family of languages, and is spoken on Epi, Malekula, 
 and Ambrim. All have been reduced to writing with 
 the Roman character. 
 
 In the Nguna-Tongoa tongue nearly the entire New 
 Testament has been translated. In this Rev. Peter 
 Milne has been a devoted and laborious worker. Two 
 small books have been written by Mr. Michelsen in the 
 Makura \a.n^ua.ge, also some hymns. Since then, hq 
 
I^ntibc ©cncrositj. 169 
 
 has decided to encourage the use of Tongoan among 
 the Makura-speaking people. In Tasiko the Gospel 
 according to Matthew, as translated by Mr. Michelsen, 
 has been published by the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society. 
 
 When the Otago Synod granted the missionary 
 leave to visit Europe, in 1891, the Mission Committee 
 was authorized to collect money to facilitate the 
 journey. The mission funds were, however, already so 
 strained, that nothing could be advanced. Except for 
 money from some other quarter, the workers could 
 not have left their sphere. The natives, out of love 
 to Mr. Michelsen and his wife, speedily solved the 
 difficulty by making arrowroot of the value of ;^ioo 
 to pay the passage. This is no isolated act of gen- 
 erosity on the part of the Christianized natives of 
 Tongoa. 
 
 Asked with what interest, or otherwise, the Tongoans 
 have listened to the Gospel message regarding the re- 
 turn of the Lord Jesus, Mr. Michelsen said : " To the 
 natives the prospect of Christ's coming again, and 
 the hope of the Resurrection life, is most charming. 
 When they report the death of believers, it is in the 
 words that he or she has ' fallen asleep.' Everything is 
 very material with them — very real ; and they expect 
 the higher existence to be substantial, because they 
 cannot so well realize any other. They hope for the 
 life of the world to come ; and look forward to Christ's 
 coming as ' the blessed hope.' " 
 
17° l^otcs anb Snciirents. 
 
 It is cheering to witness the tenacity with which some 
 of the native converts " hold on to their Book " — that 
 is, stand by the Word of God and pursue the Christian 
 Hfe. There are many stories of native steadfastness, 
 even on the part of such as have, for a time, left the 
 Islands. Moreover, worldly sailors, who have ridiculed 
 and jeered at the natives while on the voyage to 
 Queensland, have afterwards confessed to the failure 
 of all endeavours to put some of them to shame. It 
 is the joy, if not the boast, of such converts to say, 
 " I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." 
 
 The young man Timataso, who at one time called 
 himself " Missis," and ultimately became the leading 
 chief on Tongoa, should have a place among converts 
 who have regarded themselves as " saved to save." 
 As a youth of sixteen, he went to Queensland, about 
 the year 1884 ; that is, before "recruiting" from Tongoa 
 had been prohibited. The missionary was then residing 
 at Selembanga, and was not so well informed as he 
 could have wished to be of how the young man was 
 faring among his heathen friends at Lumbukuti. As a 
 fact, the teaching he had received in the early days of 
 the work at Panita, had taken a deep and ineradicable 
 hold of his soul. In Queensland he fell in with some 
 natives of the bush village of Pele, which was at that 
 time at war with Lumbukuti. Not affected by this, 
 Timataso availed himself of the opportunities that 
 were afforded him of preaching the Gospel to these 
 heathen from his own island. At least, in one instance, 
 the blessing of God attended his efforts. A Pele 
 young man returned from Queensland a decided 
 Christian j and when, in course of time, a teacher 
 
*' ^abtti to ^abz." 171 
 
 was settled in the village, he proved a great help in 
 the work. 
 
 After some years, this young man disappointed the 
 missionary by accompanying a number of his people to 
 Port Mackay in Queensland. The reason of their action 
 was afterwards made clear — they were dissatisfied 
 with the conduct of the young chief of Pele, who did 
 not give to Christianity the support which he had 
 promised his people to do. The missionary was, how- 
 ever, agreeably surprised to receive, some months later, 
 a letter from a young man, a European, engaged as a 
 clerk in a sugar plantation office at Port Mackay. After 
 referring to the Godlessness of the white men by whom 
 he was surrounded, he mentioned that on a recent 
 Sunday he noticed a number of Kanakas loitering 
 about a large shed on the plantation ; some were 
 playing jews' harps, others concertinas, and for the 
 most part all were amusing themselves in various ways. 
 He observed, however, that there was a steady current 
 flowing into the shed, and so he went to see what the 
 attraction was. He there found a company of newly- 
 arrived Tongoans, and a number of other islanders, 
 listening to the preaching of a young P^le man, who 
 proved to be none other than Timataso's convert. The 
 people were listening eagerly to the message of salva- 
 tion. Comparing the conduct of these " savages " with 
 that of the Godless Europeans around him, the cor- 
 respondent was deeply impressed by the scene. 
 
 There is neither brook nor water-shed on Tongoa, 
 and the rain is quickly absorbed by its pumice-stone 
 subsoil. As a rule, the water required for domestic 
 purposes is obtained from a few insignificant springs, 
 
172 |3.otcs anil SitntJents. 
 
 which, however, are not to be depended on in dry 
 weather. At times want of water has been a serious 
 trouble. Mr. Michelsen saw the need of sinking a well, 
 and advised the natives to undertake the work. As a 
 beginning, to make sure of finding water, they set to 
 digging near the sea-shore. They soon got what they 
 need not have dug for — salt water. It required some 
 encouragement to induce them to work further inland. 
 They were at length induced, and their enterprise was 
 richly rewarded. To their great joy and astonishment 
 they came upon beautiful water. 
 
