LANDED AT LAST.
If the Missionaries hoped that they would now in peace and tolerable
comfort pursue their voyage to their long desired haven, they were to
be sadly disappointed. It seemed as if wind and waves joined together
to keep them back from India. The experience of the Duffs in the
"Moira" was not to be very unlike theirs in the poor wrecked "Lady
Holland."
Contrary winds drove the vessel far out of her course, increasing to
such a hurricane that she nearly went down into the depths of the sea.
Not till the end of May did the poor half exhausted travellers see the
little pilot ship which was to guide them up the Hoogly to Calcutta at
last.
In thought we can see the missionary Duff, with his tall form, handsome
face, animated manner and sparkling eyes, standing on the deck, and
pointing out to his wife the distant land beyond the heaving waters,
and crying out, "That is our India, yonder is our future battle-field,
so long hoped for, so long desired!"
The long muddy flat of Saugar island indeed was nothing beautiful
to look at, yet was full of interest, and welcome was the sound of
dropping anchor in the rapid stream which flows by its shore.
The long ocean-voyage was over, but the river had its perils as great
as those of the ocean. See how the clouds in big black masses gather
before the sun. Make ready, brave sailors, a storm is coming, and will
be upon you soon! It came—the terrible monsoon in all its fury! In vain
had three anchors been thrown out from the "Moira," anchors and cables
cannot hold her; like a baited animal breaking loose from the stake,
she struggles on the furious whirling waters. Driven before the roaring
gust, the "Moira" is hurled on a mud-bank, she is in a position of
awful peril. Nothing can be done to save her, for not even moonlight
now relieves the horrors of the darkness only lit up by flashes of
lightning!
Has the missionary come so far, and already endured so much only to
perish close to the land which he has vainly tried to reach! It was a
terrible night indeed, and with the wild monsoon sweeping around them,
thus helplessly "standed," how anxiously must the poor passengers in
the "Moira" have waited for daybreak! It came at last, and there was at
least light enough to show them their danger.
The appearance of the river was very fearful; the wind, whirling round
in cyclone gusts, raised columns of water which broke into foaming
cataracts. What had been land was so flooded that it looked like a
widening of the river. Yet to reach it was the travellers' best chance
of safety. There was a large tree not far off standing out of the
water. By swimming, some men managed to carry a rope from the ship to
it, which they could fasten to its branches. Along this rope a boat was
moved to the tree, and by its means the travellers were "landed" on
Saugar island, if that term can be used when they had to stand up to
their waists in water!
Oh! What a close to a long toilsome voyage, what a rude welcome
to India! Battered by the gale, drenched to the skin, the twice
shipwrecked Duffs with their companions struggled on till they came to
the first Hindu village which they hoped to enter, and find at least
a little rest in some hut however mean. But alas! From prejudices of
caste, the villagers would not take the poor weary ones in! Here was a
trial of faith and patience. Doubtless Duff felt far less for himself
than for his loving faithful wife. Turned back from the village, the
shipwrecked sufferers took refuge in a temple, and there, drenched with
mud, in a terrible state of exhaustion after the fearful night, the
Missionary pair remained for a while.
When the tidings of their state reached Calcutta, help was quickly
sent. After some time dinghy boats began to appear; in one of these
Mr. Duff and his patient wife at last reached Calcutta, the city of
palaces, where by a Scotch clergyman they were hospitably received. The
journey from London to Calcutta with such a succession of disasters,
had taken them more than "eight months" to accomplish. When the natives
of India heard of the perils surmounted by the Missionary Duff, the
remark was made, "Surely this man is a favorite of the gods who must
have some notable work for him to do in India."
What Duff himself thought of his troubles may be seen by what he wrote
in a letter on the day following that of his arrival in Calcutta.
"The loss of earthly comfort and possession is a rich gain indeed,
when accompanied by the increase of that treasure which nothing can
diminish. Where is faith without a victory? Where is victory without
a struggle? And can there be a struggle without enduring trials and
encountering difficulties? To us, we would pray, be the toil and the
hardship and the danger, and the crown of victory for our reward, or
death when maintaining our Master's cause, for an eternal glory."
Before this, Alexander Duff had written in reference to his large
stock of books and valuable papers lost in the shipwreck of the "Lady
Holland":—
"They are gone, and blessed be God, I can say gone without a murmur. So
perish all earthly things; the treasure which is laid up in Him alone
is unassailable. God has been to me a God full of mercy, and not the
least of His mercies do I find in cheerful resignation."
Thus "Faith turns the sands of life to gold."
————————