Missionary Life in the Southern Seas

only by their own sense of duty, and the encouragement afforded by a few faithful and loving friends in their faraway native land, the poor missionaries have braved discomfort, destitution, domestic bereavements, persecution and contumely, all manner of perils on shore and on the sea, and even death itself, in the earnest hope of illumining, by the abiding light of gospel truth, the thick darkness that enshrouded the southern isles.

In the comparatively short space of three-quarters of a century, hundreds of savage tribes have been induced. by precept and example to forsake the heathen rites and ceremonies of their savage forefathers, and, in some degree at least, adopt the simple faith and pure morals of Christianity. Much certainly remains to be done, but a broad and firm foundation has been laid for raising up a noble superstructure. The most formidable obstacles, the most serious impediments, hitherto encountered by the missionaries, have been wilfully placed in their path by men calling themselves Christians, but whose lives would disgrace even paganism.

Allusion has already been made to the atrocities perpetrated by the sandalwood-traders, and still more recently by traffickers in human flesh faintly disguised as importers of free labour. More than once, too, reference has been made to the interested opposition of escaped convicts, run-away sailors, and broken-down adventurers from all parts of the world. Neither has it been possible to pass over in silence the arrogant pretensions of bigoted priests, or the horrid barbarities committed by the soldiers of a nation claiming for itself the foremost rank among the civilised countries of the globe. All these causes have, doubtless, sorely militated against the triumph of the Cross, and have let and hindered

the devoted missionaries in attaining to the goal they had set before them.

But, beyond all question, the chief barrier to a more satisfactory progress must be looked for in the ribald talk, the awful blasphemies, the foul lives of the white settlers, and, in too many cases, of the crews of the ships traversing those seas. The unhappy islanders have in vain been reclaimed from heathenism, if they are now to be exposed to the contagious influences of these degraded and shameless men, whether Europeans or Americans, without the aid of sufficient spiritual guidance to steer them clear of the rocks and shoals that beset their Christian course. Unless the small band of missionaries at present working in those remote islands be speedily and largely augmented, the latter state of the Polynesian Islanders is likely to be worse than their original condition of unenlightened ignorance.

INDEX.

AA, god of the Rurutuans, 133
Aborima, rocky islet of the Samoan
group, 140

Aimeo, one of the Georgian Islands,
19, 20, 30; affecting incident, 37;
flotilla aids Fomare, 53; first mis-
sionary visit, 56; arrival of refugees
from Tahiti, 61; gleam of hope,
63; first chapel, 66; destruction of
idols, 68, 69; progress of "the new
religion," 75; Mr Ellis and the print-
ing-press, 76-79

Aitken, the Rev. Joseph, murdered
off Nukupa, 303, 304
Aitutake, how pronounced, 26; effect
produced by the mechanic arts, 83;
visited by Mr John Williams, 85;
discovered by Captain Cook, 90;
described, 99; conversion attempted
by Papeiha, 99; converted, 101;
visited by Messrs Williams and
Bourne, 102; idols burnt, 103, 278;
Alphabet, the, illustrated, 276
Ambler, escaped convict, at Tonga,
185-187, 191-193

Ambrym, or Chinambrym, one of the
New Hebrides, 250
American missionaries, 179, 180
Amsterdam, see Tonga

Aneiteum, one of the New Hebrides,
251, 252; described, 253; slow pro-
gress, 254, 255; female suicide, 256;
converted, 258; calamities, 258,
275-277

Apee, one of the New Hebrides, 251
Apela, Samoan teacher, murdered in
Futuna, 252

Apia, one of the Samoan group, 281
Archibald, Mr, teacher at Aneiteum,
255, 256

Archipelago, Low, or Dangerous, 165;
partially converted, 165

Atehuru, district in Tahiti, 51; hu-
man sacrifices, 52; custody of god
Oro, 52; devastation of Pare, 53;
massacre of women and children,
55; ravaged by Pomare II., 60
Atiu, one of Cook's Islands, 90; de-
scribed, 104; visited by Society
Islanders, 104; ill-treatment of
teachers, 105; conversion of the
chief, 105-107; arrival of a mis-
sionary boat, 110; chapel opened,
111; Mr Williams's boat capsized,
111

Atooi, see Tauai
Atua, a spirit, 29
Aurora Island, one of the New Heb-
rides, 250

Austral Islands, 3; named by Malte
Brun, 124

Auura, a chief of Rurutu, 132; voy-
age of adventures, 132; teaches the
existence of a soul, 133

Border Maid, the, Bishop Selwyn's
vessel, 258

Bougainville, M. de, visits Tahiti, 19;
names the Navigators' Isles, 138;
visits the New Hebrides, 250
Bourne, the Rev. —, visits Aitu-
take, 102; converts the Raroton-
gans, 114

Britannia Isles, the, 329

British Sovereign, the, cut off by the
Vatese, 293

Brosses, President de, defines Poly-
nesia, 3

Broughton, Lieutenant, discovers Rai-
vavai, 127

Bula, Lifuan chief 317-319
Buonaparte, Le Grand, privateer,
captures the Duff, 41
Bure Atua, or Praying People, 69;
conspiracy to destroy them, 71;
victorious at Narii, 73
Buzacott, the Rev.
tonga, 119, 121

at Raro-

CALEDONIA, New, see New Caledonia
Calvert, the Rev. James, 220, 222,
226; at Vatoa and Ono, 227; at
Rewa, 233, 235, 239, 240; at Mbau,
242, 244

Calvert, Mrs, her heroism, 238

Cargill, the Rev. David, at Lakemba,
217, 218, 220; at Rewa, 232; death
of his wife, 232
Caroline Islands, 3