 "That's what 'the Light' does for us!" was the 
 spontaneous remark of several. " Only think," they 
 went on, " that we have more than once so suffered 
 from want of water, that we have nearly died ; and yet 
 here it was all the while, a short distance under foot ! " 
 The Tongoans praised God — accepting the well as a 
 gift of his loving Providence. Mr. Michelsen was care- 
 ful to explain that the water was the free gift of God ; 
 and now the people of Tongoa needed to " thirst " no 
 more, for though other springs should fail, here all 
 might drink of the life-sustaining supplies. 
 
 Not only does " the Light " — the Gospel of Christ — 
 give to the Tongoans a well of water like unto Jacob's, 
 of which they may drink, to thirst again ; but it is des- 
 tined to give to the dwellers on continents, as well as 
 islands, access to " the well of water which springeth up 
 into everlasting life," 
 
APPE ND IX 
 
 ^\jc llchi Ufbritrj^s iEissxon. 
 
 ^v^,EADERS of these pages will be interested by some 
 ij- general account of mission work in the New Heb- 
 rides. For many of the facts I am indebted to 
 '^K<^^ Dr. Steel's work, "The New Hebrides and Chris- 
 -^V^i^ tian Missions."* 
 
 Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, a Portuguese navigator, was the 
 first European to discover one of the New Hebrides Islands. 
 On April loth, 1606, he sighted the north end of a land which 
 he supposed to be Australia, and called it Tierra Australis del 
 Espiritu Santo. He sailed into the large bay. The port was 
 called Vera Cruz ; the river flowing into the bay he called the 
 Jordan, on the banks of which he commenced to build the " New 
 Jerusalem." 
 
 Captain Cook, however, was the real discoverer of the Group. 
 His sui-veys were so near the truth that a good deal of the present 
 chart of the Group is constructed on his drafts. It was in 1774 
 that this great English navigator sailed twice through the Group 
 and discovered and named them all. 
 
 Many accounts have already been given of Christian Missions 
 in our Group ; and yet with regard to the deeds of cruelty, stories 
 of danger and sorrow, as well as the power of Jesus to save 
 even among these cannibal savages, it may well be said, " the half 
 has never been told." We propose to give a brief description of 
 the Mission from island to island. 
 
 * Nisbet & Co. , 1880! 
 
174 ^ppcnbi-f. 
 
 Aneityum is the most southerly island in the Group. In 1845 
 Samoan teachers were settled there. Rev. John Geddie and his 
 wife went in 1848, It is not easy to express opinions of the 
 qualifications of a man whom one has not seen at work ; but 
 my impression is, that a greater pioneer missionary never settled 
 in the New Hebrides. In 1852 he was joined by the scholarly 
 Dr. Inglis. Whilst we would by no means forget much valuable 
 work of translation done by Dr. Geddie, and also by Mrs. Geddie 
 and Mr. Copeland, Dr. Inglis, after twenty-five years' careful 
 toil, was able to present to the people of Aneityum the complete 
 Bible. When Dr. Inglis arrived, the natives, then some 3000, 
 were open to receive teachers in every district of the island. 
 After many a hard battle with heathenism in the early days, 
 the cjuestion had now changed from " who will have " to " who 
 can give the Word of God to the people ? " 
 
 Dr. Geddie died in 1872, esteemed and loved by his fellow- 
 missionaries, and lamented by the natives. Rev. J. D. Murray, 
 also a Canadian, became his successor. He was compelled, though 
 with much reluctance, to retire in 1876, owing to his wife's ill- 
 health. Rev. Joseph Annand, M.A., was appointed to the station 
 in 1877 ; Mr. and Mrs. Annand had previously laboured some 
 four years among the heathen on Efate. On leaving the mission 
 field in 1877, Dr. Inglis was succeeded by Rev. J. W. Lawrie. 
 The worthy doctor was afterwards kept busy for a considerable 
 time with the printing of the Aneityumese Bible, and died in 
 1891. After a period of labour on Aneityum, Mr. Annand took 
 up a new station on Santo, and the entire charge of Aneityum 
 was left to Mr. Lawrie. 
 
 FUTUNA. — Whilst Aneityum presents high hills and deep 
 valleys, and is, generally speaking, clad with the richest growth 
 of trees and plants, Futuna seems to be one square coral rock, 
 lifted some 2000 feet up out of the sea. The natives are a 
 race very different from the Aneityumese, and probably came 
 to their island from the east, centuries after Aneityum was 
 peopled. Rev. John Williams, the martyr of Erromanga, visited 
 the island in 1839. In 1841 Rev. A. W. Murray settled the first 
 Christian teachers. In 1843 one of these with his wife joined 
 the army of martyrs, being slain and feasted on ; and the others 
 were cast over the rocks into the sea. In 1853 teachers were 
 
Jfatxma antr ^anna. 175 
 
 sent from Aneityum ; and, thirteen years later, Rev. Joseph 
 Copeland, with his wife, arrived on the island. In 1876 Mrs. 
 Copeland died, and Mr. Copeland's health failed. He has not 
 since been able to take up regular work on Futuna. After many 
 trials, sorrows, and much patient toil, he could not say that the 
 people had renounced heathenism ; yet they seemed " not far from 
 the Kingdom." 
 
 The island remained without a European missionary until 
 1883, when Dr. William Gunn and Mrs. Gunn were settled there. 
 Although teachers had been at work since Mr. Copeland left, the 
 mission evidently declined during the interval ; so that Dr. Gunn 
 found the situation almost as difficult as if the people had been 
 altogether heathen. Faithful labours are now beginning to bear 
 fruit. A church has been formed, and it seems as if the worst of 
 the battle with heathenism is past. 
 
