r -= * i The Work of God in Micronesia. 1852 - 1883 . &n historical Skctclj. BY Rev. Robert W. Logan, Missionary to Micronesia. Boston: PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. 1884. PREFATORY NOTE- In the fallowing sketch, Rev. R. W. Lo'gai*r-wlrfi characteristic modesty, teas the wonderful story of^^spe^tttuiUfihs in Micronesia with a colorless ^jdeliyj to facTsyLxcenl tlyit, li^ftic reading, nobody would get so much as A liintf'of Sin^iJfrt whjpfinie aud his good wife have contributed to faUQjsafcult,' IfilulWs told, it must be by some, other pen. Simple justice requires that something be said Mr Logan, with his wife, both of Ohio and of Oberlin College, went to Micronesia in 1ST4, and were located in Ponape, one of the Caroline Islands. Three years later, while still engaged in the work of that station, he was appointed to learn the Mortlock language by the aid of natives front the islands of tiiat group, then in the schools at Ponape. He was thus occupied for two years. In November, 1ST9, he and his wife were transferred to Oniop, of the Mortlock group, where they remained thirteen months. Like others before them on these low coral islands, they suffered from poor and insuf fieient fare, their supplies running low, as the Morning Star, delayed by Pacilic calms, lingered on its way with the longed-tor necessaries of life. Forced to leave to save life, they went first to Ponape, and, some months later, to New Zealand, on a little schooner of sixty tons. They, with two children, were seventy nine days at sea, and for a long time on short rations. The story of this tedious voyage, in cramped quarters aud with poor health, is one not likely to be forgotten by those who are familiar with its graphic and pathetic recital. They reached this country, by way of Honolulu; March 31, 1SS2. Through their joint labors a Mortlock Hymn book was made, and published in Cincinnati; aud a Mortlock Reader and Spelling book, at Honolulu. Bible stories in the same tongue are now going through the press of the American Tract Society, and the New Testament through that of the American Bible Society. Besides these labors of translation and revision, these worthy missionaries are filling up the few months remaining to them in their native land by stirring recitals of the work of God in the Pacific Isles, thus drawing to themselves many hearts that will follow them over the sea as they return to their island home aud their labor of love for the Master. H. C. H, Bible House, New York, December, 1SS3. MICRONESIA. CHARACTER OF TIIE ISLANDS. The islands of Micronesia lie along the equator, and a little west of the meridian on which the world's day begins. The Mieronesian Christians have finished their Sabbath worship, and fallen asleep under the shelter of their thatched cottages beneath the cocoa-trees, before Christians in America have begun the services of the day. Micronesia is a sub-division of Polynesia, the generic name for the myriad islands scattered over the broad Pacific Ocean. It is composed of four groups : the Gilbert or Kingsmill Islands, which lie on both sides of the equator, and a little beyond the 180 th meridian; the Marshall or Mulgrave Islands, subdivided into the Radack and Ralick chains; the Caroline; and the Ladrone Islands. The three former groups only are missionary ground, as the Ladrone Islands are a Spanish penal colony, and the native race is extinct. The islands of Micronesia are in the great coral belt — the Gilbert and Marshall ^groups being exclusively of coral formation — and lie in the Caroline Archipelago, which stretches over the sea a distance of two thousand miles from east to west. Many of the atolls, or coral islands, enclose lagoons from ten to fifteen miles broad, and from twenty to thirty miles long. The climate of Micronesia is a never-ending summer ; never so hot as the hottest summer days in America, and never cold enough to cause chilliness. The greatest range of the thermometer experienced during a residence 2 MICRONESIA. of several years on Ponape. one of the Caroline group, was thirteen degrees — from 74 degrees to S7 degrees in the shade. On some of the islands the rainfall is excessive, on others but moderate. THE INHABITANTS. The islands of Polynesia are inhabited by two races of people: brown and black. The brown are found on the Sandwich Islands, the Marquesas, the Society and the Samoan groups, the Hervey, and New Zealand. To this race belong the inhabitants of Micronesia. The Melane- sians, found on the Fiji Islands, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, the Loyalty and Solomon groups. New Britain, and New Guinea, are akin to the African, having the woolly hair and the physiognomy of the negro races. They are lower down in the scale of civilization than their brown neighbors, being, as a rule, cannibals, tierce, warlike, treacherous, and intractable. It was among these people that John Williams. Bishop Patteson, the Gordons, and other misssionaries, lost their lives. But, degraded as they are, the entire history of Christian missions can show no greater transformation than has taken place on the Fiji Islands, as the result of English Wesleyan missions. The islands inhabited by the black Polynesians enter like a wedge among those inhabited by the brown race, the apex being the Fiji Islands. The accepted theory, until recently, has been that the brown Polynesians belong to the Malay race. Later investigations, by Judge Fornander, of the Hawaiian Islands, and certain German scholars, render it probable that they may be a branch of the Caucasian race. It is thought that by means of their languages, traditions, and mythologies, the Poly- nesians can be traced back from their jiresent abode, step by step, through the island groups of the Pacific MICRONESIA. 