Caroline, the, plot to cut off, 310
Chatham, H.M.'s ship, 127
Chepenehe, village in Lifu, 323;
plundered by the French, 327, 328
Chinambrym, or Ambrym, one of the
New Hebrides, 250

Christina, Santa, see Tahuata
Christmas Island, discovered by Cap-
tain Cook, 166

Connelly, escaped convict, at Tonga,
185, 187

Connor, Paddy, escaped convict, at
Rewa, 204

Conway, H.M.'s ship, 220
Cook, Captain James, conveys Omai
to Huahine, 10; worshipped as a
god, 13; attends human sacrifices,
28; fatal error, 29; infanticide, 38;
the Areois, 38; discovers Hervey's
Island, 90; and Savage Island, 134;
visits the Marquesas, 158; discovers
Christmas Island and the Sandwich
Islands, 166; massacred, 167; visits
the Friendly Islands, 183; lies off
the Fiji Islands, 203; names the
New Hebrides, 250; discovers
Tanna, 259; discovers Erromanga,
278; Vaté, 289; New Caledonia,
306, 307
Copeland, the Rev 258, 275,
276

Cosh, Mr and Mrs, in Vaté, 295
Cowper, the poet, lines on Omai, 11
Crawford, the Rev. John, 249
Creagh, the Rev. S. M., 313, 315
Cristoval, San, see Bauro
Croker, Captain, killed before Bea,

200; sent to Erromanga, 281
Crook, the Rev at the Marque-
sas, 158; his courage, 159; partial
success, 163;

Camden, the, missionary vessel, 279, Cross, the Rev. William, 97; wrecked,

307, 308

"Cannibal Charley," 318
Cannibalism in Rarotonga, 118; in
Marquesas, 160; at Tonga, 191, 192;
in the Fiji Islands, 209, 210, 214-
216, 232, 233; in the New Heb-
rides, 252, 260, 275; in the Loyalty
Islands, 310, 317, 318, 321

200; his wife drowned, 200; at
Lakemba, 217, 218; at Mbau, 220;
sufferings, 221, 222; death, 225,
243

Cruz, Santa, a cluster of the Solomon
Islands, 296; Bishops Selwyn and
Patteson, 297; death of Bishop
Patteson, 303

Cunningham, Mr, lands on Erroman- | FATU, Friendly Islander, converted

ga, 279; escapes, 280

EATOOA, see Atua

Ebrill, Captain, murdered off the Isle
of Pines, 308

Edwards, Captain, 142, 184

Ella, the Rev. S., in Uvea, 330; ill-

used by Roman Catholics, 331
Ellis, the Rev. William, describes Ta-
hiti, 23; infanticide, 37, 38; people
of Huahine, 67; with a printing-
press at Aimeo, 76; removes to
Huahine, 80; immorality of the
Tahitians, 88; visits Rapa, 125, 128;
at Tubuai, 128, 129; tatauing, 162;
infanticide in the Sandwich Islands,
173; "tabu," 177; co-operates with
the American Mission, 179
Erakor, district in Vaté, 292-294
Erromanga, one of the New Hebrides,
7, 251, 272; described, 278; mur-
der of Messrs Williams and Harris,
278-281; abandoned to sandalwood-
traders, 283; Mr and Mrs Gordon
arrive, 284; and are murdered, 285-
287; arrival of Mr and Mrs M'Nair,
287; death of Mr M'Nair, 288, 289,
291, 306

Erskine, Captain, 290

Espiritu, Santo, one of the New
Hebrides, 250

Etu, Samoan superstition, 149, 150
Eua, one of the Friendly Islands, 183,
194

Eyre, Mr and Mrs, remain in Tahiti,
44

by Mr Thomas, 201

Fatuhiva, or La Madalena, one of the
Marquesas, 159, 164

Fauea, Samoan chief, 142; accom-
panies missionaries to Samoan Is-
lands, 142-144

Favourite, H.M.'s ship, 200; sent to
Erromanga, 281

Fenuaura, one of the Society Islands
19

Fetuuku, or Hood's Island, one of the
Marquesas, 159

Fiji, Great, see Na Viti Levu
Fiji Islands, 3; cannibalism, 195;
described, 203; escaped convicts,
203, 204; dialects, 205, 206; history,
206, 207; customs and usages, 207,
208; Vasu," 208; treatment of
captives, 209; cannibal feast, 209,
210; population, 210; vindictive-
ness, 210, 211; vanity, 212; emo-
tional temperament, 213; infanti-
cide, 213; cannibalism, 214-216;
earliest missionary attempts, 217-
220; slow progress, 237; unsatis-
factory condition, 249

Finau Ukalala, chieftain of Tonga,
186; thwarts the missionaries, 187;
ferocity, 187, 188, 191; fires his
temples, 199; succeeded by "King
George," 199
Fletcher, the Rev.
- at Lakemba,

247

Foa, one of the Hapai group, 194
Ford, the Rev. - 249
French, the, brutality of, in the Loy-
alty Islands, 315, 327-329, 332,
333
French Imperial Commission, 315,
316, 329, 331

Friendly Islands, 3, 5, 14, 22, 142,
144, 182-202; discovered by Tas-
man, 182; visited by Cook, 183;
deterioration of character, 183; plot
to murder Captain Cook, 183, 184;
self-mutilation, 184; ferocity, 185;
arrival of the Duff, 185; failure of
first mission, 185-190; "Men of the
Sky," 186; Finau's ferocity, 187,
188; funeral ceremonies, 189, 190;
civil war, 191; massacre of mission-
aries, 192, 193; mission abandoned,
193, 194; described, 194; supersti-
tions, 194; corrupted by the Fijians,
195; visited by Mr Lawry, 195, 196;

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