 Tanna. — A magnificent island, fertile and beautiful. A volcano 
 of exceptional activity makes it peculiarly interesting to the traveller. 
 It is peopled by some 8000, the sturdiest natives in the New I y^ 
 Hebrides. It is difficult to say why, but it is a fact that Tanna ' 
 has cost more mission work, probably, than any other island in the 
 Group, with the least apparent results. The first native teachers 
 were placed on Tanna by John Williams on November i8th, 1839. 
 One of these died, and the other two were removed to Samoa. • 
 
 Messrs. Turner and Nisbet were the first missionaries, but had ■'' 
 to escape for their lives in 1843. From then till 1858 no European 
 missionary was located on the island. In 1853 small-pox was 
 introduced from California, and did fearful work both among the 
 Tannese and native teachers. In 1858, Revs. J. G. Paton and 
 J. Copeland (afterwards on Futuna as already stated), also Revs. 
 J. W. Matheson and S. F. Johnston, were settled on the island. 
 In 1859 Mr. Copeland left to take charge of Dr. Inglis' station, 
 on Aneityum, during his absence. In three years, Messrs. 
 Johnston and Matheson, Mrs. Paton and child, and Mrs. Matheson 
 and child, were dead. It has been said, however, that both 
 Mr. Johnston and Mr. Matheson were in ill-health before they 
 went to the island. Mr. Paton also had a good deal of fever ; 
 and the scenes of death and sorrow around him, besides consider- 
 able difficulty with the natives, made up a very sad chapter in his 
 life. At length he considered it necessary to flee. Mr. Johnston 
 
176 ^ppcnbiiE. 
 
 died suddenly in 1861. Seven years later, Rev. Thomas Neilson, 
 an able and prudent man, settled at Port Resolution, near Dr. 
 Paton's old station, but in a much healthier locality. He held 
 the fort there under many difficulties ; but his cool courage fitted 
 him peculiarly for dealing with the bouncing Tannese. He 
 laboured on till 1882, when he retired ; and has since been 
 labouring in Victoria. He suffered much from asthma, on 
 account of the damp climate ; and it is also probable that the 
 sulphur fumes from the volcano had to do with his illness. 
 
 In 1869 Rev. William Watt took up a station near the place 
 where Mr. Matheson had lived. Mr. and Mrs. Watt do not 
 rejoice in the same amount of success as some of the other 
 missionaries in the Group ; though, of late, their endeavours 
 have been attended with considerable encouragement. But they 
 have done what no one else has done in the New Hebrides ; and, 
 perhaps, a similar case is hard to find anywhere else in the world. 
 They have held out against the heathenism of Tanna, and their 
 lives have frequently been in danger now nearly a quarter of a 
 century ! Mr. Neilson's former station is now worked as an 
 out-station under Mr. Watt. On the north-east of Tanna, north of 
 the volcano, is the station occupied by Rev. William Gray. He 
 commenced work in 1882, and has been making slow, but sure, 
 progress from the beginning. In 1891 he reports an attendance 
 at school of 80. The missionaries who occupy Tanna do not 
 despair of success. Let us pray for them, and with them, that 
 they may soon rejoice in a great harvest ; that we may see fair 
 Tanna, with the proud Tannese, at the feet of Jesus. 
 
 Aniwa is a low coral island which can only be seen a few miles 
 away. It is not more than some twelve or fourteen miles from 
 Port Resolution, on Tanna, Dr. J. G. Paton's first station. The 
 population is now not above 160 souls. Rev. T. Heath, of Samoa, 
 settled teachers there in 1840. They were afterwards re-inforced 
 by teachers from Aneityum. One of these was killed. In 1866 
 Dr. Paton settled on the island. The work went forward steadily 
 from that time ; and in two years nearly the whole population 
 was nominally Christian. It was not long ere the island was 
 placed beside Aneityum as a Christian island. 
 
 As Dr. Paton's fame as a mission lecturer has gone long before 
 these pages, and will go where this short account will never reach. 
 
^rromatt0it. 177 
 
 it is n'feedless for me to add that it was judged that his time would 
 be better spent moving about interesting the Churches in the 
 New Hebrides Mission than to remain on Aniwa among a small 
 and decreasing population. Since 1881 he has been labouring with 
 indefatigable zeal, advocating the Mission cause. The Mission is 
 indebted to his efforts for very large sums of money collected 
 for Mission ships. Aniwa has since been taken care of by 
 Mr. Watt. 
 
 ErrOjNIANGA. — After all, there is, perhaps, no island in the New 
 Hebrides so interesting to the Christian Church as this. We 
 shall pass over Captain Cook's difficulty with the natives, and 
 the dread chapter of the sandal-wood traders, which preceded, 
 and was probably connected with the martyrdom of Williams 
 and Harris. Erromanga is one of the larger islands, though 
 by no means the most fertile in the group. Its bare table-lands 
 give it a beauty of its own ; and, indeed, it is quite a relief after 
 visiting the other islands, so luxuriantly clad with tropical vege- 
 tation, to see the large expanse of open grass-covered land, with 
 here and there a solitary tree. One almost feels impelled to ask : 
 Where are the cattle and the famihouses? 
 