3 and Indian Oceans, to the Indian Peninsula, and onward to the central tablelands of Asia, whence the Caucasian races, in the beginnings of history, emigrated westward and southward. In those groups in which tire different islands are near enough to allow of communication, even though comparatively infrequent, there is usually a common language; where widely separated, different languages have been developed. Most of the various dialects abound in vowel sounds, two consonants rarely coming together in the middle of a word, and all words ending in vowels. RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. Religious beliefs and observances varied with different groups, yet had certain characteristics in common. The people were not idolaters. They believed in the existence of spiritual beings, whose power they feared and whose anger they sought in many ways to avert. But we never found any conception of a supreme Deity, or a belief in one Spirit surpassing all others in power. They believed that the spirit of man survived his death, and lived on in one of two places, or states, one more desirable than the other, but with no difference based on clearly-defined desert, or moral character. They recog- nized the fundamental distinction between right and wrong, and the binding force of most of the Decalogue, when it was presented to them. On some of the islands there was a regular priesthood, with rites of worship ; on others, little more than certain superstitious observances. They prayed to spirits, and offered gifts and oblations. Their traditions and mythol- ogies were usually only a confused jumble, and their religious beliefs seemed to have little influence on their character. Christianity has to overcome rather the inertia and the opposition of wicked hearts, than any firm adherence to their beliefs. 4 MICRONESIA. MISSIONARY WORK. The missionary work among the islands lying south of the equator is carried on by various English societies, the London Missionary Society taking the lead. The islands north of the equator are the field of the American Board, no other society occupying any portion of the field. Our work in Micronesia was begun in 1852, the pioneer band consisting of Revs. Benjamin G. Snow, Luther II. Gulieli, m. d., and Albert A. Sturges, with their wives, and two Hawaiian families. Ponape and Ivusaie. of the Caroline Islands, were occupied. From tAvo to six families of white laborers have been at work in the various groups for thirty years. The night of toil was long, but the morning at length began to dawn. The confidence of the nati\ r es had to be Avon, their languages acquired and reduced to Avriting, and the Scriptures translated. Homes, churches, and schoolhouses AA-ere built. The people Avere given the rudiments of an education, and taught the vital truths of Christianity. Churches Avere gathered and instructed, and native youth were trained to become teachers and pastors at home as Avell as foreign missionaries in the islands beyond. At the beginning, the people Avere savages, having, on some of the islands, the vices and diseases of civilization superadded to their OAvn. Noav, at the end of these thirty years, “ Avhat hath God wrought " ? Five languages have been reduced to Avriting, and school- books prepared and printed in all of them. From fifty to one hundred and fifty hymns have been translated, or composed, and set to music. Books of Bible stories and catechisms have been prepared, and portions of the Scriptures translated. The AA'hole Ncav Testament has been put into tAvo of these dialects, and in one — that of the Gilbert Islands — it has already reached the fourth MICRONESIA. 5 edition. Twenty-nine different islands are now occupied, and on fully half of them heathenism has disappeared. More than twenty native preachers have been raised up, of whom the majority are doing faithful and effective work. There are about forty organized churches, with a membership, it is estimated, of nearly thirty-five hun- dred. THE GILBERT ISLANDS. The Gilbert Islands lie on both sides of the equator and a little beyond the ISOth meridian. They are six- teen in number, with a thin soil, scanty rainfall, and limited vegetation. The cocoanut-pahn thrives here, as well as the pandanus, or screw-pine; but almost nothing else which can furnish food for human beings. Advo- cates of a meagre diet, as conducive to health, might do well to emigrate to the Gilbert Islands. If they survive the experiment, their testimony will be interesting; possibly, however, a little “ thin.'’ The same language is spoken on all of these islands. The people are naturally hardy, savage, and quarrelsome. They wear very little clothing, and men were frequently seen entirely naked. The bodies of the men are often covered with scars, and no dandy is more proud of his rings and jewels than are these men of the unsightly scars which indicate their prowess. While not cannibals in the same sense as were the Fiji Islanders, yet it is said that on some of the islands there is probably not an adult male who has not tasted human flesh. The only water lit to drink on all coral islands is rain- water. Missionaries living on the Gilbert Islands are obliged to depend almost entirely upou foreign food, which is never perfectly fresh, and always preserved with difficulty. Rev. Hiram Bingham, Jr., with his devoted wife, began work here in 1857, and labored on alone, with their Hawaiian helpers, until 1874. Fre- 6 MICRONESIA. quently they were obliged, in self-preservation, to flee for a season to a more salubrious clime; until, at last, utterly broken in health, they were compelled to take up their residence at Honolulu, where they still continue their labors of love among Gilbert Islanders who have been brought to Hawaii as laborers. The days of martyrs and heroes of faith are not yet past. Rev. H. J. Taylor, son of 11 Father Taylor ’'of the Madura Mission, — like Mr. Bingham, born in the mis- sion field, — went with his young wife to the Gilbert Islands, in 1874, to reinforce Mr. Bingham; but before she had been on Apaiang six weeks, Mrs. Taylor died of fever, and was buried under the cocoa-trees. A few months later, Mr. Bingham was obliged to flee for his life to Samoa, and then to Auckland. Mr. Taylor was left alone with his infant son. He acquired the language, won the confidence of the natives, and labored most effectively for two years, when he, too, was compelled to flee for his life. After some years spent in America, — having recovered his health, and married again, — he returned to the field with Rev. A. C. Walkup and wife, only to lay his second wife beside her sister. And now, with his three motherless children, he is compelled to retire from the work. Mrs. Walkup's life was only saved by her going to Ivusaie, and ultimately to her old home in Kansas. Hence the Board has been constrained reluctantly to withdraw its missionaries from the Gilbert Islands, taking them seven hundred miles to Ivusaie, a high, fertile island, the easternmost of the Caroline group. Here, also, the Gilbert Island youth will be brought and, amid beautiful surroundings and in a much more salubrious climate, will be trained to carry on the work among their own people, in connection with Haw aiian missionaries. The lives of the missionaries on the Gilbert Islands have often been in danger; they have sowed in tears and with long waiting ; but their labors MICRONESIA. 7 and sacrifices have not been in vain in the Lord. The Morning Star , on her last trip, found three hundred candidates for baptism on one island, two hundred on another, while on a third, an island where a few years ago even the Morning Star's boat dared not land, the people were found anxious to be taught. THE MARSHALL ISLANDS. The Marshall Islands lie northwest of the Gilbert, and are very numerous, the atolls lying like great strings of green beads on the surface of the water. We have here a tine, athletic race, speaking a different language, more skilful in various handicrafts, less savage, yet bold and warlike, not hesitating in former times even to attack large vessels. The Gilbert Islanders are a very intem- perate people, while the Marshall Islanders, until foreigners had corrupted them, had no taste for intox- icants. The work, begun here in 1857 by Rev. Edward T. Doane and Rev. George Pierson, m. d., has been carried on principally by Rev. B. G. Snow and Rev. J. F. Whit- ney, with their wives. Rev. E. M. Pease, m. d., who served through the war of the Rebellion as surgeon, and later in the regular array, with his wife and Miss L. S. Cathcart are now the only laborers in this field. Their home is on the beautiful island of Kusaie, where, through the training-school, they are raising up laborers who are to do the work of this field. The work moves slowly on. but enough has been done to give bright hopes for the future. THE CAROLINE GROUP. This group is composed of many islands, five only being high ground, namely : Kusaie or Strong’s Island, Ponape, Ruk or Hogolu, Yap, and Pelew. The inhab- itants are, probably, of mixed origin. We find here 8 MICRONESIA. languages in which words often end in consonants. On some of the islands the people are woolly haired ; many of them have faces decidedly Chinese or Japanese. The islands are much more widely scattered than those of the Marshall and Gilbert groups. Hence, while one language is spoken on all the islands of each of the latter groups, we already know