The voyage--The island, and a consultation in which danger is scouted as
a thing unworthy of consideration--Rats and cats--The native
teacher--Awful revelations--Wonderful effects of Christianity.
Our voyage during the next two weeks was most interesting and prosperous.
The breeze continued generally fair, and at all times enabled us to lie
our course; for being, as I have said before, clipper-built, the pirate
schooner could lie very close to the wind, and made little lee-way. We
had no difficulty now in managing our sails, for Jack was heavy and
powerful, while Peterkin was active as a kitten. Still, however, we were
a very insufficient crew for such a vessel, and if any one had proposed
to us to make such a voyage in it before we had been forced to go through
so many hardships from necessity, we would have turned away with pity
from the individual making such proposal as from a madman. I pondered
this a good deal, and at last concluded that men do not know how much
they are capable of doing till they try, and that we should never give
way to despair in any undertaking, however difficult it may seem:--always
supposing, however, that our cause is a good one, and that we can ask the
divine blessing on it.
Although, therefore, we could now manage our sails easily, we
nevertheless found that my pulleys were of much service to us in some
things; though Jack did laugh heartily at the uncouth arrangement of
ropes and blocks, which had, to a sailor's eye, a very lumbering and
clumsy appearance. But I will not drag my reader through the details of
this voyage. Suffice it to say, that, after an agreeable sail of about
three weeks, we arrived off the island of Mango, which I recognised at
once from the description that the pirate, Bill, had given me of it
during one of our conversations.
As soon as we came within sight of it we hove the ship to, and held a
council of war.
"Now, boys," said Jack, as we seated ourselves beside him on the cabin
sky-light, "before we go farther in this business, we must go over the
pros and cons of it; for, although you have so generously consented to
stick by me through thick and thin, it would be unfair did I not see that
you thoroughly understand the danger of what we are about to attempt."
"Oh! bother the danger," cried Peterkin; "I wonder to hear _you_, Jack,
talk of danger. When a fellow begins to talk about it, he'll soon come
to magnify it to such a degree that he'll not be fit to face it when it
comes, no more than a suckin' baby!"
"Nay, Peterkin," replied Jack, gravely, "I won't be jested out of it. I
grant you, that, when we've once resolved to act, and have made up our
minds what to do, we should think no more of danger. But, before we have
so resolved, it behoves us to look at it straight in the face, and
examine into it, and walk round it; for if we flinch at a distant view,
we're sure to run away when the danger is near. Now, I understand from
you, Ralph, that the island is inhabited by thorough-going, out-and-out
cannibals, whose principal law is--'Might is right, and the weakest goes
to the wall?'"
"Yes," said I, "so Bill gave me to understand. He told me, however,
that, at the southern side of it, the missionaries had obtained a footing
amongst an insignificant tribe. A native teacher had been sent there by
the Wesleyans, who had succeeded in persuading the chief at that part to
embrace Christianity. But instead of that being of any advantage to our
enterprise, it seems the very reverse; for the chief Tararo is a
determined heathen, and persecutes the Christians,--who are far too weak
in numbers to offer any resistance,--and looks with dislike upon all
white men, whom he regards as propagators of the new faith."
"'Tis a pity," said Jack, "that the Christian tribe is so small, for we
shall scarcely be safe under their protection, I fear. If Tararo takes
it into his head to wish for our vessel, or to kill ourselves, he could
take us from them by force. You say that the native missionary talks
English?"
"So I believe."
"Then, what I propose is this," said Jack: "We will run round to the
south side of the island, and cut anchor off the Christian village. We
are too far away just now to have been descried by any of the savages, so
we shall get there unobserved, and have time to arrange our plans before
the heathen tribes know of our presence. But, in doing this, we run the
risk of being captured by the ill-disposed tribes, and being very ill
used, if not--a--"
"Roasted alive and eaten," cried Peterkin. "Come, out with it, Jack;
according to your own showing, it's well to look the danger straight in
the face!"
"Well, that is the worst of it, certainly. Are you prepared, then, to
take your chance of that?"
