NATIVES OF THE SOCIETY ISLANDS FISHING.
"From all I can learn," said Frank, "the colony isn't a very prosperous one for the French. The exports amount to about a million dollars annually, and the imports to seven hundred thousand dollars; there are no import duties except on fire-arms and spirits, but I am told it is proposed to place a duty on nearly everything consumed here, so as to make the colony self-supporting.
"The people have quite abandoned the manufacture oftappa, ornative cloth, and dress entirely in goods of European make. They have learned how to distil intoxicating liquor from the orange, and this delicious fruit threatens to be a curse to them instead of a blessing. They have given up tattooing, which was never practised to so great an extent as in the Marquesas; there would be no use for tattooing now, as they have all taken to wearing clothes just as in the Sandwich Islands.
"As to the products of the islands," continued Frank, "they consist principally of cocoanut-oil and coppra (the dried substance of the cocoanut, from which oil is extracted after its arrival in Europe), arrow-root, cotton, sugar, and mother-of-pearl shells. The cotton cultivation has not been profitable; and as to the trade in sugar, it has not been anywhere nearly so successful as in the Sandwich Islands."
A SEA-URCHIN.
"You have omitted one thing from your list of products," said Doctor Bronson, as Frank paused. "You have made no mention of beche-de-mer."
"That's so," was the reply; "but the fact is, I wanted to learn more about it than I know now."
"I thought so," said the Doctor, smiling, "and so I've arranged that we will go to the reef to-morrow morning to see how beche-de-mer is taken. We must make an early start, so as to be there at daylight."
Further talk about the Society Islands was indefinitely postponed, and the party adjourned to bed. All were up in ample season on the morrow for the excursion to the reef.
The best time for visiting the reef is at low tide. The tides in the Society Islands differ from those in most parts of the world, by never varying from one day to another throughout the year. At noon and at midnight is the height of the flood, and at six o'clock morning and evening is the lowest of the ebb. Ordinarily the rise is about two feet; periodically twice a year there comes a tidal-wave that breaks over the reef with great violence, and sweeps across the lagoon to the shore.
Frank and Fred sought an explanation of this tidal peculiarity, but were unable to obtain a satisfactory one. A resident of Papéiti said the tides were so certain in their movements that many people were able to tell the time of day very nearly by a glance at the reef.
THE BOTTOM OF THE LAGOON.
To the student of marine life a coral reef is full of interest, and that of Tahiti is one of the finest in the world. Here are some of the curious things that were described by our friends:
"We saw," said Frank, "some enormous starfish with fifteen arms covered with sharp spines of a gray and orange color. These spines were on the top of the arms; the bottom had an array of yellow feelers like fingers, with suckers at the ends. The boatmen cautioned us not to touch these creatures, but their caution was not needed, as we all kept our hands at a respectful distance.
SEA-ANEMONE AND HERMIT CRAB.
"There were thousands and thousands of sea-urchins, some of them with spikes as large as your fingers and stiff as a nail, down to little fellows the size of a pigeon's egg, and armed with long needles like the quills of a porcupine. It is no joke to step on one of these things when you are bathing in the sea and have your feet unprotected. Somebody has likened them to thistles, and says they more or less resemble hedgehogs and porcupines. Urchin, according to the dictionary, means hedgehog, and therefore the name is not inappropriate.
"There are sea-anemones as large as a cheese, and of all the colors you can imagine. An amusing thing about them was that a lot of little fishes, not more than two inches long, were playing hide and seek,swimming around among the spines of these huge polyps. The water is very clear, and as you look over the side of the boat into the garden of coral with its great variety of colors, and its numerous inhabitants, finny, shelly, and otherwise, it is like a glimpse of fairy-land.
"It made our flesh creep just a little to see the water-snakes coiling around the branches of coral, and gliding about all unconscious of being gazed at. Then there are gold-fish, blue-fish (not the blue-fish of America, but a little fellow of the brightest sky-blue you ever saw), fish of a pale green, and so on through all the scale of colors. As they swam among the corals they reminded us of butterflies in a garden."