of six different languages in the Caroline Archipelago; and a more thorough exploration of the western portion will probably reveal one or two more. In these islands we have specimens of every kind of coral reef. Kusaie has a fringing reef, only here and there detached from the shores. Ponape has a most beautiful specimen of the barrier reef, being entirely encircled by one which is separated from the island by from two to eight miles of water. Through this reef there are several passages, and, when once within, the largest vessels might sail two thirds around the island in the calm waters of the lagoon. At Ruk also we have the barrier reef, nearly two hundred miles in circum- ference, while the island, to which it was probably once attached, has so far sunk beneath the waves that only the mountain-tops are left, forming numerous islands, from a few rods to five or six miles in diameter. Then there are the atolls, of all sizes and shapes ; sometimes so large that one cannot see across from one side to the other. These islands lie so near the equator, that the days and nights are of nearly equal length throughout the year. The climate is equable, the variation of the thermometer being no more than 15 degrees Fahrenheit — from 72 degrees to 87 degrees. The rainfall is excessive, yet malarial disorders are practically unknown. In the palmy days of the whale fishery, the harbors of Ponape and Kusaie were much frequented by whale- ships ; and the influence upon the natives from contact MICRONESIA. 9 with this kind of civilization was most demoralizing. Not a few runaway sailors and others made their homes among the natives, and vice, intemperance, and licen- tiousness ran riot. In 1852, Rev. A. A. Sturges and Rev. L. H. Gulick, M. i>., began work on Ponape; and Rev. B. G. .Snow on Kusaie. Eight long years passed before the first con- vert was made. The missionaries’ lives were sometimes in danger. There were times when no native could even be hired to do any service for a missionary. White men opposed in every way — even robbing the mission- aries and threatening to bombard their premises. But the gospel triumphed. Kusaie is to-day beau- tiful, not only in its natural features which give it the name of the “ Gem of the Pacific,” but also in the character of its inhabitants. On Ponape the triumph of the gospel is not so complete. There is still left a heathen party; but the majority of the inhabitants are at least nominally Christians; and, for ten years past, natives of Ponape have been doing missionary work on neighboring islands. PINGELAP. In 1871, Mr. Sturges, on his return voyage from the United States, touched at Pingelap, a coral island, one hundred and fifty miles east of Ponape. The inhab- itants, numbering about one thousand, were wild, rude savages, almost naked, living in houses little better than kennels, and utterly unacquainted with Christian truth. Mr. Sturges had visited the island before, but could find no opening for the gospel. Now. however, he found the people willing to listen; and at length they promised to receive teachers from Ponape. With a glad and thank- ful heart Mr. Sturges went to Ponape, gathered the Christians together, and told them that God had opened the door into Pingelap. He called for volunteers to go 10 MICRONESIA. and tell those people the way of life. Two families were chosen, and soon after embarked on the Morning Star for their destination. On their arrival they found the natives sullen, inhos- pitable, and utterly unwilling to receive the teachers. Mr. Sturges inquired the reason of their refusal. The high-priest of the island, who was also a chief, second in rank to the king, produced a paper which the mis- sionary found to be an agreement between one Captain Hayes — a trader whose vessel lay at anchor at Ponape when Mr. Sturges arrived in quest of teachers — and the chiefs of the island, by which they bound themselves for ten years neither to receive teachers nor to trade with any other white man. Its contents had been explained to them, and they had made their marks, and now held the obligation to be binding. Captain Hayes well knew that missionary influence would interfere with his unlaw- ful gains, and especially his licentious habits. Hence his opposition. Mr. Sturges was compelled to return, and the powers of darkness, for the time, triumphed. But God works in his own way. Six natives of Pingelap had previously been brought to Ponape by a trader, as his servants. When their time of service ended, he set them adrift ; and, being strangers in a strange land, they knew not what to do. Presently they fell into the hands of the missionary, to whom they resorted in their trouble, and were permitted to use some native houses and to cultivate a piece of land. They were also invited to attend school. They became so interested that at length they sat up often until midnight to study by the light of a cocoanut-oil lamp. In a few months two of them began to read the Gospels, which had been translated into the Ponapean tongue. They gave such good evidence that the truth had found a lodgment in their hearts, that they were baptized, one MICRONESIA. 