"I've been prepared and had my mind made up long ago," cried Peterkin,
swaggering about the deck with his hands thrust into his breeches'
pockets. "The fact is, Jack, I don't believe that Tararo will be so
ungrateful as to eat us; and I'm quite sure that he'll be too happy to
grant us whatever we ask: so the sooner we go in and win the better."
Peterkin was wrong, however, in his estimate of savage gratitude, as the
sequel will show.
The schooner was now put before the wind, and, after making a long run to
the south'ard, we put about and beat up for the south side of Mango,
where we arrived before sunset, and hove-to off the coral reef. Here we
awaited the arrival of a canoe, which immediately put off on our rounding
to. When it arrived, a mild-looking native, of apparently forty years of
age, came on board, and, taking off his straw hat, made us a low bow. He
was clad in a respectable suit of European clothes; and the first words
he uttered, as he stepped up to Jack and shook hands with him, were,--
"Good day, gentlemen; we are happy to see you at Mango--you are heartily
welcome."
After returning his salutation, Jack exclaimed, "You must be the native
missionary teacher of whom I have heard--are you not?"
"I am. I have the joy to be a servant of the Lord Jesus at this
station."
"You're the very man I want to see, then," replied Jack; "that's lucky.
Come down to the cabin, friend, and have a glass of wine. I wish
particularly to speak with you. My men there" (pointing to Peterkin and
me) "will look after your people."
"Thank you," said the teacher, as he followed Jack to the cabin, "I do
not drink wine or any strong drink."
"Oh! then, there's lots of water, and you can have biscuit."
"Now, 'pon my word, that's cool!" said Peterkin; "his _men_, forsooth!
Well, since we are to be men, we may as well come it as strong over these
black chaps as we can. Hallo, there!" he cried to the half dozen of
natives who stood upon the deck, gazing in wonder at all they saw,
"here's for you;" and he handed them a tray of broken biscuit and a can
of water. Then, thrusting his hands into his pockets, he walked up and
down the deck with an enormous swagger, whistling vociferously.
In about half an hour Jack and the teacher came on deck, and the latter,
bidding us a cheerful good evening, entered his canoe and paddled to the
shore. When he was gone, Peterkin stepped up to Jack, and, touching his
cap, said,--
"Well, captain, have you any communications to make to your _men_?"
"Yes," cried Jack; "ready about, mind the helm and clew up your tongue,
while I con the schooner through the passage in the reef. The teacher,
who seems a first-rate fellow, says it's quite deep, and good anchorage
within the lagoon close to the shore."
While the vessel was slowly advancing to her anchorage, under a light
breeze, Jack explained to us that Avatea was still on the island, living
amongst the heathens; that she had expressed a strong desire to join the
Christians, but Tararo would not let her, and kept her constantly in
close confinement.
"Moreover," continued Jack, "I find that she belongs to one of the Samoan
Islands, where Christianity had been introduced long before her capture
by the heathens of a neighbouring island; and the very day after she was
taken, she was to have joined the church which had been planted there by
that excellent body, the London Missionary Society. The teacher tells
me, too, that the poor girl has fallen in love with a Christian chief,
who lives on an island some fifty miles or so to the south of this one,
and that she is meditating a desperate attempt at escape. So, you see,
we have come in the nick of time. I fancy that this chief is the fellow
whom you heard of, Ralph, at the Island of Emo. Besides all this, the
heathen savages are at war among themselves, and there's to be a battle
fought the day after to-morrow, in which the principal leader is Tararo;
so that we'll not be able to commence our negotiations with the rascally
chief till the day after."
The village off which we anchored was beautifully situated at the head of
a small bay, from the margin of which trees of every description peculiar
to the tropics rose in the richest luxuriance to the summit of a hilly
ridge, which was the line of demarcation between the possessions of the
Christians and those of the neighbouring heathen chief.