HERMIT-CRAB AND SEA-SHELL.
Fred saw a shell travelling along in a most unexpected way, which he could not understand until he ascertained that it was occupied by a hermit-crab. Then there were large crabs in their own shells, and also lobsters, which kept a sharp eye out for danger, and retired to places of security when the boat approached.
The youths had hoped to be able to walk on the reef, but the surf was so high that it was unsafe to venture there. Besides, the walking, even when the reef is comparatively dry, is not of the best, as the surface is rough, and there are many holes in the coral in which the novice may get a dangerous fall.
Many fishing-boats were about, as the time of low tide is the best for fishing, and the water furnishes an important part of the food of the people. Several fishermen, nearly naked, and armed with spears, were in the foaming waters at the outer edge of the reef, waiting, with their weapons poised, ready to strike anything that came within their reach. A dozen or more large fish were taken in this way while our friends were looking on; not once did the spearmen miss hitting their mark, and Frank and Fred both wanted to applaud them for their accuracy of aim.
Inside the lagoon other fishermen were pursuing their prey in boats, the spearmen standing ready in the bow to embrace every opportunity of striking. Men and women were fishing after the ordinary mannerof civilization, and with civilized hooks and lines. Formerly they used hooks of pearl-shell and bone, and also hooks of the roots of the ironwood-tree. But in these modern days the ordinary hooks of commerce are almost the only ones ever seen in Tahiti.
Then there were net-fishers in great number, and with many varieties of net. Seines, purse-nets, casting-nets, dip-nets, all were there, and all handled with the dexterity which is only attained by long practice.
VIEW AMONG THE CORAL BRANCHES.
The guide explained that some of the fishes which were excellent eating at one time of the year were poisonous at another. The poisonous condition is caused by their crunching the coral at the time it is said to be in blossom, and by eating sea-centipedes,which resemble a yard or two of black string with the smallest imaginable legs. All the land-crabs of Tahiti are edible, but several sea-crabs are not; and there is one variety so poisonous that it is only eaten when the eater wishes to commit suicide.
Beautiful shells are brought up from the depths of the waters, but they must be touched with great care, as the spines of many of them are poisonous. One of them, scientifically known asConus textilis, a beautiful shell of cone-like shape, has been known to cause death in a few hours, the symptoms being much like those produced by the bite of a rattlesnake. Some of the jelly-fishes of England and America have the same poisonous character, but in a much smaller degree.
The guide hailed a boat which was filled with sea-slugs, sea-cucumbers, tripang, or beche-de-mer, as this article of commerce is variously known, and the youths had an opportunity of examining the curious marine product. They were cautioned not to touch them, as these apparently helpless creatures, which resembled sausages or bags of India-rubber filled with sea-water, were not as harmless as they appeared. The guide said they ejected this water when touched; and if it fellon a wound or scratch, or into the eye, it caused intense pain, and sometimes resulted in temporary or even permanent blindness.
The sea-slugs were of all colors—black, red, gray, and two or three varieties of green. The most dangerous is an olive-green one marked with orange spots, and hence called the leopard. When it is disturbed it throws up long filaments like threads or strings, which adhere very tenaciously; and wherever they touch the skin they raise a burning blister.
Most of the sea-slugs are caught in still water by divers, who use forks with long prongs, with which they secure their prey. There is one variety, the red one, which is taken in the surf, but all the others prefer quiet nooks. When a canoe has been filled with these repulsive-looking objects it proceeds to the drying establishment on shore. There the creatures are thrown into a kettle of boiling water sufficiently long to kill them; then they are cleaned, and stewed for half an hour, and then placed on racks of sticks for smoking and drying.
The smoking must be kept up for three days, and longer if the weather is damp, and then the leathery substance is ready for packing in palm-leaf baskets for transportation to China. Great care must be taken to have it thoroughly dried, as the least remaining moisture will spoil it during its long voyage in the hold of a ship.
A FISH INSIDE A SEA-SLUG.
Sometimes fishes are found inside the sea-slug, and it seems to be well established that they live altogether in this contracted sea-water tank. When taken out and placed in clear salt-water they soon die, in spite of every precaution.