11 receiving the name of Thomas, the other of David. After eight months of schooling, a vessel touched at Ponape, whose captain kindly offered to carry them hack to their homes. Mr. Sturges advised them to go and tell their people what they had learned of Jesus and the way of life. They went, and at once began telling the “ old, old story.” Violent opposition was aroused, but they per- sisted. Finally the heathen high-priest, as at Carmel of old, gathered a large assembly, promising by incanta- tions to kill Thomas and David. While performing the preliminary rites, he became so frenzied that he fell prostrate, and lay like one ciead. The natives gathered about him, and used all the restorative processes they knew of, but without avail. They thought him dead. It occurred to some one to summon the teachers. They came, and, kneeling beside the prostrate form, engaged in prayer. The priest returned to consciousness before the prayer was finished; and the multitude at once declared that the new religion had triumphed. The people were now more willing to listen, and the next news wafted to Ponape was that Pingelap had forsaken its old hostility, and was earnestly seeking the light. A teacher was at once sent from Ponape, and the progress was wonderful. Their houses had been only thatched roofs, the eaves resting on the ground. A hole in the gable, through which the occupants crawled on their hands and knees, served for both door and window. There was no floor save a few coeoanut leaves spread on the ground. But the people now selected a beautiful site on the beach, and built for themselves a village of houses, raised on posts, with floors and sides, doors, and openings for windows. Coral was burned to make lime, and the whole neatly whitewashed. Coral rock was dug out of the reef, and a church large enough to seat six hundred was built ; also a commodious dwelling for their teacher. 12 MICRONESIA. Cloth was bought of the traders, and men, women, and children were soon decently clothed. The day-school numbered sometimes three hundred, and the Sabbath- school filled the great church. Morning and evening, as well as on the Sabbath, nearly the entire population assembled to hear the gospel. Liquor and tobacco were banished from the island, and the ten commandments became their code of laws. A police force was chosen, a stone jail erected, and justice administered so speedily and, on the whole, so justly, that their court procedures might perhaps be copied with advantage even by more civilized communities. * Nor was this a transient wave of enthusiasm. They have gone steadily on for twelve years, with less of reaction than often follows revival seasons at home. Thomas returned to Ponape, and, having spent three years in school, is now the ordained pastor of a church of about two hundred and fifty members, beloved and respected by all the inhabitants of the island. All this has been accomplished without expense to Christians at home, except so much as is involved in the yearly visits of the Morning Star. The Pingelap church has sent out one of its members as a missionary to the islands beyond, and their yearly contributions to the American Board are not far from one hundred dollars. THE MORTLOCKS. Three hundred miles southwestward from Ponape are the Mortloek Islands, a subordinate group of three atolls * in the Caroline Archipelago. The population is about thirty-five hundred. In December, 1873, three Pouapean families were carried thither by the Morning Star. The language was found to be different from that spoken on Ponape. A white man living on one of tire * An atoll is a coral reef enclosing a lagoon. This reef may be entirely barren or may have one or more habitable islets. MICRONESIA. 18 Islands acted as interpreter. The chiefs and people were asked if they would receive teachers from Ponape. They had seen something of the white man's skill, had heard vague reports of the blessings brought by Christianity to other islands, and were thus predisposed to a favorable answer. Mr. Sturges said to them: “These teachers must be fed and housed. Will you provide for them?” They answered : “ Yes.” Mr. Sturges then turned to the teachers and said : “ You hear what these chiefs promise. Are you willing to take the risk? I have not so much as a lish-hook to leave with you, with which to buy food.” These Ponape teachc® had left home, friends, and native island with the understanding that they were to receive no pay for their missionary work, and must trust the people to whom they went for food. Food is always plenty and of good quality on Ponape, but the products of these islands are few and inferior. They knew the risk they were taking, — nothing less than starvation in case these heathen went back on their word. Yet they promptly said: “ We are willing to stay.” Their few effects were then landed, and the Morning Star sailed away. Toward the close of the next year the vessel came again to Ponape on her yearly voyage to the mission stations in Micronesia. Mr. Sturges