 The scene on page 32 shows the sand-bank on the other side of 
 what is now called the Williams River. It was there that John 
 Williams and Harris went ashore ; and, not very much further up, that 
 they were slain. They were carried up a short distance, to nearly 
 opposite the tall cocoanut palm ; there their bodies were divided 
 between the various parties who had shared in the deed of blood 
 and ignorant revenge. This would lead some to second the state- 
 ment of Dr. Steel, that "the natives are the lowest of the tribes 
 inhabiting the New Hebrides." But I certainly differ here. 
 Erromanga has produced some noble men, and almost every 
 missionary north of Erromanga has to acknowledge that the best 
 ser\'ants he had were Erromangans. Doubtless, they take more 
 polishing than any of the natives of our Group who were before 
 them brought under the influence of Christianity and civilization. 
 
 In May, 1840, Rev. T. Heath, of Samoa, settled teachers on the 
 island ; but, after much suffering and danger, they had to be removed 
 the following year. Some years afterwards several young men were 
 got away to Samoa, and placed under Christian instruction. They 
 were sent back to their island, but the success of the experiment 
 
 M 
 
178 ^ppcntrU. 
 
 is very doubtful. Native teachers must have the support of a 
 European missionary, if they are to succeed among the heathen. 
 Rev. G. N. and Mrs. Gordon (of Prince Edward Island) took up 
 residence on Erromanga in 1857. Four years later they were mur- 
 dered. Their graves are found on the other side of the river. It 
 is worthy of note that the first man to step forward to take the 
 fallen soldier's place was his own brother. 
 
 Rev. J. D. Gordon reached Erromanga in 1S64. He found some 
 who had not forgotten the instruction of his brother. But, on the 
 whole, the island was still heathen. Rev. James M'Nair, from 
 Scotland, joined him three years subsequently. Though spiritually 
 and mentally well equipped for the work, he evidently was not 
 physically fitted for life in malarial regions. In July, 1870, he 
 slept in Jesus. His dust rests beside that of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon. 
 Plots were laid against him, and in all probability he would have 
 been killed. But he did not live long enough to be registered on 
 earth among the martyrs of Jesus Christ. Rev. J. D. Gordon, 
 burning with love for the perishing, opened a station also on 
 Espiritu Santo, where his prospects of success were very good ; 
 also on Erromanga the Word made a decided impression among 
 some of the people. Mr. Gordon was even aspiring to leaving his 
 bones on New Guinea. This, however, was not granted him ; 
 for in March, 1872, he was also called upon to join the great 
 company of martyrs, being tomahawked. Having just finished 
 revising the 7th chapter of Acts, in like manner as did Stephen 
 he " fell asleep." 
 
 The same year. Rev. H. A. Robertson and Mrs. Robertson (also 
 from Canada) arrived. They expressed a wish to be settled on 
 Erromanga. The story of a missionary with his young wife volun- 
 teering to set up their home as witnesses for Jesus on the isle 
 where lay the bones of their six predecessors, is too pathetic for 
 me to attempt to dwell upon it. Their lives have 'often been in 
 the greatest danger. The Lord has rewarded their courage and 
 faith ; and nearly the whole population, some 2000, are pro- 
 fessedly Christian. 
 
 Efate is a large, beautiful, and in most parts fertile, island in 
 the middle of the Group. The first news of a Saviour was taken 
 to Efate by some Christian natives from Samoa, who had lost their 
 bearings in their canoes on the ocean. They first landed on Tongoa, 
 
(Bfatc anh ll^uitrt. 179 
 
 wlicrc several of them were slain ; others escaped, and settled on 
 Efate, where they began to tell the story as best they could. In 
 1S45 the first teachers were sent to the island, by the London 
 Missionary Society's agents, from Samoa. They passed through 
 dangers and difficulties ; but, more or less regularly, the work was 
 kept up, and considerable progress was made. Rev. D. Morrison, 
 a Canadian, was settled at Erakor, on Efate, in 1864. Two years 
 afterwards, Rev. James Cosh, M.A. (now Dr. Cosh, Balmain, 
 S},-dney), arrived at Epango. He had to retire, after a compara- 
 tively short period of work, on account of his wife's health ; but 
 he is still affectionately remembered by the natives. Dr. Steel in- 
 forms us that both these cases of illness were due to residing in a 
 close grass house. I quite believe it, and sincerely trust the day 
 is not far distant when grass roofs in tropical countries with a 
 moist heat will cease to be used as residences for missionaries. 
 The natives use these roofs ; but as t/icy often have fires in their 
 houses, it is by no means so unhealthy in their case. 
 
 In 1872 Rev. J. W. Mackenzie, Nova Scotia, a pattern mis- 
 sionary, whom no one can know without loving, settled at Erakor. 
 With zeal, love, and wisdom, he and his energetic wife have 
 continued the work with great success up to the present. Mr 
 Mackenzie's health has not always been what he might desire, 
 and therefore his work has been more difficult than otherwise. 
 It is a wholesome thing for any missionary to pay a visit to this 
 station. In 1872 Rev. D. Macdonald, from Victoria, took up 
 work at Havannah Harbour. He found his field utterly heathen. 
 After some years of patient effort, however, an impression was 
 made, and now there are very few heathen in the district. Mr. 
 Macdonald, who is still in the field, is an untiring student of New 
 Hebrides languages, and has published several books about 
 them. 
 
 Nguna. — The story of the mission on this island, if well told, 
 would be second only in our Group to that of Erromanga. The 
 opposition of the heathen, the I'aging of the enemy, deeds of 
 cruelty and murder, personal danger to the missionary and his 
 wife, make up a chapter of almost unparalleled missionary ex- 
 perience. Indeed, if Rev. Peter Milne had had his own way, he 
 would have been settled on Erromanga ; and it is very likely 
 that his name would have been added to the long list of the 
 martyrs of Erromanga. 
 
i8o 
 
 ^ppcnb 
 
 IX. 
 
