“THE STORY OF CAPTAIN ALLEN FRANCIS GARDINER, R.N.”
I now propose to add a few facts bearing on the subject of Patagonia
and Tierra del Fuego taken from a very interesting little volume
prepared by J. W. Marsh, M.A., and W. H. Stirling, B.A. (London, 1867),
with the above title.
Having an earnest desire for the evangelization of the heathen,
Captain Gardiner relinquished the naval service and devoted his life
to missionary work. He was three years in the Zulu country in South
Africa, exploring and establishing a missionary station at Port Natal.
“A few years later he attempted to obtain entrance into New Guinea. He
went from island to island of the Indian Archipelago, and from governor
to magistrate, but all his efforts were baffled.” He then turned his
attention to South America, exploring extensively both among the
Spanish states and the aboriginal tribes. He made an earnest effort
to establish a Christian mission among the unconquered Araucanians on
the south of Chili; but here he was foiled by the opposition, as he
believed, of the Spanish priests.
In 1841 Captain Gardiner attempted to organize an expedition from the
island of Chiloe to travel eastward, cross a pass in the Cordilleras,
and to communicate with the natives residing on the eastern side. This
plan also failed, and he returned to Valparaiso, whence he sailed
for the Falkland Islands, and arrived at Port Louis in Berkley Sound
December 23d, 1841. These islands he now selected as the base of
missionary operations, purposing to bring over a few of the Fuegians
or Patagonians to the islands to be instructed in English, and also to
assist the missionaries in acquiring the language of the Patagonians.
The seat of government was then at Port Louis, but it was afterwards
established at Port William, where the town of Stanley has since been
built, and where the English have planted a small colony.
In March, 1842, Captain Gardiner entered the Strait of Magellan in a
schooner, and made an attempt to persuade some of the Fuegians on the
south side of the Strait to go with him to the Falklands. Failing in
this, he went over to the north shore and anchored in Gregory Bay,
where we first landed. Finding no Indians here, he proceeded westward
twelve miles to Oazy Harbor, where he found a clan headed by a chief
called Wissale, with whom he made an engagement to establish a mission
to be under the protection of this chief. He then returned with his
family to England, made efforts to interest Christians in the South
American enterprise, and brought out a Mr. Hunt to labor with the tribe
just named. This was in February, 1845. Captain Gardiner found all
things changed. Most of the tribe were absent; they were also divided,
and Wissale was sullen and unfriendly.
So this effort failed, and Captain Gardiner and Mr. Hunt returned to
England. In due time Captain Gardiner came back with a Mr. Gonzales, a
Spanish Protestant, to South America, where he travelled heroically to
find aboriginal tribes to whom the Gospel could be preached. He finally
settled Gonzales in Bolivia, and in February, 1846, we find him again
in England, full of zeal in his South American enterprise.
But he had not yet given up his purpose to make another effort for
Tierra del Fuego. He travelled and lectured in England and Scotland,
but with small pecuniary success. For want of money he proposed to the
committee to take a one-decked boat, a dingey, a whaleboat, two small
wigwams, four sailors, and one ship-carpenter, and sail for Staten
Island, which lies due east from Tierra del Fuego. All things ready,
they sailed in the bark Clymene, bound to Peru, on the 7th of January,
1848. On the 15th of March they made Staten Island, and from this
time till the first of April they struggled hard and with incredible
suffering to establish a station on Picton Island, at Banner Cove; but
being thwarted by the thieving habits of the savages, they sailed for
Payta in Peru.
From Peru the indefatigable Captain Gardiner returned again to England,
with irrepressible zeal urging the Patagonian Missionary Society to
go forward, and striving, almost against hope, to collect funds for
the purpose. Mr. Ritchie, the honorable secretary of the society, had
resigned and gone to Liverpool, and no member of the committee was
willing to take his place. At length Captain Gardiner persuaded the
Rev. Geo. Packenham Despard to come to the rescue.