The site of the settlement was an extensive plot of flat land, stretching
in a gentle slope from the sea to the mountain. The cottages stood
several hundred yards from the beach, and were protected from the glare
of the sea by the rich foliage of rows of large Barringtonia and other
trees, which girt the shore. The village was about a mile in length, and
perfectly straight, with a wide road down the middle, on either side of
which were rows of the tufted-topped ti tree, whose delicate and
beautiful blossoms, hanging beneath their plume-crested tops, added
richness to the scene. The cottages of the natives were built beneath
these trees, and were kept in the most excellent order, each having a
little garden in front, tastefully laid out and planted, while the walks
were covered with black and white pebbles.
Every house had doors and Venetian windows, painted partly with lamp
black made from the candle-nut, and partly with red ochre, which
contrasted powerfully with the dazzling coral lime that covered the
walls. On a prominent position stood a handsome church, which was quite
a curiosity in its way. It was a hundred feet long by fifty broad, and
was seated throughout to accommodate upwards of two thousand persons. It
had six large folding doors and twelve windows with Venetian blinds; and,
although a large and substantial edifice, it had been built, we were told
by the teacher, in the space of two months! There was not a single iron
nail in the fabric, and the natives had constructed it chiefly with their
stone and bone axes and other tools, having only one or two axes or tools
of European manufacture. Everything around this beautiful spot wore an
aspect of peace and plenty, and, as we dropped our anchor within a
stone's cast of the substantial coral wharf, I could not avoid
contrasting it with the wretched village of Emo, where I had witnessed so
many frightful scenes. When the teacher afterwards told me that the
people of this tribe had become converts only a year previous to our
arrival, and that they had been living before that in the practice of the
most bloody system of idolatry, I could not refrain from exclaiming,
"What a convincing proof that Christianity is of God!"
On landing from our little boat, we were received with a warm welcome by
the teacher and his wife; the latter being also a native, clothed in a
simple European gown and straw bonnet. The shore was lined with hundreds
of natives, whose persons were all more or less clothed with native
cloth. Some of the men had on a kind of poncho formed of this cloth,
their legs being uncovered. Others wore clumsily-fashioned trousers, and
no upper garment except hats made of straw and cloth. Many of the
dresses, both of women and men, were grotesque enough, being very bad
imitations of the European garb; but all wore a dress of some sort or
other. They seemed very glad to see us, and crowded round us as the
teacher led the way to his dwelling, where we were entertained, in the
most sumptuous manner, on baked pig and all the varieties of fruits and
vegetables that the island produced. We were much annoyed, however, by
the rats: they seemed to run about the house like domestic animals. As
we sat at table, one of them peeped up at us over the edge of the cloth,
close to Peterkin's elbow, who floored it with a blow on the snout from
his knife, exclaiming as he did so--
"I say, Mister Teacher, why don't you set traps for these brutes?--surely
you are not fond of them!"
"No," replied the teacher, with a smile; "we would be glad to get rid of
them if we could; but if we were to trap all the rats on the island, it
would occupy our whole time."
"Are they, then, so numerous?" inquired Jack.
"They swarm everywhere. The poor heathens on the north side eat them,
and think them very sweet. So did my people formerly; but they do not
eat so many now, because the missionary who was last here expressed
disgust at it. The poor people asked if it was wrong to eat rats; and he
told them that it was certainly not wrong, but that the people of England
would be much disgusted were they asked to eat rats."
We had not been an hour in the house of this kind-hearted man when we
were convinced of the truth of his statement as to their numbers, for the
rats ran about the floors in dozens, and, during our meal, two men were
stationed at the table to keep them off!
"What a pity you have no cats," said Peterkin, as he aimed a blow at
another reckless intruder, and missed it.
"We would, indeed, be glad to have a few," rejoined the teacher, "but
they are difficult to be got. The hogs, we find, are very good
rat-killers, but they do not seem to be able to keep the numbers down. I
have heard that they are better than cats."
