A PERILOUS PILGRIMAGE.
THE other Mission Station, on the southwest side of Tanna, had to be
visited by me from time to time. Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson, there, were
both in a weak state of health, having a tendency to consumption. On
this account they visited Aneityum several times. They were earnestly
devoted to their work, and were successful as far as health and the time
allowed to them permitted. At this juncture, a message reached me that
they were without European food, and a request to send them a little
flour if possible. The war made the journey overland impossible. A
strong wind and a high sea round the coast rendered it impracticable for
my boat to go. The danger to life from the enemy was so great that I
could not hire a crew. I pled therefore with Nowar and Manuman, and a
few leading men, to take one of their best canoes, and themselves to
accompany me. I had a large flat-bottomed pot with a close fitting lid,
and that I pressed full of flour; and, tying the lid firmly down, I
fastened it right in the center of the canoe, and as far above
water-mark as possible. All else that was required we tied around our
own persons. Sea and land being as they were, it was a perilous
undertaking, which only dire necessity could have justified. They were
all swimmers, but as I could not swim, the strongest man was placed
behind me, to seize me and swim ashore, if a crash came.
Creeping round near the shore all the way, we had to keep just outside
the great breakers on the coral reef, and were all drenched through and
through with the foam of an angry surf. We arrived, however, in safety
within two miles of our destination, where lived the friends of my
canoe's company, but where a very dangerous sea was breaking on the
reef. Here they all gave in, and protested that no further could they
go; and truly their toil all the way with the paddles had been severe. I
appealed to them, that the canoe would for certain be smashed if they
tried to get on shore, that the provisions would be lost, and some of us
probably drowned. But they turned to the shore, and remained for some
time thus, watching the sea. At last their Captain cried, "Missi, hold
on! There's a smaller wave coming; we'll ride in now."
My heart rose to the Lord in trembling prayer! The wave came rolling on;
every paddle with all their united strength struck into the sea; and
next moment our canoe was flying like a sea-gull on the crest of the
wave towards the shore. Another instant, and the wave had broken on the
reef with a mighty roar, and rushed passed us hissing in clouds of foam.
My company were next seen swimming wildly about in the sea, Manuman the
one-eyed Sacred Man alone holding on by the canoe, nearly full of water,
with me still clinging to the seat of it, and the very next wave likely
to devour us. In desperation, I sprang for the reef, and ran for a man
half-wading, half-swimming to reach us; and God so ordered it, that just
as the next wave broke against the silvery rock of coral, the man caught
me and partly swam with me through its surf, partly carried me till I
was set safely ashore. Praising God, I looked up and saw all the others
as safe as myself, except Manuman, my friend, who was still holding on
by the canoe in the face of wind and sea, and bringing it with him.
Others ran and swam to his help. The paddles were picked up amid the
surf. A powerful fellow came towards me with the pot of flour on his
head, uninjured by water! The Chief who held on by the canoe got
severely cut about the feet, and had been badly bruised and knocked
about; but all the rest escaped without further harm, and everything
that we had was saved. Amongst friends at last, they resolved to await a
favorable wind and tide to return to their own homes. Singing in my
heart unto God, I hired a man to carry the pot of flour, and soon
arrived at the Mission Station.
Supplying the wants of our dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson, whom we
found as well as could be expected, we had to prepare, after a few hours
of rest, to return to our own Station by walking overland through the
night. I durst not remain longer away, lest my own house should be
plundered and broken into. Though weak in health, my fellow-Missionaries
were both full of hope, and zealous in their work, and this somewhat
strange visit was a pleasant blink amidst our darkness. Before I had
gone far on my return journey, the sun went down, and no Native could be
hired to accompany me. They all told me that I would for certain be
killed by the way. But I knew that it would be quite dark before I
reached the hostile districts, and that the Heathen are great cowards in
the dark and never leave their villages at night in the darkness, except
in companies for fishing and suchlike tasks. I skirted along the
sea-shore as fast as I could, walking and running alternately; and, when
I got within hearing of voices, I slunk back into the bush till they had
safely passed, and then groped my way back near the shore, that being my
only guide to find a path.
Having made half the journey, I came to a dangerous path, almost
perpendicular, up a great rock round the base of which the sea roared
deep. With my heart lifted up to Jesus, I succeeded in climbing it,
cautiously grasping roots, and resting by bushes, till I safely reached
the top. There, to avoid a village, I had to keep crawling slowly along
the brush near the sea, on the top of that great ledge of rock--a feat I
could never have accomplished even in daylight without the excitement;
but I felt that I was supported and guided in all that life-or-death
journey by my dear Lord Jesus. I had to leave the shore, and follow up
the bank of a very deep ravine to a place shallow enough for one to
cross, and then through the bush away for the shore again. By holding
too much to the right, I missed the point where I had intended to reach
it. Small fires were now visible through the bush; I heard the voices of
the people talking in one of our most Heathen villages.
Quietly drawing back, I now knew where I was, and easily found my way
towards the shore; but on reaching the Great Rock, I could not in the
darkness find the path down again. I groped about till I was tired. I
feared that I might stumble over and be killed; or, if I delayed till
daylight, that the savages would kill me. I knew that one part of the
rock was steep-sloping, with little growth or none thereon, and I
searched about to find it, resolved to commend myself to Jesus and slide
down thereby, that I might again reach the shore and escape for my life.
Thinking I had found this spot, I hurled down several stones and
listened for their splash that I might judge whether it would be safe.
But the distance was too far for me to hear or judge. At high tide the
sea there was deep; but at low tide I could wade out of it and be safe.
The darkness made it impossible for me to see anything. I let go my
umbrella, shoving it down with considerable force, but neither did it
send me back any news.
Feeling sure, however, that this was the place I sought, and knowing
that to await the daylight would be certain death, I prayed to my Lord
Jesus for help and protection, and resolved to let myself go. First, I
fastened all my clothes as tightly as I could, so as not to catch on
anything; then I lay down at the top on my back, feet foremost, holding
my head downwards on my breast to keep it from striking on the rock;
then, after one cry to my Saviour, having let myself down as far as
possible by a branch, I at last let go, throwing my arms forward and
trying to keep my feet well up. A giddy swirl, as if flying through the
air, took possession of me; a few moments seemed an age; I rushed
quickly down, and felt no obstruction till my feet struck into the sea
below. Adoring and praising my dear Lord Jesus, who had ordered it so, I
regained my feet; it was low tide, I had received no injury, I recovered
my umbrella, and, wading through, I found the shore path easier and
lighter than the bush had been. The vary darkness was my safety,
preventing the Natives from rambling about. I saw no person to speak to,
till I reached a village quite near to my own house, fifteen or twenty
miles from where I had started; I here left the sea path and promised
some young men a gift of fish-hooks to guide me the nearest way through
the bush to my Mission Station, which they gladly and heartily did. I
ran a narrow risk in approaching them; they thought me an enemy, and I
arrested their muskets only by a loud cry--
"I am Missi! Don't shoot; my love to you, my friends!"
Praising God for His preserving care, I reached home, and had a long
refreshing sleep. The natives, on hearing next day how I had come all
the way in the dark exclaimed--
"Surely any of us would have been killed! Your Jehovah God alone thus
protects you and brings you safely home."
With all my heart, I said, "Yes! and He will be your protector and
helper too, if only you will obey and trust in Him."
Certainly that night put my faith to the test. Had it not been the
assurance that I was engaged in His service, and that in every path of
duty He would carry me through or dispose of me therein for His glory I
could never have undertaken either journey. St. Paul's words are true
to-day and forever--"I can do all things through Christ which
strengthened me."