THE 
 
 MARTYR ISLANDS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW HEBRIDES 
 
 AND ADJACENT GROUPS. 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT YOUNG 
 
 Author of “Modern Missions,” and “Light in Lands 
 of Darkness.” 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 
 M.YCNIVEN & WAI.LACE, 138 Princes Street. 
 LONDON: S. W. PARTRIDGE & CO. 
 
 I 889. 
 
Should there be any profits accruing from the sale 
 of this Sketch, they will be paid over to the Fund for 
 behoof of some special object connected with the 
 New Hebrides Mission. 
 
 Supplied in quantities for distribution at 
 Reduced Prices. 
 
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THE MAETYH ISLANDS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE NEW HEBRIDES AND ADJACENT GROUPS. 
 
 “The isles shall wait for His law.” — I saiah -xlii. 4. 
 
 Southern Pacific Ocean was dis- 
 ^’ered by the Spanish Navigator 
 igellan in 1520, and derives its 
 ief interest from the innumerable 
 islands with which, as gems, it is studded. 
 Of these the New Hebrides form one of the 
 groups, extending for over 400 miles in the 
 direction from S.S.E. to N.N.W., being 1400 miles 
 distant from the Australian continent, about 200 
 miles from New Caledonia on the S.W., and much 
 the same distance from the Solomon Islands on 
 the N.W. Of inhabited islands there are some 
 thirty in all in the group. 
 
 Their existence was first discovered in May 
 1606 by Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, a Spanish 
 navigator, who had accompanied, some years 
 previous, as first pilot, Mendana, the nephew of 
 
4 
 
 THE MA.RTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 the Viceroy of Peru, by whom the Marquesas 
 Islands were discovered. 
 
 The largest island of the group was the first to 
 be sighted. He named it Tierra Australis del 
 Espiritu Santo (the southern land of the Holy 
 Spirit — in ignorance of its insular character). It 
 is 70 miles in length by 40 miles in breadth. 
 It possesses, towards its northern extremity, a 
 splendid bay where hundreds of ships might lie at 
 anchor. The port at the head of it was named 
 by Quiros, Vera Cruz (the true Cross), while the 
 broad rivers that flow into the bay on either side, 
 he called respectively the Jordan and Salvador. 
 Shortly after landing, Quiros proceeded to mark 
 out the site for a city, to which was to be given 
 the name of the New Jerusalem. This project, 
 however, was not destined to be carried out. 
 Misunderstandings arose both mth the commander 
 of one of the ships and with the natives, whom 
 the Spaniards chose rather to intimidate than to 
 conciliate, and some of whom were shot. In 
 consequence, it was found necessary to leave the 
 island. On his return to America, which he 
 reached after suffering the greatest hardships, 
 Quiros was most anxious to secure the means of 
 fitting out another expedition, and with this view 
 he proceeded to Spain. Arrived there, he made 
 repeated representations to Philip III., describing 
 in high-flown language the extent, beauty, fertil- 
 ity, valuable productions, and vast capabilities of 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE ISLANDS. 
 
 o 
 
 the newly-discovei’ed territory. “ The magnitude 
 of these countries,” said this vain navigator to his 
 sovereign, “is as much as that of all Europe, 
 Asia Minor, the Caspian Sea, and Persia, with all 
 the Mediterranean included.” Espiritu Santo was, 
 in short, according to him, “ the most delicious 
 country in the world, the garden of Eden, the 
 inexhaustible source of glory, riches, and power to 
 Spain ! ” 
 
 “ Notwithstanding,” as stated by Duncan, “ the 
 feeble descendant of Charles V. was deaf to his 
 entreaties ; or, if he obtained some assistance, it 
 appears to have been wholly disproportioued to 
 the greatness of his enterprise. After having 
 consumed several years in attempts to secure tlie 
 means of carrying out his great project, he resolved 
 to return to Lima, and with what means he had 
 been able to collect, attempt a new voyage, but 
 he never reached that city. Quiros died at 
 Panama in 1G14.” 
 