 He arrived in the islands in 1869, and remained on Erromanga 
 with Mr. M'Nair until the next year, when he was settled on 
 Nguna among some of the most determined cannibals in the 
 New Hebrides. Mr. Milne seems to have a love for adventure, 
 but does not see much in it after it is over. In his open boat he 
 visited islands far and near ; Pele, Kakula, Emau, Mataso, 
 Makura, Emae, were all visited by him. Indeed, all the islands 
 north of Nguna, including also those now in my district, where the 
 
 
 JUSSION CHUKCII AT NGUNA. 
 
 same or a similar dialect to the Ngunese is spoken, were considered 
 as his district pro tem. He therefore paid a visit in his boat 
 to Tongoa and other islands— a distance of upwards of thirty 
 miles. With all his nautical enterprise and hard work — for a 
 greater worker never joined our Mission — Mr. Milne was plodding 
 for many years without seeing much fruit in the way of heathen 
 turning to Christ. Translating was done, and thus a great work 
 of preparation got through, which inevitably would bear fruit in 
 its season. 
 
 At last the ice broke, and after the first hundred souls were 
 gathered in, the work went forward steadily and surely. He 
 
C5p: nnir JVmbnm. i8i 
 
 has now seven islands in his district, with nearly 20co 
 Christian natives and very few heathen. He has probably more 
 nominal Christians and more baptized natives than there are on 
 the four southern islands put together. One of the most magnifi- 
 cent sights I ever enjoyed was to see the Nguna church packed with 
 worshippers as close as they possibly could be ; even then many 
 had to sit outside. Mr. Milne is now about 58 years of age ; but 
 I do not think he has more thought of retiring from his post than 
 has the most youthful member of the Mission. 
 
 Of course, we pass over the story of the Tongoan Mission, 
 which has already been told at some length. 
 
 Epi is the next island in the order we follow. The southern 
 part was in some measure influenced from Tongoa from the very 
 commencement of my work there. The first attempt at regular 
 effort on this island was made by Mr. Holt and his wife, who were 
 settled at Mburumba, on the west side of the island in 1880. He 
 was a man bent on winning souls, and the mission was in a most 
 promising state even after a few months' work. At the end of the 
 year his house was burned down, and resort was had to an open 
 reed structure, which brought on fever. That, along with other 
 circumstances, led to Mr. Holt retiring in 1881. The next year 
 Rev. R. M. Fraser took up the work near Mr. Holt's station, 
 though in a less healthy locality. He has since been labouring 
 with great success. 
 
 On the north side of the island Rev. T. Smaill, B.A., was settled 
 in 1890. There never was a mission station that gave better 
 promise of success in so short a time. There is reason to expect 
 that very soon the whole population on Epi will be Christian. 
 Humanly speaking, there seems to be nothing wanting to hasten 
 that happy day, beyond a good staff of teachers sent out over the 
 whole island. 
 
 Ambrim is to the north of Epi. We can only hope that the 
 bright chapter of this mission is to come. In 1883 Rev. \V. B. 
 Murray, B.A., was stationed there under the falling dust of an 
 acti\e volcano. The people were friendly ; the missionary and his 
 wife were possessed of such qualities and attainments, mentally 
 and spiritually, as would lead one to anticipate a certain success 
 among a people apparently open for mission work. But our 
 
i82 J^ppcnbix. 
 
 hopes, and theirs, were sadly disappointed. On his way to the 
 island, Mr. ISIurray took a cold which settled upon his lungs. 
 At the end of the next year he was compelled to retire. He 
 died the year after in New South Wales, and his widow returned 
 to Scotland with double sorrow. She had to leave behind not 
 only the husband to whom she had bound her life, but also the 
 work she loved so well. 
 
 In 1885 Rev. Charles Murray, M.A., went out with his young 
 wife to take his brother's place. They also entered on their work 
 most cheerfully and hopefully. The next year Mrs. Murray died 
 at Futuna (Dr. Gunn's station). Mr. Murray returned to his 
 station and remained there a year ; but he suffered so severely 
 with fever that a removal to a cooler climate was deemed abso- 
 lutely necessary. On both occasions I led in prayer at the service 
 of settlement, and I still believe that a great blessing is in store 
 for Ambrim. A teacher has been in charge ever since ; but ^•cry 
 little progress has been made. In 1892 Rev. Robert Lamb, M.A., 
 B.D., M.B., CM., was settled on the island. We know not if 
 he is to be privileged to be the reaper. Let us unite in praying 
 that the thousands of heathen on Ambrim may soon be guided 
 into the safe harbour. There are rocks ahead. At least one 
 Roman Catholic teacher has found his way to the island, and 
 French traders are also there. 
 
 Malekula is to the west. I wish I had a more cheerful 
 account to give of this mission. Revs. A. Morton and T. W. 
 Leggatt arrived in the Group in 1886, with their young wives, 
 and were settled at their respective stations the next year. The 
 work of house-building, translation, and itinerancy has been 
 carried on by these zealous and able missionaries ; but the 
 reaping is only being done to a very limited extent. Death, 
 sickness, and plots, are sad chapters from the short history of 
 the mission on Malekula. Mr. Leggatt is now labouring there 
 a lonely widower, and it is a matter about which there are divided 
 opinions if Mr. Morton is right in remaining on the island with his 
 wife's health seriously injured by the many exciting scenes they 
 passed through in their dealings with the heathen. 
 