Again he travelled over England and Scotland in search of funds,
but with little success, until a generous lady gave him £700, and
afterwards £300 more. Two launches 26 by 8½ feet were purchased, and
two small tenders, and provisions for six months.
Mr. Williams (surgeon), Mr. Maidment, Joseph Erwin, and three Cornish
fishermen--viz., John Pearce, John Badcock, and John Bryant--were
appointed to go to Tierra del Fuego on this expedition. With this
party Captain Gardiner sailed from Liverpool in the bark Ocean Queen,
bound for San Francisco, on the 7th of September, 1850, and on the
5th of the following December arrived at Picton Island, and the Ocean
Queen anchored in Banner Cove. Hence he writes: “On Friday, the 6th,
we erected our tents, and slept on shore. On the 7th we constructed
a strong fence of trunks of trees, etc., round our position, leaving
only one small opening. This night and during Sunday the number of
natives increased.... Their rudeness and pertinacious endeavor to force
a way into the tents, and to purloin our things, at length became so
systematic and resolute that it was not possible to retain our position
without resorting to force, from which, of course, we refrained. For
the present we must keep the stores and everything in the boats. As
soon as the Ocean Queen leaves us I purpose going to Button Island and
endeavoring to find out Jemmy, in the hope of persuading him or some of
his relatives to locate here.”
The Ocean Queen sailed on the 19th of December. An attempt was then
made to go to Woollya in search of Jemmy Button, but in this their two
small boats and one launch were lost. They were in distress, and the
expedition to Woollya failed.
On the 2d of February, 1851, Mr. Williams writes: “How evident that
we were not in a position to commence, with such slight means, so
arduous an undertaking! We are now all agreed that nothing short of a
brigantine or schooner of eighty or a hundred tons can answer our ends,
and to procure this ultimately the captain has fully determined to
use every effort. A short acquaintance with the natives confirmed the
unfavorable reports which such writers as Fitz Roy, King, and Darwin
had given.”
Fearing the savages at Banner Cove, the whole company had removed to
Spaniard Harbor, where they watched for the arrival of a vessel to
bring them supplies of provisions that never came.
They made one more trip to Banner Cove, on Picton Island, to bring away
provisions they had concealed, and to leave notices to show where they
were gone, in case of any vessel searching for them in Banner Cove.
The provisions of the missionaries were getting reduced day by day,
their powder and shot were being exhausted, their fishing-net gave out;
Mr. Williams and Mr. Badcock were sick; the scurvy began to attack
some of their number; no vessel appeared for their relief, and their
condition was truly forlorn.
In view of death by starvation, nothing but the all-sufficient grace of
God, in hope of eternal life, sustained them. But faith anchored their
souls to the “Rock of Ages.”
On the night of the 28th of July, 1851, Mr. Badcock departed in triumph
to his heavenly home. He had suffered with fears that he was not
accepted by the Beloved; but all these clouds of doubt fled away before
the visions of a strong faith, and just before he expired he sang with
a loud voice:
“Arise, my soul, arise,
Shake off thy guilty fears;
The bleeding Sacrifice
In my behalf appears.
Before the throne my Surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.”
A part of the company slept in the Speedwell, their only remaining
boat, and the other part occupied a cavern about one mile and a half
distant on the shore. On the rocks at the entrance of this cave were
afterwards found the words of the 62d Psalm, verses 5-8, painted with
this date, July 5th, 1851.
On the 25th of August Joseph Erwin went to his rest, deeply lamented.
Captain Gardiner writes of him, “Twice has he accompanied me to Tierra
del Fuego, and on all occasions proved himself worthy of my highest
confidence and esteem.” John Bryant died on the 27th of August.
Maidment labored to the end of life to help and comfort his sick and
dying comrades. “On September 2d he left the boat, but was unable to
return, and his remains were found in Pioneer Cavern.”
