TRUBANAMAN CREEK
We step on to our magic carpet once again and after bidding an
affectionate farewell to Yarrabah are soon flying through the air across
some beautiful tropical forests till we come to land almost on the
eastern shores of the great gulf of Carpentaria, eleven miles south of
the Mitchell River, at a spot called Trubanaman Creek, where another
mission was established just eight years ago. It is four hundred miles
from Yarrabah, and there is no mission in between.
There are six tribes of fierce natives within reach of the mission. The
men are strong stalwart fellows who have come very little into contact
with white men. Some of them carry knives of sharks' teeth which they
use chiefly for the purpose of making the women do their will. There are
numbers of children, and it is these children whom the missionaries are
specially trying to induce to come and live with them to be taught.
When the missionaries went to live there nothing but the wild bush was
around them. As Mr Matthews, the Head of the Mission has said, "the hoot
of the kookaburra (laughing-jackass), the howl of the dingo (wild dog),
or the shout of the wild man were the only early morning noises." A few
buildings were put up and after a time a few men and boys came in. Some
of these were sick or suffering from wounds, and their wounds were
carefully attended to and dressed. They went back to their tribe and
told what had been done for them and of the good and regular food they
had received from the white men down at the creek. The news spread,
others came in, the sick for treatment, the whole for food. Many ran
away again unable to endure the monotony of a settled and ordered life,
but some remained. To-day there are about a hundred residents.
The most conspicuous and the central building on the settlement is the
church, which like that at Yarrabah is of wood and has been built by the
people themselves. Some trees were cut down, sawn into planks at the
mission's own steam saw-mill, which the men work themselves, and so the
material was prepared. The furniture and fittings, too, are all of
aboriginal workmanship. The services are very similar to those at
Yarrabah and every day begins and ends with public worship.
The school is under the care of Mrs Matthews, wife of the Superintendent
of the mission, who has the help of another lady. Two and a half years
ago the Bishop of Carpentaria, in whose diocese the mission is, paid a
surprise visit to the school and examined the children in their work. He
expressed himself as surprised and delighted with all he heard and saw.
From the school he passed to the Catechism class where he found twenty
boys ranging in age from ten to eighteen years. Much to his surprise
these boys could say together the English Church Catechism to the end of
the "Duty towards our neighbour" without any hesitation or a single
mistake. Most of them could also answer correctly any questions put to
them separately, and could explain the meaning of the more difficult
words and phrases. What, however, pleased the Bishop even more was to
find that they were all alike making a very real and persevering effort
to carry this teaching out in their own daily lives. Mere ability to
recite the words of a Catechism or Creed is nothing, it is the living it
out that matters, and this the boys of Mitchell River (as we call them)
are honestly trying to do. Of course like other boys they are often
naughty and sometimes do very wicked things but they have learned
enough of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ to know that if they are
really sorry for their sins and express that sorrow both with their lips
and by altered lives He will forgive their sins and receive them back
into His favour and His care.
Fifteen married couples at the Mitchell River are living in little
houses of their own. Seven of these couples were married by the Bishop
on one day. They have built their houses themselves, fenced and cleared
the little holdings 240 feet by 120 in which the house stands and
cultivate these holdings entirely without supervision.
The residents, as far as possible, are allowed to live a perfectly
natural life. The men and boys are, of course, required to wear loin
cloths, the women and girls short skirts, but they need wear nothing
more. They still enjoy hunting and fishing exactly as in the old days,
and corrobborees still afford them never-ending delight. Only those
things in the old life which are contrary to the Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ are forbidden them.
The first baptisms took place on Sunday, August 13th, 1911, a day of
great joy and gladness when eight males and four females made their
solemn confession of repentance and faith and were received into the
warmth and shelter of God's Holy Church.
There are several other missions, but we have no time in which to visit
them. We can only point out where they are and perhaps some of us
afterwards will mark them on our maps.
On the opposite side of the Gulf of Carpentaria is another Church of
England mission--that at the Roper River. It was founded only a few
years ago, but deserves special mention because it is the first
Australian mission which has ever employed full-blooded natives on its
staff. On their way North to found it the missionaries halted a few days
at Yarrabah. The Christians gathered together to meet them and to wish
them God speed. All that the missionaries were going to do was explained
to them, the hardships and dangers of their life among the fierce
cannibal tribes of the far North were dwelt upon. Would any of them
volunteer to go? It would mean turning their backs upon their beautiful
happy home, laying aside many of the blessings and privileges which were
so dear to them, but it would bring great joy to the heart of the Lord
Jesus if someone would go. There was no immediate answer, but some few
days afterwards two men and one woman came to the superintendent and
said they would go.
In the Northern Territory there is also to be found the very successful
mission at Mapoon where also a very wonderful work has been done. It is
one of the oldest missions in the North. It is conducted by missionaries
of the Moravian Church, and its work among the children is done in the
same way as in those other missions of which you have been told more
fully.
In Western Australia the Roman Catholic Church has three missions. The
oldest of these was founded nearly sixty years ago. It is situated at
New Morcia on the Victoria Plains ninety miles North of Perth. The
third generation of Christians is now growing up under the kindly care
of the good Fathers and nuns who control the mission. All are living
earnest Christian lives. There are now no heathen left in the
neighbourhood. Another Roman Catholic Mission is that at Beagle Bay,
seventy miles North of Broome. There are twenty-two resident
missionaries of whom nine are ladies, and forty boys, and fifty-four
girls in the schools. The children rise with the sun, say their prayers,
attend service in the Church, and then have breakfast. After a short
time for play they pass at once to the schools where they do lessons for
three hours. After dinner all rest during the great heat of the day.
Then work and lessons again till service-time and supper. Soon after
sundown all go to bed. Among other things the children are being taught
the very useful art of hat-making, the hats being afterwards sold in aid
of the mission funds.
[Illustration: THE FIRST SCHOOL AT MITCHELL RIVER]
In the extreme North-west--near the little town of Wyndham--the three
remaining missions are found. The one on the Drysdale River is under the
care of the Roman Catholic Church. A few miles away is another
controlled by the Presbyterians, while thirty miles South of Wyndham on
the Forrest River lies the newest of all. It is impossible to give an
account of these. None of them have done much more than begin. The most
recent, that at the Forrest River, was only founded last year. We can
all pray that God will bless the good missionaries working upon them
that under His Guiding Hand many more children of the wilderness may lay
aside their fear of evil spirits and come to love and worship our dear
Lord Jesus Christ.