 Rev. John Gillan was also settled on a small island off the coast 
 of Malekula in 1889. He is not without some encouragement; but 
 It is not easy to say, after so short a time, what his present efforts 
 
illalo anil ^anttx. 183 
 
 may lead up to. Natives often lead a missionary to the brightest 
 expectation ; but when he gets so near to them that it becomes 
 clear that they cannot have both sin and Christ, the difficulty 
 arises. 
 
 -Malo. — Rev. J. D. and Mrs. Landels, who arrived in the Group , 
 in 1886, were settled on this island of about 3000 inhabitants in / 
 1887. The Word is evidently taking root, and "el-erything looks' 
 hopeful. Some have already been baptized, and a considerable 
 number are attending school and Gospel services. 
 
 Santo.— In 1887, Rev. J. Annand, M.A., and Mrs. Annand 
 settled on the small islet of Tangoa, on the south side of Santo. 
 This is the third time they have begun mission work in the New 
 Hebrides. They are Canadians, and are worthy companions of 
 their countrymen who have distinguished themselves so much in 
 the New Hebrides Mission. 
 
 Mr. Annand's reports are always on the safe side; but even he 
 says {The Christian^ November 24th, 1892), "To all our visitors our 
 success here seems real. Certainly to outward appearance our 
 natives are doing fairly well. On Sabbath no persons visit their 
 places of labour. Neither fishing nor hunting is now thought of, 
 but the house of God is frequented. A very fair percentage of the 
 people attend the services." Rev. A. H. and Mrs. Macdonald 
 began work at a station a considerable distance up the west coast 
 of Santo, in 1890. The people seem hearty, and his report in 1891 
 was most encouraging. But what are two missionaries among 
 probably 30,000 cannibals ? 
 
 The missionaries engaged in work in these Islands meet once a 
 year in Synod, to deliberate upon the internal working of the 
 Mission. This is by virtue of powers vested in them by the 
 churches represented in the Mission. These are : the Presbyterian 
 Church of Canada; the Free Church of Scotland; and the 
 Presbyterian Churches of Victoria, New South Wales, New 
 Zealand (North), Otago (N.Z. South), South Australia, and 
 Tasmania. 
 
Rev. Dr. Lamb, who has undertaken work on the island of 
 Ambrini, has lately made two tours of the Group, making the 
 acquaintance of nearly every white person, settlers and mis- 
 sionaries. In a descriptive letter from Nikaura, Epi,* dated 
 July 26th, 1892, he says : — 
 
 " Our first impressions were not wholly favourable. A warm 
 welcome met us at every door of house or hut ; but most of the 
 white faces that first greeted us seemed those of men and women 
 who had just returned from the grave, so white and emaciated 
 were they. It was the end of the hot season — an unusually hot 
 one — and La Grippe, along with fever (malarial), had been preva- 
 lent. Still, there were a few who were looking well, and some 
 who, as yet, have not known what fever means. These were the 
 exception. The universal experience, so far, has been that the 
 roses of health, which bloom in other lands, are doomed to wither 
 in these islands. The deep black soil, with rank vegetation, 
 is for us a steaming hot-bed of fever and ague. But the fever is 
 mild, seldom causing more than weakness and emaciation, from 
 which, with the proper remedies, recovery is rapid. Settlement 
 and cultivation, letting in the air and sunshine, may ultimately 
 dispel the miasma ; but much muscle must waste, and many lives 
 be expended before that condition will be achieved. 
 
 " The islands are truly beautiful ; but their beauty has been just 
 sufficiently overpraised to deprive one of the delight of surprises. 
 There is variety and contrast ; beaches, black and white, flat islets 
 and lofty mountains, still lagoons and foaming reefs, reeking- 
 swamps, and glowing, rumbling craters. Nor is the vegetation 
 everywhere quite alike. Ambrim and Aoba are vast gardens of 
 cocoanut palm. Tongoa and Epi are specially the home of wild 
 creepers, which overtop the tallest trees, and bury all, except 
 the towering i)alm, beneath one green mantle. All the northern 
 islands are covered by dense tropical forest, in which the banyan 
 is king ; while the shade is beautified by a luxuriance of ferns and 
 many-hued crotons. The Group, as a whole, is volcanic ; the soil 
 in the south is somewhat barren, and the land more open. To- 
 wards the north Nature is more bountiful, and there is abundance 
 of deep black mould. Already a trade has sprung up in coffee of 
 the finest quality, in copra, and maize. Cotton, tobacco, and 
 * Extracted from The New Zealand Presbyterian, Dunedin, Oct. 1, 1892. 
 
^\jc aslantr-i autr tl;c fcoplc. 185 
 
 sugar-cane grow admirably. Bananas — some thirty species — arrow- 
 root, pineapples, oranges, lemons, chilies, the custard apple, peanuts, 
 and ginger, gn-ow without cultivation. Yams, taro, sweet potatoes, 
 and the bread-fruit, are among the staple products of the native 
 gardens. Some of our common vegetables and grasses, when 
 introduced, flourish well. Cattle, goats, pigs, and possibly sheep, 
 thrive, as do all our domestic pets. Some kinds of d^c/ie de iner 
 abound, and there are plenty of fish, though the natives are but 
 poor fishermen. Kauri, a hard wood like teak, and a light durable 
 wood that seems to resist the white ant, are among the timbers. 
 These islands are of great value, destined to be a garden of tropical 
 fruits and spices. . . . 
 