Captain Gardiner was fast growing weaker and weaker. On the 27th August
he wrote his last letter of affectionate counsel to his son; on the
28th he wrote a tender farewell to his daughter; and on the 29th he
penned his final letter to his beloved wife. I quote a brief extract:
“I am passing through the furnace, but blessed be my heavenly Shepherd,
He is with me, and I shall not want. He has kept me in perfect peace,
and my soul rests and waits on Him only.... I trust poor Fuegia and
South America will not be abandoned.”
On the 30th he made an unsuccessful effort to join the suffering party
at Cook’s River, the place where the launch was anchored. On the 2d of
September we find this entry in his diary: “Hope deferred, not lost.”
His last entry in his journal is on September 5th. On the 6th he wrote
his last words in a note to Mr. Williams:
“+My Dear Mr. Williams+:
“The Lord has seen fit to call home another of our little company.
Our dear departed brother left the boat on Tuesday at noon, and has
not since returned; doubtless he is in the presence of his Redeemer
whom he served so faithfully. Yet a little while, and through grace
we may join that blessed throng to sing the praises of Christ
throughout eternity. I neither hunger nor thirst, though five days
without food! Marvellous loving-kindness to me a sinner!
“Your affectionate brother in Christ,
“+Allen F. Gardiner+.”
The sad narrative tells us that on the 22d of October, 1851, the
schooner John Davison, sent from Montevideo by Mr. Lafone to look after
this missionary party, anchored in Banner Cove, where the master,
Captain Smyley, read the directions of Captain Gardiner painted on
the rocks, “Gone to Spaniard Harbor,” dug up the buried bottles, read
the enclosed letters, and ran to Spaniard Harbor. Here he found one
dead body in the boat, another on the beach, and one buried. These he
supposed to be Pearce, Williams, and Badcock. “The sight,” says Captain
Smyley, “was awful in the extreme. The two captains who went with me in
the boat cried like children. Books, papers, medicine, clothing, and
tools were strewed along the beach and on the boat’s deck and cuddy.”
A gale coming on, Captain Smyley was driven out to sea with only time
to bury the corpses without making further search.
On the 19th of January, 1852, H.M.S. Dido, Captain Morshead, arrived
at Banner Cove from the Falkland Islands. The bottles and letters were
gone, but the notice on the rocks remained, and directed the ship to
Spaniard Harbor. Here they found the bodies of Captain Gardiner and Mr.
Maidment.
Captain Morshead writes: “On one of the papers was written, ‘If you
will walk along the beach for a mile and a half you will find us in
the other boat, hauled up in the mouth of a river at the head of the
harbor on the south side. Delay not, we are starving.’ At this sad
intelligence it was impossible to leave that night, though the weather
looked very threatening. I landed the next morning, January 2d, and
went to the head of the harbor with Lieutenant Gaussen, Mr. Roberts,
and Mr. Evans. We found there the wreck of a boat with part of her gear
and stores, with quantities of clothing, with the remains of two bodies
which I conclude to be Mr. Williams (surgeon) and John Pearce.... Their
remains were collected together, and buried close to the spot, and the
funeral service read by Lieutenant Underwood, and three volleys of
musketry were the only tribute I could pay to this lofty-minded man and
his devoted companions, ... and before noon the Dido was proceeding
safely on her voyage.”
When the tidings of this mournful calamity reached England sceptics
censured and scoffers scoffed, and the friends of Patagonia mourned
over crushed hopes. But they were soon reassured by the bold and
unconquered zeal of Mr. Despard, the secretary, who published widely
his determination that “with the help of God, the mission shall be
maintained.”
The bugle-blast aroused the friends of missions to renewed efforts,
and in 1854 a schooner named Allen Gardiner was launched at Dartmouth,
and sailed from Bristol with a newly appointed company of missionaries
to establish a station on the Falkland Islands, to which some Fuegians
might be brought for instruction in English, and from whom the
missionaries might learn the Fuegian tongue.
The Allen Gardiner sailed on the 24th of October, 1854, under the
command of Captain Parker Snow, with Mr. G. Phillips as catechist and
Mr. Ellis as surgeon, for Keppel Island near West Falkland, where the
station was established on the 5th of February, 1855.