 One hundred and fifty years elapse before any- 
 thing further is done in the way of exploration 
 and discovery in this particular part of the 
 Southern Pacific. Bougainville, a French navi- 
 gator, got, in 1768, nearly on the track of Quiros, 
 discovering the islands of Aurora, Pentecost, and 
 Leper’s Isle, and thereafter sailing by St. Bar- 
 tholomew’s Isle (now known as Malo), between 
 Mallicollo and Espiritu Santo — hence the passage 
 came to be named Bougainville Strait. 
 
6 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 Cook’s Voyages. 
 
 It was reserved for the great English navigator, 
 Captain Cook, in 1774, in the course of his second 
 voyage, not only to discover the more southerly 
 islands, but also to explore thoroughly the entire 
 group. In that year he sailed twice through the 
 different islands, and so accurate are his descrip- 
 tions of the scenes, animate and inanimate, which 
 then met his eye, that little or nothing has been 
 left for correction by the voyager of the present 
 day — which is more than can be said of our friend 
 Quiros. 
 
 Quiros and the earlier navigators from popish 
 countries generally have, in one respect, the 
 advantage of Captain Cook. They may not have 
 had a very clear understanding in theory, but 
 they at least carried out in practice the doctrine 
 so well laid down and so admirably illustrated by 
 Livingstone that “ the end of the geographical 
 feat is the beginning of the missionary enter- 
 prise.” Whatever value may be attached to the 
 particular form of Christianity under which they 
 had been nurtured, it is clear that the desire to 
 extend its blessings to the inhabitants of the 
 countries they undertook to explore — albeit, not 
 unmixed with motives of worldly ambition — more 
 or less found expression in the adventurous spirits 
 of Columbus, Vasco de Gama, Magellan, Cortes, 
 Pizarro, Mendana, and, as we have seen, of Quiros. 
 
cook’s voyages. 
 
 7 
 
 Hence ■sve find in some cases popish priests accom- 
 panying the navigator — hence the erection of the 
 Cross on newly discovered territories — hence, too, 
 the names given to them. It must, how'ever, be 
 said that the proceedings of some of the Portu- 
 guese and Spanish discoverers who, acting under 
 instructions from Rome, sought to force Christ- 
 ianity, or what they called Christianity, upon the 
 tribes they discovered, are deserving of strong 
 reprobation. Magellan, for instance, in order to 
 punish the inhabitants of one village who refused 
 to become Christians, ordered the Spaniards to 
 burn their village and build a cross on its ruins. 
 With Captain Cook, on the other hand, the religi- 
 ous welfare of the natives formed no part of his 
 programme. The object he had in view in his 
 successive voyages was the advancement of scien- 
 tific research and knowledge generally, not the 
 imparting of even that to the benighted inhabit- 
 ants, still less as preparatory to the introduction 
 and reception of the Gospel. On the contrary, 
 when referring to a wooden cross which had been 
 erected on Tahiti by those composing an expedi- 
 tion sent by the viceroy of Peru in 1774, and to 
 the introduction of Christianity to the island, he 
 thus expresses himself : “ It is very unlikely that 
 any measure of this kind should ever be seriously 
 thought of, as it can neither serve the purpose of 
 public ambition nor private avarice ; and, without 
 such inducements, I may pronounce that it will 
 
8 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 never be undertaken.” No, certainly, the Christ- 
 ianisation of the heathen never would be under- 
 taken by those who know of no higher motive 
 than “ public ambition ” and “ private avarice.” 
 But undertaken it was by men who not only had 
 no worldly object to gain, but who freely sacri- 
 ficed all that is usually held dear, even life itself, 
 solely with the view of promoting the spiritual 
 and eternal interests of the people. Yet did these 
 voyages by our enterprising fellow-countryman 
 excite great interest when published. They 
 formed, however undesignedly on his part, import- 
 ant links in the chain of Divine providence by 
 which the way was prepared for the blessings of 
 the Gospel being in due time conveyed to the 
 islands of the Southern Pacific, and among the 
 rest to those of the New Hebrides. Indeed, it was 
 these very narratives that kindled the first spark 
 in Wm. Carey’s mind, a spark which he sedulously 
 fanned into a flame, the light of which has dis- 
 pelled no small part of the heathenism of the 
 world. Thus the same volumes that contained 
 sentiments so strongly adverse to missions, fur- 
 nished also the young shoemaker at Hackleton 
 and the directors of the London Missionary 
 Society with materials which served him and 
 them in good stead when pleading, by voice and 
 pen, in behalf of that sacred but long-neglected 
 
 cause. 
 