 "To judge from the action of the Queensland Legislature, which 
 has staked its reputation on the advantages to be reaped from 
 the labour traffic, one would suppose that the natives too were 
 a valuable race. It is the very poverty and abjectness of the 
 Kanakas that make them such valuable slaves to the sugar- 
 planter. Once removed from their own island, nay, their own 
 particular district, few of them, in their present condition, are 
 capable of exhibiting either stamina or independence. Of twelve 
 lads removed by a labour-ship from Erromanga last year, ten arc 
 already reported dead. 
 
 " The New Hebrides and sister Groups form a strangle chapter 
 in the study of human history. Here life is at its lowest ebb, and 
 the people as the washed-up foam and debris at the margin of 
 sand and wave. The jet-black and the much-coveted nut-brown 
 complexion are found members of the same small village. A 
 single islet is the home of Malay and Papuan. In the New 
 Hebrides alone there are some thirty different dialects, needing 
 almost as many versions of Scripture. The Aobans are fair- 
 skinned and clean ; their neighbours, the Amljrimese, are black 
 and filthy. Here on Epi there are three main dialects, and those 
 who speak one are foreigners to the rest. Every village, though 
 comprising only five or six huts, is an independent unit ; and, 
 according to its size, is strong or weak, the friend or foe of its 
 neighbours, fearing and being feared. There is no such thing as 
 a natural death ; if a man die, it must be due to kiiiii* (a kind of 
 witchcraft), and the suspect is shot ; war and devastation follow. 
 True, there ai^e many specimens of the noble savage ; but the 
 people as a whole are of a low type, and are falling a prey 
 * The A'ai///i!fi of Tongoa. See page 119. 
 
1 86 Jlpptntiii. 
 
 to the violence of their own superstitions, and to disease, con- 
 stitutional and parasitic. Besides the contagious and epidemic 
 diseases introduced by whites, or brought back from the col- 
 onies — viz., ' specifictinea,' scabies, whooping-cough, measles — 
 there are native elephantiasis, consumption, bronchitis, and a form 
 of struma almost universal, manifesting its nature in offensive 
 abscesses, glandular swellings, and ulcers of skin and bone. 
 Great is the multitude of Lazaruses, with no pitying dog to lick 
 their sores. The people need to be better housed, clothed, and 
 fed. Despite the loss of the picturesque in native dress, which 
 follows the introduction of European clothing, and which 
 ethnologists deplore, the people absolutely need some simple 
 garments to enable them to withstand the effect of the rapid 
 changes of their own climate. Let some lover of the picturesque 
 devise a garment that will combine simplicity and taste. 
 
 " Here we have had a capital rest while planning and pre- 
 paring for another step in advance. The mission station is built 
 on a spur, which, beyond the reed enclosure and a cluster of 
 cocoanut palms, drops down 250 feet into the sea. The scenery 
 is equal to any in the Pacific. Right at our feet is an immense 
 fringing reef, on which the billows unceasingly break in milk- 
 white floods with deafening roar; which, re-echoed from the moun- 
 tain slopes, and blending with the rustle of the palms, suggest on 
 a pitchy night the presence of Alpine heights and rushing tor- 
 rents. To the right and left are wooded bays and headlands, also 
 fringed with reefs ; and right in front stands Lopevi, an almost 
 perfect cone, 5000 feet high, down whose slope the black lava 
 pours sheer into the ocean. From the centre of the crater a thin 
 column of smoke or steam curls upward, warning the few in- 
 habitants of a slumber that may any day give place to activity, as 
 happened ten years ago, when the refugees on this very shore were 
 clubbed and eaten by their professed friends. To the right of 
 Lopevi is the open sea, and to its left is Paama, with Ambrim in 
 the background. The face of Nature changes with every passing 
 hour. The colours of the sea, the gorg-eous cloud scenery at sunrise 
 and sunset, the weird effect of black shadow and silver glow 
 chasing each other on the surface of the deep on a cloudy moon- 
 light night — all are ours just now. We are dwelling amid scenes 
 that dwarf the works of the greatest masters, surpassing them in 
 extent and magnificence as Nature can surpass Art. 
 
 " Last Saturday, a small party, we went down to the shore to 
 
f^IjE Sslanbs nn5 tijc ^Jcoplc. 187 
 
 picnic and to see the coral reef. The tide \\'as low, and we could 
 go a long way out. With old shoes to protect the feet, and armed 
 with a hammer and cold chisel, we waded about peeping into the 
 pools and knocking off choice lumps of coral. The fish in the 
 pools are small but exquisitely beautiful — green and gold, peacock- 
 blue, pink and white, silver and black, red and green — all colours 
 in almost endless diversity. As for the coral, it is a very different 
 thing from what you see under glass cases. Our attention was 
 first caught by what looked like a rhododendron blossoming 
 in a shallow pool — it was a lovely growth of coral, a pale pink 
 or purple. And then we began to find almost as many colours 
 of coral as of fish — cream-white, emerald, lilac or lavender, dark 
 browns and purples, pale yellows and sky-blues. Within a small 
 area we collected some eighteen different varieties, classifying 
 them according to form. After gathering till we were about 
 tired, we had a delightful time on the beach. 
 
 " It has taken me a day and a half, while waiting for the 
 steamer, to boil and cleanse the coral, tubful after tubful being 
 put on the fire. The colours fade rapidly once the polyps are 
 out of the water, and the smell as they die is repulsive. So, to 
 whiten our specimens, we boil them for a few hours in a solution 
 of washing soda, then pour clean water on them from a height, 
 and lastly expose them to the sun and rain. 
 
