UNDER KNIFE AND TOMAHAWK.
CHAFED at the upsetting of all their plans and full of revenge, Nouka
and Miaki and their allies declared publicly that they were now going to
kill Ian by sorcery, _i. e._ by Nahak, more feared by the poor Tannese
than the field of battle. Strange to say. Ian became sick shortly after
the Sacred Men had made the declaration about their Nahak-sorcery. I
attended him, and for a time he recovered, and appeared very grateful.
But he soon fell sick again. I sent him and the Chief next under him a
blanket each; I also gave shirts and calico to a number of his leading
men. They wore them and seemed grateful and pleased. Ian, however,
gradually sank and got worse. He had every symptom of being poisoned, a
thing easily accomplished, as they know and use many deadly poisons. His
sufferings were very great, which prevented me from ascribing his
collapse to mere superstitious terror. I did all that could be done; but
all thought him dying, and of course by sorcery. His people were angry
at me for not consenting before to their shooting of Miaki; and Miaki's
people were now rejoicing that Ian was being killed by Nahak.
One night, his brother and a party came for me to go and see Ian, but I
declined to go till the morning for fear of the fever and ague. On
reaching his village, I saw many people about, and feared that I had
been led into a snare; but I at once entered into his house to talk and
pray with him, as he appeared to be dying. After prayer, I discovered
that I was left alone with him, and that all the people had retired from
the village; and I knew that, according to their custom, this meant
mischief. Ian said, "Come near me, and sit by my bedside to talk with
me, Missi."
I did so, and while speaking to him he lay as if lost in a swoon of
silent meditation. Suddenly he drew from the sugar-cane leaf thatch
close to his bed a large butcher-like knife, and instantly feeling the
edge of it with his other hand, he pointed it to within a few inches of
my heart and held it quivering there, all atremble with excitement. I
durst neither move nor speak, except that my heart kept praying to the
Lord to spare me, or if my time was come to take me home to Glory with
Himself. There passed a few moments of awful suspense. My sight went and
came. Not a word had been spoken, except to Jesus; and then Ian wheeled
the knife around, thrust it into the sugar-cane leaf, and cried to me,
"Go, go quickly!"
Next moment I was on the road. Not a living soul was to be seen about
the village. I understood then that it had been agreed that Ian was to
kill me, and that they had all withdrawn so as not to witness it, that
when the Man-of-war came to inquire about me, Ian would be dead, and no
punishment could overtake the murderer. I walked quietly till quite free
of the village, lest some hid in their houses might observe me.
Thereafter, fearing that they, finding I had escaped, might overtake and
murder me, I ran for my life a weary four miles till I reached the
Mission House, faint yet praising God for such a deliverance. Poor Ian
died soon after, and his people strangled one of his wives and hanged
another, and took out the three bodies together in a canoe and sank them
in the sea.
Miaki was jubilant over having killed his enemy by Nahak; but the Inland
people now assembled in thousands to help Sirawia and his brother to
avenge that death on Miaki, Nouka, and Karewick. These, on the other
hand, boasted that they would kill all their enemies by Nahak-sorcery,
and would call up a hurricane to destroy their houses, fruit-trees, and
plantations. Immediately after Miaki's threat about bringing a storm,
one of their great hurricanes actually smote that side of the island and
laid everything waste. His enemies were greatly enraged, and many of the
injured people united with them in demanding revenge on Miaki. Hitherto
I had done everything in my power to prevent war, but now it seemed
inevitable, and both parties sent word that if Abraham and I kept to the
Mission House no one would harm us. We had little faith in any of their
promises, but there was no alternative for us.
On the following Saturday, 18th January 1862, the war began. Musket
after musket was discharged quite near us, and the bush all around rang
with the yell of their war-cry, which if once heard will never be
forgotten. It came nearer and nearer, for Miaki fled, and his people
took shelter behind and around our house. We were placed in the heart of
danger, and the balls flew thick all around us. In the afternoon Ian's
brother and his party retired, and Miaki quickly sent messengers and
presents to the Inikahimini and Kaserumini districts, to assemble all
their people and help him "to fight Missi and the Tannese who were
friends of the Worship." He said, "Let us cook his body and Abraham's,
and distribute them to every village on this side of the island!"
Yet all the while Miaki assured me that he had sent a friendly message.
The war went on, and poor Nowar the Chief protected us, till he had a
spear broken into his right knee. The enemy would have carried him off
to feast on his body; but his young men, shouting wildly his name and
battle-cry, rushed in with great impetuosity and carried their wounded
Chief home in triumph. The Inland people now discharged muskets at my
house and beat against the walls with their clubs. They smashed in the
door and window of our storeroom, broke open boxes and casks, tore my
books to pieces and scattered them about, and carried off everything for
which they cared, including my boat, mast, oars, and sails. They broke
into Abraham's house and plundered it; after which they made a rush at
the bedroom, into which we were locked, firing muskets, yelling, and
trying to break it in. A Chief, professing to be sorry for us, called me
to the window, but on seeing me he sent a tomahawk through it crying,
"Come on, let us kill him now!"
I replied, "My Jehovah God will punish you; a Man-of-war will come and
punish you, if you kill Abraham, his wife, or me."
He retorted, "It's all lies about a Man-of-war! They did not punish the
Erromangans. They are afraid of us. Come on, let us kill them!"
He raised his tomahawk and aimed to strike my forehead, many muskets
were uplifted as if to shoot, so I raised a revolver in my right hand
and pointed it at them. The Rev. Joseph Copeland had left it with me on
a former visit. I did not wish it, but he insisted upon leaving it,
saying that the very knowledge that I had such a weapon might save my
life. Truly, on this occasion it did so. Though it was harmless they
fell back quickly. My immediate assailant dropped to the ground, crying,
"Missi has got a short musket! He will shoot you all!"
After lying flat on the ground for a little, they all got up and ran to
the nearest bush, where they continued yelling about and showing their
muskets. Towards nightfall they left, loaded with the plunder of the
store and of Abraham's house. So God once more graciously protected us
from falling into their cruel hands.
In the evening, after they left, I went to Miaki and Nouka. Miaki, with
a sneer, said, "Missi, where was Jehovah to-day? There was no Jehovah
to-day to protect you. It's all lies about Jehovah. They will come and
kill you, and Abraham, and his wife, and cut your bodies into pieces to
be cooked and eaten in every village upon Tanna."
I said, "Surely, when you had planned all this, and brought them to kill
us and steal all our property, Jehovah did protect us, or we would not
have been here!"
He replied, "There was no Jehovah to-day! We have no fear of any
Man-of-war. They dare not punish us. They durst not punish the
Erromangans for murdering the Gordons. They will talk to us and say we
must not do so again, and give us a present. That is all. We fear
nothing. The talk of all Tanna is that we will kill you and seize all
your property tomorrow."
I warned him that the punishment of a Man-of-war can only reach the body
and the land, but that Jehovah's punishment reached both body and soul
in Time and in Eternity.
He replied, "Who fears Jehovah? He was not here to protect you to-day!"
"Yes," I said, "my Jehovah God is here now. He hears all we say, sees
all we do, and will punish the wicked and protect His own people."
After this, a number of the people sat down around me, and I prayed with
them. But I left with a very heavy heart, feeling that Miaki was
evidently bent on our destruction.