The Allen Gardiner soon made a voyage to Tierra del Fuego, where Jemmy
Button was found living with his family.
On the 2d of June, 1856, Secretary Despard sailed from Plymouth for the
Falkland Islands as superintendent of the mission. He was accompanied
by the Rev. J. F. Ogle, M.A., Mr. Allen W. Gardiner, son of the
lamented Captain Gardiner; by Mr. C. Turpin and Mr. W. Bartlett, as
missionaries and helpers. They arrived August 30th.
Secretary Despard soon made a trip to Patagonia in the Allen Gardiner,
and also to Tierra del Fuego, where young Gardiner visited the grave
of his devoted father and the awful mementoes of the deaths of that
forlorn hope of soldiers of the cross. In June, 1858, Mr. Gardiner
visited Tierra del Fuego again with Mr. Turpin. They went to Woollya,
found Jemmy Button and his wife with three children, and they all went
to the Falklands to spend six months with the missionaries. They were
overjoyed to see this Fuegian family, and on hearing that they were on
board the Allen Gardiner as she came into Keppel Island harbor, Mrs.
Despard writes, “then arose a shout of joy and praise among us.”
Jemmy and family remained with the missionaries until November,
when Mr. Despard took them back to Woollya in the Allen Gardiner, on
which occasion Mrs. Despard writes: “My husband left us on the 16th,
accompanied by Messrs. Phillips and Turpin and the Button family for
Tierra del Fuego. I cannot tell you how we miss our late guests. During
their stay here they behaved extremely well, never doing anything to
offend or annoy us. As to Jemmy, his politeness was extreme, and I ever
found him most grateful. For any little trifle I gave him he would go
and pick me a beautiful bouquet of wild flowers or spear me some fish.
He was always clean. He quickly recovered his English, and understood
us better than we understood him. He knows that there is a God who has
created all things. He also knows about our blessed Saviour.”
Did not Admiral Fitz Roy rejoice to hear this, and feel that his
generous efforts to educate this dark heathen boy were not in vain?
Mr. Despard with two catechists remained a month at Woollya with the
Button family, built a house in English style for them, and then
returned to the Falkland station with three Fuegians and their wives,
two boys, and a little child.
Under date of October 4th, 1859, Mr. Despard writes: “These Fuegians
are just returning to their own home.... They are greatly changed
in manners. The two lads Lucca-enges and Okokko-enges are quite
polite. ‘If you please,’ ‘Thank you,’ ‘Good-morning’ are ever heard
in the right time and place. They give thanks at their meals, and
pray at their bedside.... The men are also much improved--coming to
daily worship, and generally twice on Sunday. They are now decent in
their habits, tidily dressed, and as far as our imperfect medium of
communication goes they have been taught the knowledge of God.”
On the 6th of October these nine Fuegians were put on board the Allen
Gardiner, under the charge of Mr. Phillips, to be returned to Woollya
with specific instructions from Superintendent Despard to Mr. Phillips.
After the time for the return of the vessel from Fuegia had passed Mr.
Despard and the missionaries became anxious for her safety, and Mr.
Despard went to Stanley and despatched the schooner Nancy, Captain
Smyley, to Woollya. Captain Smyley returned with these heart-rending
tidings: “Mr. Phillips, Captain Fell, the two mates of the schooner,
and four seamen have all been massacred by the natives in Woollya, and
the schooner plundered.” The news was awful, and the missionaries were
stunned with amazement. They groaned and wept and prayed. They wept and
prayed for the crushed widows, the mothers and fathers and children of
the murdered, and for the poor, deluded, wretched savages of Fuego,
whose cupidity and brutality had led them to imbrue their hands in the
blood of those who had come to seek and to save them.