While looking over the side of the boat Fred saw a large clam, and immediately coveted it. The guide engaged a diver who was near by, and for a small reward the man went below for the prize.
The clam was lying with his mouth open, and evidently enjoying his morning bath of sea-water. The diver inserted a sharply pointed stick into the flesh of the mollusk, and the shell closed upon it instantly. Then he severed the filaments which attached the clam to the rock, and with one hand below the shell and another holding the stick, made his way to the surface.
CORALLINE.
"Most of the diving for clams is done by the women," said the guide, while Fred was gazing at the huge shell, nearly two feet long, which lay before him. "Many a woman, and many a man too," continued the guide, "has been nipped by the shell and drowned there, totally unable to escape. In all parts of the South Pacific you will hear horrible stories of death in this way. These clams grow to a great size, as you see; half a shell often serves as a bath-tub for a child, and in the Catholic churches of Polynesia it is used for holy water.
"Some years ago a native in the Paumotan Islands was diving for pearl-oysters, and while feeling around for them accidentally thrust his hand inside a gaping clam-shell, which closed on him instantly. The shell was in a hole in the coral, so that he could not reach the back to detach it; the only thing he could do was to sever his fingers with the knife in his free hand. He thus saved himself from being drowned, but was maimed for life."
The guide called the attention of the youths to some large eels which were coiled up in the coral. He said they were very voracious, and many natives had been deprived of fingers by these uncanny creatures. They sometimes reach a length of eight or ten feet, and one poor fellow had the whole calf of a leg bitten off by one of them.
Then there are a great many cuttle-fish, and sometimes the girls and women are caught and overpowered by them. The danger from these creatures is so well known that the natives rarely go out alone to dive for them or for clams. Some of the cuttle-fish measure six feet across; they lie in holes in the coral, and throw out their long arms to grasp anything that comes in their reach. They cling around the body of a diver or wrap themselves about his head, and unless speedily relieved by his companions his death is inevitable.
"Are there any more dangers among the reefs?" said Frank, when all these had been recounted.
"Yes," was the reply; "there are great numbers of sharks, some of them harmless and others dangerous. The worst is a white shark, thirty feet long, and he is so bold that he has been known to attack canoes, either by overturning them and throwing their occupants into the water, or by seizing an arm or leg which happened to be out-stretched, and dragging its owner overboard.
OCTOPUS, OR DEVIL-FISH.
"There is a smaller shark, six or eight feet long, which lives in caves in the coral, and comes out in search of food. Its flesh is good to eat, and one of these sharks is quite a prize. In some of the groups ofislands the fishermen dive into the shark caverns while the monster is asleep, and pass a noose around his tail; then the man rises instantly to the surface, and his companions haul up the ugly creature tail first, stunning him with a club or hammer as he comes over the side of the boat."
"But suppose," said one of the youths, "that after the diver has entered the cave the shark should change his position and get across the door-way."
"In that case," replied the guide, "his only mode of escape will be to tickle the shark so as to induce him to move aside. He can only do this when its tail is towards him; if he has turned the other way the man's fate is practically sealed."
Fred concluded that he would never indulge in diving for sharks as a means of livelihood, and Frank fully agreed with him.
STINGAREE, OR SEA-DEVIL.
Then the guide told them of the stingaree, or sting-ray, which is not unknown in American waters, but grows to a much greater size here than on the coast of the United States. Its tail has a sharp, barbed point, which generally breaks off when struck into the flesh; the point is serrated on both sides, the teeth pointing backward, and so it works its way inward like the quill of a porcupine. Other dangers of the water were described; but it is time to return from the reef, and so we will leave them there.
On their return to Papéiti our friends visited the market, going first to the section where fish were offered for sale. Here is Frank's note upon what they saw there:
"There were fishes of all sizes and kinds: bonito, rockfish, eels, clams, oysters, mussels, turtle, salmon from the rivers, prawns, crabs, and a great many varieties of finny and scaly things that have no name in English. The natives are fond of raw fish, and we saw them swallowing little fishes whole and slices of big ones just as we would dispose of a basket of strawberries. One of the first persons we saw in the market was a pretty girl of eighteen or twenty who was crunching live shrimps, or letting them wriggle down her throat as readily as she would swallow so many sugar-plums.