As the teacher said this, his good-natured black face was wrinkled with a
smile of merriment. Observing that I had noticed it, he said:--
"I smiled just now when I remembered the fate of the first cat that was
taken to Raratonga. This is one of the stations of the London Missionary
Society. It, like our own, is infested with rats, and a cat was brought
at last to the island. It was a large black one. On being turned loose,
instead of being content to stay among men, the cat took to the
mountains, and lived in a wild state, sometimes paying visits during the
night to the houses of the natives; some of whom, living at a distance
from the settlement, had not heard of the cat's arrival, and were
dreadfully frightened in consequence, calling it a 'monster of the deep,'
and flying in terror away from it. One night the cat, feeling a desire
for company, I suppose, took its way to the house of a chief, who had
recently been converted to Christianity, and had begun to learn to read
and pray. The chief's wife, who was sitting awake at his side while he
slept, beheld with horror two fires glistening in the doorway, and heard
with surprise a mysterious voice. Almost petrified with fear, she awoke
her husband, and began to upbraid him for forsaking his old religion, and
burning his god, who, she declared, was now come to be avenged of them.
'Get up and pray! get up and pray!' she cried. The chief arose, and, on
opening his eyes, beheld the same glaring lights, and heard the same
ominous sound. Impelled by the extreme urgency of the case, he
commenced, with all possible vehemence, to vociferate the alphabet, as a
prayer to God to deliver them from the vengeance of Satan! On hearing
this, the cat, as much alarmed as themselves, fled precipitately away,
leaving the chief and his wife congratulating themselves on the efficacy
of their prayer."
We were much diverted with this anecdote, which the teacher related in
English so good, that we certainly could not have supposed him a native
but for the colour of his face and the foreign accent in his tone. Next
day we walked out with this interesting man, and were much entertained
and instructed by his conversation, as we rambled through the cool shady
groves of bananas, citrons, limes, and other trees, or sauntered among
the cottages of the natives, and watched them while they laboured
diligently in the taro beds, or manufactured the tapa or native cloth. To
some of these Jack put questions through the medium of the missionary;
and the replies were such as to surprise us at the extent of their
knowledge. Indeed, Peterkin very truly remarked that "they seemed to
know a considerable deal more than Jack himself!"
Among other pieces of interesting information that we obtained was the
following, in regard to coral formations:--
"The islands of the Pacific," said our friend, "are of three different
kinds or classes. Those of the first class are volcanic, mountainous,
and wild; some shooting their jagged peaks into the clouds at an
elevation of ten and fifteen thousand feet. Those of the second class
are of crystalized limestone, and vary in height from one hundred to five
hundred feet. The hills on these are not so wild or broken as those of
the first class, but are richly clothed with vegetation, and very
beautiful. I have no doubt that the Coral Island on which you were
wrecked was one of this class. They are supposed to have been upheaved
from the bottom of the sea by volcanic agency, but they are not
themselves volcanic in their nature, neither are they of coral formation.
Those of the third class are the low coralline islands usually having
lagoons of water in their midst; they are very numerous.
"As to the manner in which coral islands and reefs are formed; there are
various opinions on this point. I will give you what seems to me the
most probable theory,--a theory, I may add, which is held by some of the
good and scientific missionaries. It is well known that there is much
lime in salt water; it is also known that coral is composed of lime. It
is supposed that the polypes, or coral insects, have the power of
attracting this lime to their bodies; and with this material they build
their little cells or habitations. They choose the summit of a volcano,
or the top of a submarine mountain, as a foundation on which to build;
for it is found that they never work at any great depth below the
surface. On this they work; the polypes on the mountain top, of course,
reach the surface first, then those at the outer edges reach the top
sooner than the others between them and the centre, thus forming the
coral reef surrounding the lagoon of water and the central island; after
that the insects within the lagoon cease working. When the surface of
the water is reached, these myriads of wonderful creatures die. Then
birds visit the spot, and seeds are thus conveyed thither, which take
root, and spring up, and flourish. Thus are commenced those coralline
islets of which you have seen so many in these seas. The reefs round the
large islands are formed in a similar manner. When we consider," added
the missionary, "the smallness of the architects used by our heavenly
Father in order to form those lovely and innumerable islands, we are
filled with much of that feeling which induced the ancient king to
exclaim, 'How manifold, O God, are thy works! in wisdom thou hast made
them all.'"
