TO THE NEW HEBRIDES.
ON the first of December 1857--being then in my thirty-third year--the
other Missionary-designate and I were "licensed" as preachers of the
Gospel. Thereafter we spent four months in visiting and addressing
nearly every Congregation and Sabbath School in the Reformed
Presbyterian Church of Scotland, that the people might see us and know
us, and thereby take a personal interest in our work. On the 23d March
1858, in Dr. Symington's church, Glasgow, in presence of a mighty crowd,
and after a magnificent sermon on "Come over and help us," we were
solemnly ordained as Ministers of the Gospel, and set apart as
Missionaries to the New Hebrides. On the 16th April of the same year, we
left the Tail of the Bank at Greenock, and set sail in the _Clutha_ for
the Foreign Mission field.
Our voyage to Melbourne was rather tedious, but ended prosperously,
under Captain Broadfoot, a kindly, brave-hearted Scot, who did
everything that was possible for our comfort. He himself led the singing
on board at Worship, which was always charming to me, and was always
regularly conducted--on deck when the weather was fair, below when it
was rough. I was also permitted to conduct Bible Classes amongst both
the crew and the passengers, at times and places approved of by the
Captain--in which there was great joy.
Arriving at Melbourne, we were welcomed by Rev. Mr. Moor, Mr. and Mrs.
Samuel Wilson, and Mr. Wright, all Reformed Presbyterians from Geelong.
Mr. Wilson's two children, Jessie and Donald, had been under our care
during the voyage; and my young wife and I went with them for a few days
on a visit to Geelong, while Mr. Copeland remained on board the _Clutha_
to look after our boxes and to watch for any opportunity of reaching our
destination on the Islands. He heard that an American ship, the _Frances
P. Sage_, was sailing from Melbourne to Penang; and the Captain agreed
to land us on Aneityum, New Hebrides, with our two boats and fifty
boxes, for £100. We got on board on the 12th August, but such a gale
blew that we did not sail till the 17th. On the _Clutha_ all was quiet,
and good order prevailed; in the _F. P. Sage_ all was noise and
profanity. The Captain said he kept his second mate for the purpose of
swearing at the men and knocking them about. The voyage was most
disagreeable to all of us, but fortunately it lasted only twelve days.
On the 29th we were close up to Aneityum; but the Captain refused to
land us, even in his boats; some of us suspecting that his men were so
badly used that had they got on shore they would never have returned to
him! In any case he had beforehand secured his £100.
He lay off the island till a trader's boat pulled across to see what we
wanted, and by it we sent a note to Dr. Geddie, one of the Missionaries
there. Early next horning, Monday, he arrived in his boat, accompanied
by Mr. Mathieson, a newly arrived Missionary from Nova Scotia; bringing
also Captain Andersen in the small Mission schooner, the _John Knox_,
and a large Mission boat called the _Columbia_, well manned with crews
of able and willing Natives. Our fifty boxes were soon on board the
_John Knox_, the _Columbia_, and our own boats--all being heavily loaded
and built up, except those that had to be used in pulling the others
ashore. Dr. Geddie, Mr. Mathieson, Mrs. Paton, and I were perched among
the boxes on the _John Knox_, and had to hold on as best we could. On
sheering off from the _F. P. Sage_, one of her davits caught and broke
the mainmast of the little _John Knox_ by the deck; and I saved my wife
from being crushed to death by its fall, through managing to swing her
instantaneously aside in an apparently impossible manner. It did graze
Mr. Mathieson, but he was not hurt. The _John Knox_, already overloaded,
was thus quite disabled; we were about ten miles at sea, and in imminent
danger; but the captain of the _F. P. Sage_ heartlessly sailed away, and
left us to struggle with our fate.
We drifted steadily in the direction of Tanna, an island of cannibals,
where our goods would have been plundered and all of us cooked and
eaten. Dr. Geddie's boat, and mine had the _John Knox_ in tow; and Mr.
Copeland, with a crew of Natives, was struggling hard with his boat to
pull the _Columbia_ and her load towards Aneityum. As God mercifully
ordered it, though we had a stiff trade wind to pull against, we had a
comparatively calm sea; yet we drifted still to leeward, till Dr. Inglis
going round to the harbor in his boat, as he had heard of our arrival,
saw us far at sea, and hastened to our rescue. All the boats now, with
their willing Native crews, got fastened to our schooner, and to our
great joy she began to move ahead. After pulling for hours and hours,
under the scorching rays of a tropical sun, we were all safely landed on
shore at Aneityum, about six o'clock in the evening of 30th August, just
four months and fourteen days since we sailed from Greenock. We got a
hearty welcome from the Missionaries' wives, Mrs. Geddie, Mrs. Inglis,
and Mrs. Mathieson, and from all our new friends the Christian Natives
of Aneityum; and the great danger in which both life and property had
been placed at the close of our voyage, made us praise God all the more
that He had brought us to this quiet resting-place, around which lay the
Islands of the New Hebrides, to which our eager hearts had looked
forward, and into which we entered now in the name of the Lord.
Mr. Copeland, Mrs. Paton, and I went round the island to Dr. Inglis's
Station, where we were most cordially received and entertained by his
dear lady, and by the Christian Natives there. As he was making several
additions to his house at that time, we received for the next few weeks
our first practical and valuable training in Mission house-building, as
well as in higher matters. Soon after, a meeting was called to consult
about our settlement, and, by the advice and with the concurrence of
all, Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson from Nova Scotia were located on the south
side of Tanna, at Umairarekar, and Mrs. Paton and I at Port Resolution,
on the same island. At first it was agreed that Mr. Copeland should be
placed along with us; but owing to the weakly state of Mrs. Mathieson's
health, it was afterwards resolved that, for a time at least, Mr.
Copeland should live at either Station as seem most suitable or most
requisite.
Dr. Inglis and a number of his most energetic Natives accompanied us to
Umairarekar Tanna. There we purchased a site for Mission House and
Church, and laid a stone foundation, and advanced as far as practicable
the erection of a dwelling for Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson. Thence we
proceeded to Port Resolution, Tanna, and similarly purchased a site, and
advanced, to a forward stage, the house which Mrs. Paton and I were to
occupy on our settlement there. Lime for plastering had to be burned in
kilns from the coral rocks; and thatch, for roofing with sugar-cane
leaf, had to be prepared by the Natives at both Stations before our
return; for which, as for all else, a price was duly agreed upon, and
was scrupulously paid. Unfortunately we learned, when too late, that
both houses were too near the shore, exposed to unwholesome miasma, and
productive of the dreaded fever and ague,--the most virulent and
insidious enemy to all Europeans in those Southern Seas.