FORMATION OF THE ISLANDS. 
 
 9 
 
 Formation of the Islands. 
 
 The New Hebrides group were thus named by 
 Captain Cook from the resemblance of some of 
 the islands to those off our own western coast, the 
 configuration of the mountains reminding him 
 especially of Skye. 
 
 The islands of the Southern Pacific are formed 
 either by the Avorking of coral insects or by vol- 
 canic agency. These coral insects are of micro- 
 scopic minuteness, but there are myriads of them 
 constantly at work. They have the power of 
 separating the lime from the Avater, Avhich, being 
 mixed with animal matter, the islands are sloAvly 
 built up — so sloAvly indeed, that in the opinion of 
 scientific men, thousands, it may be tens of 
 thousands, of years must have elapsed ere those 
 great masses of coral Avhich abound in that con- 
 tinent of Avater could have been formed. The 
 islands thus formed are flat, rising only a feAv feet 
 above the surface of the Avater. Those of volcanic 
 origin are, as might be expected, hilly and 
 mountainous — the mountains rising to a height 
 of several thousand feet. 
 
 The NeAv Hebrides belong, for the most part, to 
 the latter class, though coral reefs also abound ; 
 but in all the islands of the group the volcanic 
 rock is the chief feature. Several shoAv distinct 
 marks of burnt-out craters. At present there are 
 only three volcanoes in action — viz., on Tanna in 
 
10 
 
 THE MARTYK ISLANDS. 
 
 the south, and Lopevi and Ambrim in the north. 
 The most active one is that on Tanna, which has 
 been discharging its lava since its discovery by 
 Captain Cook in 1774, and no doubt long before 
 that time. It is said that from its crater may be 
 seen a pillar of smoke by day, and a pillar of fire 
 by night — the latter serving the purposes of a 
 lighthouse. 
 
 Except that the coral reefs are on a smaller 
 scale, and do not surround the islands, as for the 
 most part they do elsewhere in the Pacific, the 
 New Hebrides present to the eye of the visitor 
 the same grand outline — an outline that never 
 fails to arrest attention and to furnish writers on 
 the islands with no end of material in praise of 
 their scenery. There is the same diversity of hill 
 and dale — stupendous mountain and rocky preci- 
 pice, the same variety of verdure, including the 
 deep, rich foliage of the bread-fruit tree, the 
 oriental luxuriance of the tropical paudanas, and 
 the lofty and graceful cocoa-nut grove, — the same 
 prodigality of nature as regards the fruits of the 
 earth, a prodigality that seems at first sight to 
 afford an excuse for indolence, there being, in 
 addition to those already named, yam and taro, 
 the banana, the papaw-apple, the chestnut, the 
 sweet potato, the custard-apple, the pine-apple, 
 the orange, the sugar-cane, arrowroot, pumpkins, 
 melons, beans, &c. 
 
 William Ellis, who was identified with the 
 
FORMATION OF THE ISLANDS. 
 
 11 
 
 earlier missions to the South Seas, and who was 
 intimately associated with John Williams, thus 
 describes the scene, and its effect upon him : — 
 “ Often,” he writes, “ when either alone, or attended 
 by one or two companions, I have journeyed 
 through some of the inland parts of the islands, 
 such has been the effect of the scenery through 
 which I have passed, and the unbroken stillness 
 which has pervaded the whole, that imagination, 
 unrestrained, might easily have induced the 
 delusion that we were walking on enchanted 
 ground, or passing over fairy lands.” In like 
 manner he describes — “the long, rolling billows 
 of the Pacific, extending sometimes, in. one un- 
 broken line, a mile or a mile and a-half along the 
 reef, arrested by the natural barrier of coral, often 
 rising ten, twelve, or fourteen feet above its surface, 
 and then, bending over it their white foaming 
 tops, form a graceful liquid arch, glittering in the 
 rays of a tropical sun, as if studded with brilliants. 
 But before the eyes of the spectator can follow 
 the splendid aqueous gallery which they appear 
 to have reared, with loud and hollow roar they 
 fall in magnificent desolation, and spread the 
 gigantic fabric in froth and spray upon the 
 horizontal and gently broken surface of the 
 coral.” 
 
