STREAKS OF DAWN AMIDST DEEDS OF DARKNESS.
ANOTHER war-burst, that caused immense consternation, passed over with
only two or three deaths; and I succeeded in obtaining the consent of
twenty Chiefs to fight no more except on the defensive,--a covenant to
which, for a considerable time, they strictly adhered, in the midst of
fierce provocations. But to gain any such end, the masses of the people
must be educated to the point of desiring it. The few cannot, in such
circumstances, act up to it, without laying themselves open to be
downtrodden and swept away by the savages around.
About this time, several men, afraid or ashamed by day, came to me
regularly by night for conversation and instruction. Having seen the
doors of the Mission House made fast and the windows blinded so that
they could not be observed, they continued with me for many hours,
asking all strange questions about the new Religion and its laws. I
remember one Chief particularly, who came often, saying to me, "I would
be an Awfuaki man (_i. e._ a Christian) were it not that all the rest
would laugh at me; that I could not stand!"
"Almost persuaded"--before you blame him, remember how many in Christian
lands and amid greater privileges live and die without ever passing
beyond that stage.
The wife of one of those Chiefs died, and he resolved to imitate a
Christian burial. Having purchased white calico from a Trader, he came
to me for some tape which the Trader could not supply, and told me that
he was going to dress the body as he had seen my dear wife's dressed,
and lay her also in a similar grave. He declined my offer to attend the
funeral and to pray with them, as in that case many of the villagers
would not attend. He wanted all the people to be present, to see and to
hear, as it was the first funeral of the kind ever celebrated among the
Tannese; and my friend Nowar the Chief had promised to conduct a Service
and offer prayer to Jehovah before all the Heathen. It moved me to many
strange emotions, this Christian burial, conducted by a Heathen and in
the presence of Heathens, with an appeal to the true and living God by a
man as yet darkly groping among idols and superstitions. Many were the
wondering questions from time to time addressed to me. The idea of a
resurrection from the dead was that which most keenly interested these
Natives, and called forth all their powers of inquiry and argument. Thus
the waves of hope and fear swept alternately across our lives; but we
embraced every possible opportunity of telling them the story of the
life and death of Jesus, in the strong hope that God would spare us yet
to bring the benighted Heathen to the knowledge of the true salvation,
and to love and serve the only Saviour.
Confessedly, however, it was uphill, weary, and trying work. For one
thing, these Tannese were terribly dishonest; and when there was any
special sickness, or excitement from any cause, their bad feeling
towards the Worship was displayed by the more insolent way in which they
carried off whatever they could seize. When I opposed them, the club or
tomahawk, the musket or _kawas_ (_i. e._ killing-stone), being instantly
raised, intimated that my life would be taken, if I resisted. Their
skill in stealing on the sly was phenomenal! If an article fell, or was
seen on the floor, a Tanna-man would neatly cover it with his foot,
while looking you frankly in the face, and, having fixed it by his toes
or by bending in his great toe like a thumb to hold it, would walk off
with it, assuming the most innocent look in the world. In this way, a
knife, a pair of scissors or any smaller article, would at once
disappear. Another fellow would deftly stick something out of sight
amongst the whipcord plaits of his hair, another would conceal it
underneath his naked arm, while yet another would shamelessly lift what
he coveted and openly carry it away.
With most of them, however, the shame was not in the theft, but in doing
it so clumsily that they were discovered! Once, after continuous rain
and a hot damp atmosphere, when the sun shone out I put my bedclothes on
a rope to dry. I stood at hand watching, as also the wives of two
Teachers, for things were mysteriously disappearing almost under our
very eyes. Suddenly, Miaki, who with his war-companions had been
watching us unobserved, came rushing to me breathless and alone, crying,
"Missi, come in, quick, quick! I want to tell you something and to get
your advice!"
He ran into my house, and I followed; but before he had got into his
story, we heard the two women crying out, "Missi, Missi, come quick!
Miaki's men are Stealing your sheets and blankets!"
I ran at once, but all were gone into the bush, and them my sheets and
blankets. Miaki for a moment looked abashed, as I charged him with
deceiving me just to give his men their opportunity. But he soon rose to
the occasion. He wrought himself into a towering rage at them,
flourished his huge club and smashed the bushes all around, shouting to
me, "Thus will I smash these fellows, and compel them to return your
clothes."
One dark night, I heard them amongst my fowls. These I had purchased
from them for knives and calico; and they now stole them all away, dead
or alive. Had I interfered, they would have gloried in the chance to
club or shoot me in the dark, when no one could exactly say who had done
the deed. Several of the few goats, which I had for milk, were also
killed or driven away; indeed, all the injury that was possible was done
to me, short of taking away my life, and that was now frequently
attempted. Having no fires or fireplaces in my Mission House, such being
not required there,--though sometimes a fire would have been invaluable
for drying our bedclothes in the rainy season,--we had a house near by
in which all our food was cooked, and there, under lock and key, we
secured all our cooking utensils, pots, dishes, etc. One night that too
was broken into, and everything was stolen. In consternation, I appealed
to the Chief, telling him what had been done. He also flew into a great
rage, and vowed vengeance on the thieves, saying that he would compel
them to return everything. But, of course, nothing was returned; the
thief could not be found! I, unable to live without something in which
to boil water, at length offered a blanket to any one that would bring
back my kettle. Miaki himself, after much professed difficulty, returned
it _minus_ the lid,--that, he said, probably fishing for a higher bribe,
could not be got at any price, being at the other side of the island in
a tribe over which he had no control! In the circumstances, I was glad
to get kettle _minus_ lid--realizing how life itself may depend on so
small a luxury!