 " On Sunday, the day after the picnic, we had a service in the 
 native-built school-house about 10 a.m. There was a fairly large 
 audience, over eighty in all. It is not easy to speak to natives. 
 You have to do it in concrete terms and very figuratively, or 
 you will not be understood. There is scarcely an abstract term 
 in their languages ; they have little or no idea of what is meant 
 by a ' city,' and none perhaps had ever seen a ' lamb,' both of 
 these words being in the text. In the afternoon I accompanied 
 the missionaiy to a village at some distance along the shore, in 
 the opposite direction to that we had gone on Saturday. We 
 held service on a slope in one of the irregular circles, in the 
 centre of which stood the wooden drums and symbols of idolatry. 
 There were about fifty present. The old chief sat at the feet of 
 the missionary ; and his son, a handsome, strapping, intelligent 
 young fellow, recently returned from Queensland, sat on the rock 
 beside me and looked on my book. The Gospel has had a 
 powerful influence on the people, who are now beginning to under- 
 stand the missionary and look up to him as their friend. Peace is 
 
1 88 ^ppentrix. 
 
 established, and there is comparative safety in travelling. The 
 nati\'es come to barter and to buy medicine and books from villages 
 at considerable distances. Several of these are asking for teachers, 
 and alas I there are none to send. Although there are already 
 1 80 such teachers in the field, the one great need of the New 
 Hebrides is more native teachers. Hence the demand for an 
 Institute in which to develop and strengthen for this service the 
 physical, mental, and moral fibre, of the most promising of the 
 native young men and women. 
 
 " On our return, we stepped aside to visit a few huts and see 
 some of the sick. At the entrance of three of these kennel-like 
 abodes we stopped and called to the inmates ; when, in each case, 
 forth there crawled an old man black with dust and soot, shrivelled, 
 nude, and ashamed of his sores. The oldest case was perhaps the 
 most pitiable. Pardon the description, but the truth must be told. 
 From head to foot he was suffering from a loathsome, contagious 
 skin disease, while from every toe pus was oozing. This hardly 
 seemed the worst feature. He lived within a stone's throw of the 
 sea and was yet so foul that the grey hair seemed rooted in earth 
 rather than in a human scalp. Some one has coarsely remarked 
 that medical and surgical work amongst these people is several 
 degrees below that of a veterinary surgeon ; but these savages 
 are, after all, members of the human family — though its waifs — and 
 have the same hope. Capital cases these for the medical mis- 
 sionary to score by ! — that is, to exemplify to the native mind in 
 the most telling way, the real nature of the Gospel of Christ. 
 Let no one infer that nothing has yet been done for them. The 
 Presbyterian Church throughout the world has sent into fhis field 
 men and women who for half a century have sorrowed and wept 
 with the heathen in their degradation, seeking to raise them to 
 better things, not without much success. Perhaps the most 
 striking though silent witness to this is the fact that nearly 
 every mission station has its own little graveyard. There are 
 churches and congregations here that put to shame many a 
 colonial settlement. Still, much remains to be done. Every 
 missionary is doing more or less medical work; but as Christianity 
 has founded its free hospitals in every civilized community, so 
 the necessary complement of the teaching here given is a similar 
 institution." 
 
 I.ONDON : MOKGAN ANU SCOTT, 12, TATEKNOSTliK DUILUI.NUS. 
 
7efor^6 %d{i6/ied 6j/ 9florgan if ^eott. 
 
 THE EVANGELIZATION 
 OF THE WORLD. 
 
 A Missionary Band. A Rkcond ok 
 
 CONSECKATION, AND AN Al'I'KAL. 
 By B. BROOMHALL, 
 
 Secretary of the China hilami Mission. 
 Contains Three Maps ami 
 
 numerous Illustratinns and I'ortraits. 
 Cloth BdB., 2s. 6(1. ; Bev. Bds., Gilt Edges, 3s. 6d. 
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 of tlu: most powerful ajipcals for horuign Missions 
 issiicil in our time, and altos,'ether perhaps the best 
 liandhook that e.\ists for preachers and speakers in 
 
 their behalf. 
 
 The Church Missionary Inlclligenccr. 
 
 DAYS OF BLESSING 
 IN INLAND CHINA. 
 
 An Account of Meetings held in 
 
 THE Province of Shan-si. 
 
 Compiled by MONTAGUE BEAUCHAMP, B.A. 
 
 //7/7; an Introduction In' 
 
 J. HUDSON TAYLOR, M.R.C S., F.R.G.S. 
 
 Willi Illustrations and Maps. Cloth Boards, Is. 6d. 
 
 Vol. v ME I. Now Ready. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE 
 CHINA INLAND MISSION. 
 
 AViih Introduction bv 
 
 J. HUDSON TAYLOR, M.R.C.S., F.R.G.S. 
 
 In Two Volumes. Cloth Boards, 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 CHINA'S SPIRITUAL NEEDS 
 AND CLAIMS. 
 
 By J. HUDSON TAYLOR, M.R.C.S., F.R.G.S. 
 
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 WORKING AND WAITING 
 FOR TIBET. 
 
 A Sketch of the Moravian Mission 
 
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 Translated and Revised by ARTHUR WARD. 
 
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 3. HUDSON TAYLOR, M.R.C.S., F.R.G.S. 
 
 PUNROOTY: 
 Or, th*; Gospel Winning its 
 Way among the Women of India. 
 By CLARA M. S. LOWE. 
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 THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST. 
 
 A Review of Fifty Ye.\rs L-auouk. 
 
 By Rev. A. B. EARLE. 
 
 Tinted Covers. Gd. ; Cloth Boards, Is. 
 
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^ Date Due 
 
 
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