We all heartily agreed with the missionary in this sentiment, and felt
not a little gratified to find that the opinions which Jack and I had
been led to form from personal observation on our Coral Island were thus
to a great extent corroborated.
The missionary also gave us an account of the manner in which
Christianity had been introduced among them. He said: "When missionaries
were first sent here, three years ago, a small vessel brought them; and
the chief, who is now dead, promised to treat well the two native
teachers who were left with their wives on the island. But scarcely had
the boat which landed them returned to the ship, than the natives began
to maltreat their guests, taking away all they possessed, and offering
them further violence, so that, when the boat was sent in haste to fetch
them away, the clothes of both men and women were torn nearly off their
backs.
"Two years after this the vessel visited them again, and I, being in her,
volunteered to land alone, without any goods whatever; begging that my
wife might be brought to me the following year,--that is, _this_ year;
and, as you see, she is with me. But the surf was so high that the boat
could not land me; so with nothing on but my trousers and shirt, and with
a few catechisms and a Bible, besides some portions of the Scripture
translated into the Mango tongue, I sprang into the sea, and swam ashore
on the crest of a breaker. I was instantly dragged up the beach by the
natives; who, on finding I had nothing worth having upon me, let me
alone. I then made signs to my friends in the ship to leave me; which
they did. At first the natives listened to me in silence, but laughed at
what I said while I preached the gospel of our blessed Saviour Jesus
Christ to them. Afterwards they treated me ill sometimes; but I
persevered, and continued to dwell among them, and dispute, and exhort
them to give up their sinful ways of life, burn their idols, and come to
Jesus.
"About a month after I landed, I heard that the chief was dead. He was
the father of the present chief, who is now a most consistent member of
the church. It is a custom here that, when a chief dies, his wives are
strangled and buried with him. Knowing this, I hastened to his house to
endeavour to prevent such cruelty if possible. When I arrived, I found
two of the wives had already been killed, while another was in the act of
being strangled. I pleaded hard for her, but it was too late; she was
already dead. I then entreated the son to spare the fourth wife; and,
after much hesitation, my prayer was granted: but, in half an hour
afterwards, this poor woman repented of being unfaithful, as she termed
it, to her husband, and insisted on being strangled; which was
accordingly done.
"All this time the chief's son was walking up and down before his
father's house with a brow black as thunder. When he entered, I went in
with him, and found, to my surprise, that his father was not dead! The
old man was sitting on a mat in a corner, with an expression of placid
resignation on his face.
"'Why,' said I, 'have you strangled your father's wives before he is
dead?'
"To this the son replied, 'He is dead. That is no longer my father. He
is as good as dead now. He is to be _buried alive_.'
"I now remembered having heard that it is a custom among the Feejee
islanders, that when the reigning chief grows old or infirm, the heir to
the chieftainship has a right to depose his father; in which case he is
considered as dead, and is buried alive. The young chief was now about
to follow this custom, and, despite my earnest entreaties and pleadings,
the old chief was buried that day before my eyes in the same grave with
his four strangled wives! Oh! my heart groaned when I saw this, and I
prayed to God to open the hearts of these poor creatures, as he had
already opened mine, and pour into them the light and the love of the
gospel of Jesus. My prayer was answered very soon. A week afterwards,
the son, who was now chief of the tribe, came to me, bearing his god on
his shoulders, and groaning beneath its weight. Flinging it down at my
feet, he desired me to burn it!
"You may conceive how overjoyed I was at this. I sprang up and embraced
him, while I shed tears of joy. Then we made a fire, and burned the god
to ashes, amid an immense concourse of the people, who seemed terrified
at what was being done, and shrank back when we burned the god, expecting
some signal vengeance to be taken upon us; but seeing that nothing
happened, they changed their minds, and thought that our God must be the
true one after all. From that time the mission prospered steadily, and
now, while there is not a single man in the tribe who has not burned his
household gods, and become a convert to Christianity, there are not a
few, I hope, who are true followers of the Lamb, having been plucked as
brands from the burning by Him who can save unto the uttermost. I will
not tell you more of our progress at this time, but you see," he said,
waving his hand around him, "the village and the church did not exist a
year ago!"