"Some European residents have acquired the taste for raw fish, and they say it is delicious. We have not ventured upon it, though we take clams and oysters raw according to the practice of our own country. The tropical bivalves are not so good as those of temperate regions, and I believe this is the general testimony of travellers.
"The market is well supplied with chickens, turkeys, pigeons, andducks, which are nearly always sold alive, as the heat of the climate prevents their being kept more than a few hours after slaughtering. Pigs are sold alive, and they are carried about suspended by their hind-legs from a pole. It is painful to hear them squeal, and there ought to be a Tahitian branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to put a stop to this barbarity.
GARDEN OF A SUBURBAN RESIDENCE.
"Most of the market-people were natives, but I observed a good many Chinese there, especially in the section devoted to vegetables and fruits. These people take very naturally to vegetable gardens, and their patient industry is well rewarded by the fertile soil of Tahiti."
GATHERING ORANGES FOR THE FEAST.
On reaching the hotel, our friends found an invitation to a feast which one of the merchants was to give the next day at his country residence, in native style. They immediately sent acceptances, and were ready at the time appointed for the carriage which was provided by their thoughtful host.
"When we reached the house," said Fred, "each of us was providedwith a new bathing-dress and towels, and proceeded to the river close by, where numbers of guests were already enjoying a bath in the clear water. The party straggled back in twos and threes; and as fast as we returned every one of us was crowned with a wreath of flowers after the Tahitian custom. There was a great deal of fun and laughter about this part of the entertainment, but everybody enjoyed it, and entered heartily into the sport of the occasion. The guests included all our party from the yacht, the officers from the ships of war, every stranger of consequence in Papéiti, and pretty nearly every respectable resident.
"By the time everybody had returned from the bath and received his crown the feast was announced, and we went in procession to the dining-hall. This proved to be a temporary building, made of a slight framework of bamboos and banana-trees, covered with a thatch of palm-leaves and decorated with festoons of leaves and vines.
"The building was erected over a fine piece of lawn, and the table was spread on the grass. Instead of a table as we understand it, fresh banana-leaves were spread on the grass, and on these the good things of the feast were laid. On the grass at the edge of this novel table-cloth mats made of cocoa fibre were spread, and on these mats we sat down native fashion. It was rather awkward getting down to the floor, but of course the awkwardness added to the fun of the occasion.
"The substantial part of the feast consisted of turkeys, chickens, and young pigs, roasted and served cold, and then there were all kinds of fin and shell fish, both raw and cooked. All the fruits of the island were there, and all the vegetables, including yams, sweet-potatoes, cucumbers, and the like. European wines took the place of the native drink,kava, which is rapidly going out of use.
"Instead of plates, each of us had a pile of bread-fruit leaves which served as plates, and in front of each guest there were four half cocoanut-shells. One was full of drinking-water, the second full of milk, the third contained chopped cocoanut, and the fourth sea-water. The sea-water was emptied into the chopped cocoanut to form a sauce like the Chinesesoy, into which the various articles of food were dipped before being conveyed to the mouth, and then the shell was filled with fresh water, and used as a finger-glass.
"We enjoyed the feast very much, though all of us confessed afterwards to a back-ache, from the novelty of our positions. After the feast there was dancing in the spacious parlor of our host, and the festivities were kept up until late in the evening."
TAMARIND-TREE AT POINT VENUS.
An excursion was made the next day to Point Venus, which has a historic interest, as it is the promontory where Captain Cook made the astronomical observations by which he determined the correct position of the Society Islands. The name of the place commemorates his observation of the transit of Venus which he and his scientific party made here in 1769.
It was a delightful ride along the Broom-road, as it is called, shaded by palm and bread-fruit trees, and through groves of oranges, citrons, guavas, bananas, and other tropical productions. Our friends inspected the light-house which is maintained here to direct the mariner approaching Papéiti, and Frank made a sketch of the tamarind-tree planted by Captain Cook near the spot where he made the famous observations.