The following are the facts in brief of this terrible massacre. The
Allen Gardiner arrived at Woollya November 1st, and the missionaries
held friendly intercourse with the natives for several days. Meanwhile
many canoes arrived from neighboring islands, but no harm was
suspected. On Sunday, the 6th, all hands except the cook came on shore
for public worship. While engaged in divine service the savages fell
upon them and slaughtered the whole company. The cook, on seeing from
the deck the awful work on shore, escaped around a point in a boat, and
hid in the woods, until hunger and cold compelled him to reveal himself
to the natives, who stripped and plundered him but spared his life.
He was afterwards taken into the Button family and well treated until
Captain Smyley arrived and took him on board the Nancy.
Captain Smyley went a second time to Woollya and brought away the
wreck of the Allen Gardiner, which had not been burned. On this
occasion Okokko begged to be taken back to Keppel Island with his wife
Camilenna, and for a long time they were the only Fuegian residents on
the Falklands.
Mr. and Mrs. Despard returned to England early in 1862, leaving the
farm and property under the care of Mr. Bartlett, and the natives under
the charge of Mr. Bridges.
On reaching England, the Allen Gardiner was repaired and increased in
length and efficiency, and in August of the same year she returned
to the South Atlantic with a new reinforcement of missionaries, and
with Mr. Sterling as superintendent. They spent three weeks in the
River Plata, while Mr. Sterling visited Montevideo and Buenos Ayres on
missionary business. Thence they sailed for the Falklands, touching
at the Rio Negro and Santa Cruz in Patagonia, and arriving at Keppel
Island on the 30th of January, 1863. Only two adult Fuegians, Okokko
and wife, and their two little children remained.
It was now determined to reopen communication with Tierra del Fuego, as
all intercourse with those savage tribes had ceased since the massacre
in 1859. So taking on board the tamed Okokko, the Allen Gardiner sailed
once more for Fuego in March, touching at Banner Cove, Packsaddle Bay,
and Woollya. Through the agency of Okokko the natives became friendly.
He went on shore with his wife and children at Woollya, and spent a
Sabbath in speaking to the people, numbers of whom were desirous to go
to Keppel Island. Seven new natives were taken, making with the Okokkos
eleven in all. Soon after this three Patagonian Indians were brought
over from Santa Cruz, where a mission station had been commenced.
In February, 1864, the Allen Gardiner sailed again for Tierra del
Fuego, taking the Okokko family to settle them in Woollya, where he
and his wife were to act as Christian teachers. Touching at Wollaston
Island and other places on the way, and having communication with the
natives, they reached Woollya on the 7th of March. Here they learned
that a malignant sickness had swept off a large number of the people of
all ages, and that Jemmy Button and many of his kindred were dead, and
there was great mourning among the survivors.
On this visit the place was found where the bodies of the massacred
company were buried under a large heap of stones. The funeral service
was read over the rocky tomb, while the flag of the schooner hung at
half mast and the ship’s company bowed their heads in sorrow.
This mournful yet successful visit to Woollya ended on the 21st of
March, and they returned to the Falklands. On a subsequent visit it
was found that Okokko’s house, goats, and all his property had been
destroyed by natives, and that his life had been threatened because he
told the people of God, whom they could not see, and of a hell where
the wicked would be punished.
In view of this outburst of insane violence Okokko was much distressed,
and it was determined that he and his family should return to the
Falklands for further instruction. Another company of Fuegians, also,
went over to attend the school at Keppel Island.
Again the Allen Gardiner sailed for England, having on board Mr.
Stirling and four Fuegians. Early in the year 1867 she returned to the
mission station on Keppel Island, taking back the four young Fuegians
to the school established there, and this is the latest information
I have been able to obtain of that heroic, that mournfully tragic,
that patient and persistent effort to Christianize and to civilize the
wretched inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego.
Those who have no sympathy with the command of Him who died to save
our race, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature,” may pity the weakness or sneer at the fanaticism of men who
sacrificed life with all its comforts in an effort to save the abject
savages of Tierra del Fuego; while others will admire their zeal, their
patience, and their unconquerable faith, thus leaving them in the
hands of Him in whose name they went forth among the gentiles with the
assurance that “their record is on high.”