embarked to visit “his children” at the west. You can scarcely imagine his feelings as the vessel drew near the Mort- loeks The love of the missionary for his converts is something like that of a mother for her child. Would he find that the chiefs had kept faith with the teachers? and were they alive, prosperous, and happy? The Morning Star sailed into the lagoon of Lukunor, the eastern island of the Mortlocks. Before she dropped anchor, a canoe was seen to put off from the shore. As it drew near, one of the teachers was recognized, and soon the missionary had him by the hand. Yes, the natives had kept faith, and provided for them, even while they themselves suffered from famine. A 14 MICRONESIA. hurricane had swept the great waves over the land, which, at high tide, is but six or eight feet above the ocean level. The salt water had killed the bread-fruit trees and ruined the taro patches. Men, women, and children had died from starvation, yet they had kept their promise and fed their teachers ! After a few days of delightful sojourn the Morning Star sailed away, and left them for another year. The parting was a sad one. The teachers were lonely; they were homesick; even the men were in tears. Mr. Sturges offered to take them back, hut thev said: “ No, we will stay.” “ The next year, Mr. Sturges again embarked for a second visit. The vessel entered the lagoon as before. A boat was lowered, and the missionary soon found him- self approaching several hundred natives on the shore. As he drew near, there came floating out over the deep a song of welcome, the words of which he was unable to distinguish, nor could lie have understood them if he had. It was a song of welcome to the Morning Star , composed by the missionaries on Ponape. The native teachers had translated the words into Mortlock, and there, on the white coral sand, under the shade of the cocoa-trees, were hundreds of people of both sexes and of all ages, singing this song of welcome. As the boat touched the shore, they eagerly crowded forward to grasp the missionary's hand. He was then led by the teachers, first, to the comfortable dwellings in the shade of the cocoa-trees; then a few rods further inland, where, in a grove of bread-fruit trees, stood a church. Timbers had been sawn, and a frame erected, not unlike that of an oldtime New England barn. The floor and the sides were of hewn plank of the bread-fruit trees, each one representing a log, as this timber will not split. The roof was of thatch, the doors and windows simply openings. Within, at the farther end, was a raised platform, a rude settee, and a pulpit. MICRONESIA. 15 Thither the missionary and teachers made their way. The church was packed with natives sitting on the floor. A hymn was sung, and, though out of harmony, their voices were sweet. One and another then offered prayer ; after which, many (the husband in all cases sitting by his wife) presented themselves as candidates for baptism. Having been carefully examined, many were approved, and, later in the day, baptized and organized into a Christian church. At each of three stations, on as many islets, the same scene was enacted. All this, at the close of the second year’s labor, by men and women themselves born and bred in heamenism ! The work thus begun went on until there was a church on each of the seven inhabited islets of the Mortlock group. The teachers were from time to time reinforced from Ponape, and the work spread to three other islands beyond, with the same wonderful success. RUK. Two hundred miles northwest of the Mortlocks lies the lagoon of Ruk. A great coral reef nearly two hundred miles in circumference surrounds a large number of islands varying in size from a mere speck to those with a circuit of twenty or twenty-five miles. The inhabitants number ten or twelve thousand, and are naturally very fierce and barbarous, ever at war among themselves, and merciless toward the white man. Our eyes had long been turned toward Ruk in vain;, but the Lord, at length, opened the way. A native teacher, named Moses, had been stationed on Kama, forty miles from Ruk. After a while a chief from one of these islands, with some of his followers, came to Naina. From curiosity they went to hear Moses preach, became interested, and then took a small house near the teacher, that they might constantly attend the sendees. When the Morning Star made its yearly round, this chief pleaded for a teacher for his own people. Moses was the 16 MICRONESIA. chosen man ; and, leaving a new teacher in his place, he went with the chief to the lagoon of Kuk. The life of Moses was sometimes in danger, but after a year he was found living in a comfortable house, which the natives had built for him; and in a beautiful grove, near by, stood a nearly completed church. Thirty-six men and women ottered themselves as candidates for baptism; twenty-four of whom were approved, and organized into the first church of Uraan. This was three years ago. Moses has since been rein- forced, and four organized churches, on as many islands, are the fruit of their labors, an