A GROVE OF COCOANUT TREES.
FROM THE SOCIETY TO THE SAMOAN ISLANDS.—BEFORE THE TRADE-WINDS.—NOTES ABOUT THE MISSIONARIES.—OPPOSITION OF TRADERS TO MISSIONARIES.—HOW POLYNESIA WAS CHRISTIANIZED.—THE WORK OF THE MISSIONS.—REV. JOHN WILLIAMS.—ROMANTIC STORY OF THE HERVEY GROUP.—THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.—THE WESLEYAN AND OTHER MISSIONS.—DEATH OF MR. WILLIAMS.—SANDAL-WOOD TRADERS.—POLYNESIAN SLAVERY.—LABOR-VESSELS AND THE LABOR-TRADE.—HOW NATIVES WERE KIDNAPPED.—"THE MISSIONARY TRICK."—THE MUTINY ON THECARL.—CAPTURE OF THEDAPHNE.—HOW LABOR IS OBTAINED AT PRESENT.
RUNNING BEFORE THE TRADE-WINDS.
The Society Islands are between latitude 16° and 18° south, and longitude 148° and 155° west; the Samoan Islands, the next destination of thePera, lie in latitude 13° to 15° south, and longitude 169° to 173° west. Consequently the course of the yacht was a little north of west, and gave the party a pleasant run before the north-east trade-wind, the crew having hardly anything to do from the time the lastpeak of the Society Islands disappeared until the mountains of Samoa came into view. All the world over, there is no more delightful sailing than in the trade-winds. A ship bowls along for ten, twenty, or perhaps thirty days, without squaring a yard or changing a brace, and all the time she carries every stitch of her canvas, and the water beneath her bows is a bank of foam.
DR. COAN, MISSIONARY TO HAWAII.
During the voyage our young friends busied themselves as usual in learning something about the regions whither they were bound, as well as perfecting their information about what they were leaving behind. The conversation turned one day upon the work of the missionaries in the South Pacific in redeeming the inhabitants of the islands from their former condition of barbarism.
"The missionaries have not received half the credit they deserve," said Doctor Bronson, in reply to a question which Fred propounded. "It is the fashion among certain men who have had commercial relations with these islands to deride the missionaries and throw ridicule on their work, and sometimes travellers fall into the same way of talking. There are idlers and useless men and women among the missionaries, just as there are in every occupation in life, but this circumstance does not justify the denunciation that has been heaped upon the entire body."
Frank asked why it was that so many men engaged in commerce were opposed to the missionaries.
"Principally for the reason," was the reply, "that the missionaries defend the natives against the dishonesty of certain classes of traders, and thus reduce their profits. There are honest men and dishonest ones engaged in commerce in Polynesia, just as there are elsewhere. When you hear a Polynesian merchant denouncing the missionaries in vehement terms, you may fairly conclude that the missionaries have stood in his way when he was endeavoring to defraud the natives. He is a man not to be trusted, at least that is a fair inference, though in this as in everything else he may be an exception.
NO RESPECT FOR MISSIONARIES.
"Let me give you an illustration of this," continued the Doctor. "Some years ago I heard a retired sea-captain in New York denouncing the missionaries, and declaring that they had ruined the trade of the South Pacific. It was at a dinner-party, and before the end of the evening the old captain became quite communicative about the ways of commerce with Polynesia and the Malay Archipelago. Among other things he told how they traded with the natives in his younger days. 'We used,' said he, 'to take our old-fashioned balance scales on shore with our fifty-six pound and smaller weights with handles to them. We set up the scales, and then the natives brought forward some bags whose exact weight they knew. These bags were used for testing our weights, to see that they were correct. Of course they were all right; the testing and setting up the scales took the best part of the afternoon, and then we knocked off for the day.