We were indeed much interested in this account, and I could not help
again in my heart praying God to prosper those missionary societies that
send such inestimable blessings to these islands of dark and bloody
idolatry. The teacher also added that the other tribes were very
indignant at this one for having burned its gods, and threatened to
destroy it altogether, but they had done nothing yet; "and if they
should," said the teacher, "the Lord is on our side; of whom shall we be
afraid?"
"Have the missionaries many stations in these seas?" inquired Jack.
"Oh, yes. The London Missionary Society have a great many in the Tahiti
group, and other islands in that quarter. Then the Wesleyans have the
Feejee Islands all to themselves, and the Americans have many stations in
other groups. But still, my friend, there are hundreds of islands here
the natives of which have never heard of Jesus, or the good word of God,
or the Holy Spirit; and thousands are living and dying in the practice of
those terrible sins and bloody murders of which you have already heard. I
trust, my friends," he added, looking earnestly into our faces, "I trust
that if you ever return to England, you will tell your Christian friends
that the horrors which they hear of in regard to these islands are
_literally true_, and that when they have heard the worst, the '_half has
not been told them_;' for there are perpetrated here foul deeds of
darkness of which man may not speak. You may also tell them," he said,
looking around with a smile, while a tear of gratitude trembled in his
eye and rolled down his coal-black cheek,--"tell them of the blessings
that the gospel has wrought _here_!"
We assured our friend that we would certainly not forget his request. On
returning towards the village, about noon, we remarked on the beautiful
whiteness of the cottages.
"That is owing to the lime with which they are plastered," said the
teacher. "When the natives were converted, as I have described, I set
them to work to build cottages for themselves, and also this handsome
church which you see. When the framework and other parts of the houses
were up, I sent the people to fetch coral from the sea. They brought
immense quantities. Then I made them cut wood, and, piling the coral
above it, set it on fire.
"'Look! look!' cried the poor people, in amazement; 'what wonderful
people the Christians are! He is roasting stones. We shall not need
taro or bread-fruit any more; we may eat stones!'
"But their surprise was still greater when the coral was reduced to a
fine soft white powder. They immediately set up a great shout, and,
mingling the lime with water, rubbed their faces and their bodies all
over with it, and ran through the village screaming with delight. They
were also much surprised at another thing they saw me do. I wished to
make some household furniture, and constructed a turning-lathe to assist
me. The first thing that I turned was the leg of a sofa; which was no
sooner finished than the chief seized it with wonder and delight, and ran
through the village exhibiting it to the people, who looked upon it with
great admiration. The chief then, tying a string to it, hung it round
his neck as an ornament! He afterwards told me that if he had seen it
before he became a Christian he would have made it his god!"
As the teacher concluded this anecdote we reached his door. Saying that
he had business to attend to, he left us to amuse ourselves as we best
could.
"Now, lads," said Jack, turning abruptly towards us, and buttoning up his
jacket as he spoke, "I'm off to see the battle. I've no particular
fondness for seein' blood-shed, but I must find out the nature o' these
fellows and see their customs with my own eyes, so that I may be able to
speak of it again, if need be, authoritatively. It's only six miles off,
and we don't run much more risk than that of getting a rap with a stray
stone or an over-shot arrow. Will you go?"
"To be sure we will," said Peterkin.
"If they chance to see us we'll cut and run for it," added Jack.
"Dear me!" cried Peterkin,--"_you_ run! thought you would scorn to run
from any one."
"So I would, if it were my duty to fight," returned Jack, coolly; "but as
I don't want to fight, and don't intend to fight, if they offer to attack
us I'll run away like the veriest coward that ever went by the name of
Peterkin. So come along."