"We left the scales on shore where they had been set up, but took the weights back to the ship "for safety." They were hollow, and the handles were screwed in; during the night we unscrewed the handles, filled the hollow space with lead, and then screwed the handles back again so neatly that nobody would ever discover anything. In this way we managed to get the cargo to average 160 to 170 pounds a picul(133 pounds); and in those days a supercargo or captain who couldn't make a cargo come up to at least 150 pounds a picul wasn't wanted another voyage by the owners. Trade went on that way until the missionaries found out all about this and other tricks, and told the natives. They never would have suspected anything if it hadn't been for the missionaries.'
"This man," continued the Doctor, "was no worse than many others in the same line of business; and if all stories are true, he was no worse than many of our forefathers, who made money by their dealings with the savages in the early days of American colonization. The belief that it is no sin to cheat the infidel and heathen is not by any means confined to the followers of Mohammed. It is easy to understand why he was opposed to the missionary labors in the South Seas, as they certainly tended, in his estimation, to the ruin of commerce."
One of the youths asked if this opposition to the Christianizing of the heathen was prevalent among the large mercantile houses, as well as among the small and independent traders.
"It is impossible to answer this question with plain yes or no," was the reply; "but it is safe to say that a very large section of the commercial community of every nation is unfavorable or, at all events, indifferent to missionary enterprises. Even national power is sometimes invoked in the interest of commerce, without regard to the effect upon the heathen. British artillery forced the Chinese to open their markets to the opium of India, and the power of British, French, German, and other arms on the coast of Africa, for purposes of trade, is well known. Even America is not without sin in this respect; American diplomacy, backed by American ships of war, opened the ports of Japan, and the history of our dealings with our own Indians reveals many instances of bloodshed or oppression in the interests of post-traders and other speculators.
TRADING STATION IN THE PACIFIC.
"Until its failure a few years ago, the German house of Godefroy & Sons was by far the largest firm or association doing business in the Pacific. It had large fleets of ships, it had branch houses in many parts of the world; in numerous islands of the Pacific its agents were established, and it owned lands and buildings of immense value. In the harbor of Apia, Samoa, they had a ship-yard, where they not only repaired old ships but built new ones, and they owned several excellent harbors in other parts of Polynesia. There was not a single group of islands of any consequence where they were not established, and they had a great influence with the German Government.
"Now, do you suppose this great house was friendly to the missionaries—the men who came here and opened the way for commerce? Not a bit of it. Here is an extract from their general orders to their agents everywhere:
"'Never assist missionaries by word or deed, but, wheresoever you may find them, use your best influence to obstruct and exclude them.'[3]
"'Never assist missionaries by word or deed, but, wheresoever you may find them, use your best influence to obstruct and exclude them.'[3]
"The effect of these instructions is illustrated in the experience of the American missionary shipMorning Star, several years ago, in a visit to the Kingsmill group of islands, near the equator. A pilot came out to meet the ship, and made her anchor three miles from shore to wait the permission of the King before any one could land. When the King learned that it was a missionary ship, he sent word that he would supply any needed provisions, but on no account could any one come on shore. The traders had told him that if any missionaries were allowedto land they would bewitch him and his people, and he had determined to protect himself from harm.
"Numerous instances of the demoralizing effects of commerce, when controlled by bad men, can be given. The missionaries were the first to occupy Polynesia, when traders could not venture there; some of these good men lost their lives, but the work of taming the savages went on until commerce could follow in their footsteps. You might naturally expect that commerce would be grateful, but such is far from being the case."
Then the conversation turned upon the history of missionary efforts in the South Pacific from the opening enterprise of the London Mission near the end of the last century. Frank and Fred made copious notes on the subject from the books within their reach, and the information supplied by the Doctor, and from these notes they subsequently condensed the following interesting story:
JOHN WESLEY, THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM.
The London Missionary Society was formed in 1795 by zealous men of different denominations; the call for the first meeting was signed by eighteen Independent clergymen, seven Presbyterian, three Wesleyan (Methodist), and three Episcopal, and the assemblage was held September 22d of that year. The islands of the Pacific were then attracting attention in consequence of the mutiny of theBountyand the death of Captain Cook, and they were selected as the first field of operations.
Many young men offered themselves as missionaries, and of all the number of applicants twenty-nine were selected. The first delegation landed on Tahiti March 4, 1797, and formed the first mission of the Society. From that beginning the South Seas have been gradually covered with missions, and the Society has pushed its work into other fieldswhich we need not consider here. It still adheres to its original plan of avoiding denominational differences of doctrine and Church government, and zealously pursues its work. Nearly all the denominations of Protestants have since organized separate missions of their own, both in Great Britain and America, for spreading the Gospel in the South Seas. In our account of the Sandwich and Society islands the work of the missionaries has been described; we have seen how whole populations have renounced heathenism and its practices, have been provided with written languages, and with schools and churches, and have been changed from savages to civilized men and women. And all this is due to the work of the missionary, who labored for the good of his fellow-man.
MISSION CHURCH AND STATION.
More than three hundred islands of the Pacific have abandoned their heathenism, and nearly half a million of Polynesian savages have been virtually Christianized. Their communicants who have been gathered into the churches number fully sixty thousand, not including the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, who are now supporting missions of their own.
One reason of the success of the mission work is the common-sense that prevailed at the outset in dividing the field among the different denominations, so that the minds of the natives should not be confused as to the character of the teachings they were receiving.
This was done through a friendly agreement between the London Missionary Society and the Wesleyan Mission, the former having exclusivecharge of the work in the Samoan Islands, and the Wesleyans taking possession of the Feejee and Tonga groups. Other groups were disposed of in the same way as time went on, and the arrangement was found entirely satisfactory. Catholic missions have been established in some of the islands where the Protestant missions were already settled; they have made poor progress, as the natives showed an unwillingness to abandon the faith they had adopted for another.
MISSION PARK MONUMENT.
The American Board of Foreign Missions was organized in Mission Park, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in the early part of this century, and the organization is commemorated by an appropriate monument. It has evangelized the Hawaiian Islands, and carried on work in the Marquesas, Gilbert, Marshall, and Caroline islands. Since 1873 most of the active labor has been performed by the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, which owns a mission vessel, theMorning Star.
MISSION SHIP ON HER VOYAGE.
The London Missionary Society has missions in the Society, Tuamotu, Hervey or Cook, Austral, Samoa, Tokelau, Ellice, Gilbert, and Loyalty groups, on Niue and several other isolated islands, and in New Guinea. It owns two vessels, theJohn Williamsand theEllengowan.
The Australian Wesleyan Conference supports missions in Tonga, Feejee, Samoa, Rotumah, and New Britain; the Presbyterian churchesof Australia have a mission in the New Hebrides, and possess a mission vessel, called theDayspring.
The Melanesian Episcopal Mission is maintained in the Banks', Santa Cruz, and Solomon islands, and has a mission vessel, called theSouthern Cross. The Catholics have missions on all the islands controlled by the French, and on most of the others, but they did not make their appearance until long after the work had been well under way in the hands of the Protestant organizations.
A considerable proportion of the early missionaries were murdered by the natives, whose good they sought, and others died of disease, privation, and the effects of the climate. But the ranks were steadily filled up, and the work went on; the native converts and teachers were fully as zealous as the white men who had taught them the new religion, and much of the work of instruction was performed by them. Whenever native teachers were murdered by the savages among whom they had taken their residences, others volunteered to fill their places. The following incident is recorded in the history of mission work in Polynesia:
In 1822 the mission ship of the Rev. John Williams anchored off an island which proved to be Mangaia of the Hervey group. Three Tahitian teachers, two of them accompanied by their wives, volunteered to land and establish a mission. No sooner were they on shore than they were attacked and plundered of everything they possessed, and they only escaped with their lives by swimming back through the surf to the ship.
A few months later the mission ship went there again, and two unmarried teachers, Davida and Tiere, sprang into the sea and swam to the shore, carrying nothing but the clothing they wore and a portion of the New Testament in Tahitian, which was wrapped in cloth and tied on their heads. A great crowd assembled at the landing, and as they stepped on shore several warriors levelled spears at them. The King took the swimmers under his protection, treated them kindly, took them to the temple, and pronounced them tabu, or sacred, so that the natives should not harm them.
Within two years Tiere died, but the work of conversion went on so well that one day the King and his chiefs determined to give up idolatry. They carried the thirteen idols which they had hitherto worshipped to the house of Davida, and announced that for the future they would worship the God of the white man. These thirteen idols are now preserved in the museum of the London Missionary Society.
LANDING ON AN ATOLL OF THE HERVEY GROUP.
In 1821 Mr. Williams decided to send a mission from Raiatea to the Hervey Isles, of which very little was known beyond the bare existence of such a group, and that it was inhabited by fierce cannibals. Several native converts from Raiatea were landed on the island of Aitutaki; they were well received by the chief and his people, but Mr. Williams had great fears for their safety, owing to the bad character of the cannibal inhabitants.
In the following year, when the mission ship went there again, great was the joy of Mr. Williams to learn that all the inhabitants had abandoned idolatry, burned their temples, and decided to be Christians; they had built a large church, kept the Sabbath religiously, and on the day following the arrival of the mission ship two thousand of them assembled on the beach in solemn prayer, which was led by the delighted missionary. After the service they brought their idols and carried them on board the mission ship, so that the people of the other islands might see for themselves that they had discarded altogether the worship of the worthless images.
The story of the conversion of the inhabitants of the island of Raratonga, of the Hervey group, sounds like romance. So little was known of this island that Mr. Williams had great trouble in finding it, as its latitude and longitude had not been established. Among the converts on another island were six natives of Raratonga; one of these men told Mr. Williams that if he would sail to a given point on the island of Aitutaki, he could take bearings that would carry him where he wishedto go. So, taking the six Raratongans on board, he steered for the point indicated, and by following the directions of the man the island they sought was reached.
The young King came on board, and agreed to take the six natives ashore, and also a Tahitian teacher, who had volunteered to remain. The King, Matea, a handsome fellow six feet high, and with every inch of his skin elaborately tattooed, was one of the first converts. Within a year the whole population had become Christian, and there was not a house on the island where the family did not assemble morning and evening for divine worship. Mr. Williams and another missionary went there with their families in 1827, and were met at the shore by several thousands of natives, who shook hands with them so vigorously that their arms ached for hours afterwards. A few days after their arrival the people came in procession, bringing fourteen enormous idols, for which they had no further use, the smallest of them being fifteen feet high.
A new church was erected capable of containing three thousand people; some of the idols were used as pillars of this building, and the rest were burned. The railing of the pulpit stairs of this church was made of spears which the chiefs contributed, and all the heathen temples, and even their foundations, were completely broken up.
The Hervey Islands are now a centre of missionary work in the South Pacific. The islanders have a theological college, which has sent out nearly two hundred trained teachers and preachers of their own, and about half this number are scattered among the isles of the Pacific where the inhabitants have not yet renounced heathenism or their cannibal practices. In 1881 four of these missionaries, with their wives and children, twelve persons in all, were murdered by the natives of New Guinea, and several others narrowly escaped with their lives.
Shortly after settling in the Hervey Islands Mr. Williams determined to carry the Gospel to the Navigator's, or Samoan group. Having no ship, he built a boat, sixty feet long and eighteen feet wide, with the aid of the Raratonga natives. He wanted a blacksmith's bellows to shape the iron-work, and in order to make it he killed three of his four goats to obtain their skins. In a single night his bellows was devoured by the rats, the only quadrupeds indigenous to the islands, and he then invented a pump by which air could be forced.
His boat took fifteen weeks for its construction. Its sails were of native matting, the cordage was of the bark of the hibiscus, the oakum for calking the seams was made from banana stumps and cocoanuthusks, and the sheaves were of iron-wood. To obtain planks, trees were split with wedges, and then cut up with hatchets. One anchor was of stone, and another of iron-wood, and the provisions consisted of pigs, cocoanuts, bananas, and other tropical products. In this vessel he sailed during the next four years to many islands of the Pacific, distributing teachers among them, and doing everything in his power for the good of the people. In 1834 he visited England, and returned in the missionary shipCamden, which had been purchased by the London Missionary Society.