 Mary Bundle Duncan thus refers to the islands 
 of the Pacific : — 
 
12 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 “ Calm on the bosom of the deep 
 
 A thousand beauteous islands lie ; 
 
 While glassy seas that round them sleej) 
 
 Reflect the glories of the sky. 
 
 “ How radiant ’mid the watery waste 
 
 Their groves of emerald verdiire smile, — 
 
 Like Eden-spots, in ocean placed, 
 
 The weary pilgrim to beguile. 
 
 “ Alas ! that on those lovely shores, 
 
 Where earth and sky in beauty shine. 
 
 And Heaven profusely sheds its stores, 
 
 Man should in heathen bondage i^ine.” 
 
 Thus much in the way of general introductory 
 remark. 
 
 First Attempts to introduce the Gospel. 
 
 Though by the mouth of Isaiah it had been 
 prophesied that “ the isles shall wait for His law,” 
 and a greater than he had declared that “the 
 gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all 
 the world for a witness tmto all nations,” the 
 islands of the New Hebrides had long to wait ere 
 the Gospel was preached unto them. The first 
 attempt to introduce it was made by John 
 Williams, who stands conspicuous among the 
 missionary heroes of modern times. The spirit 
 which actuated this noble man may be gathered 
 from a passage in one of his letters to the Direc- 
 tors of the London Missionary Society, written in 
 
FIRST ATTEMPTS TO INTRODUCE THE GOSPEL. 13 
 
 1823, six years after his arrival in the South 
 Seas: — “A inissionary,” he wrote, “was never 
 designed by Jesus Christ to gather a congregation 
 of a hundred or two natives, and sit down at his 
 ease, as contented as if every sinner was converted, 
 while thousands around him, and but a few miles 
 off, are eating each other’s flesh, and drinking each 
 other’s blood, living and dying without the Gospel. 
 For my own part, I cannot content myself within 
 the narrow limits of a single reef” 
 
 Accordingly we find him labouring successively, 
 and with many tokens of the Divine blessing, at 
 Tahiti, Raiatea, the Hervey Islands, and Samoa, 
 the ruling passion with him ever being to push on 
 to the unevangelised islands. But though those 
 just named afforded, one would have thought, 
 abundant scope for his energies, his mind had 
 been occupied for fifteen long years or more with 
 the project of carrying the Gospel to the New 
 Hebrides. On 3rd November 1839 he preached 
 his last sermon on Samoa, the subject of discourse 
 on that occasion, singularly enough, being from 
 the words in the twentieth chapter of Acts, “ And 
 they all wept sore, and fell upon Paul’s neck, and 
 kissed him ; sorrowing most of all for the words 
 which he spake, that they should see his face no 
 more.” The scene, it is said, was affecting in the 
 extreme ; and, as if coming events had cast their 
 shadows before them, and he felt its oppressive 
 gloom creeping over him, he went forth dejected 
 
14 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 and weeping. Never before had his family seen 
 him thus, and they “wondered and held their 
 peace.” In the evening of that memorable day 
 some of the brethren met at their friend’s house 
 to commend him and his enterprise to “the God 
 of the sea and of the dry land.” At midnight, in 
 company with Mr. James Harris, who was voyag- 
 ing for his health but had resolved to devote 
 himself to mission work, he embarked for the New 
 Hebrides, bidding his partner, children, and friends 
 a last and long farewell. When nearing the 
 islands Williams wrote, “ This evening we are to 
 have a special prayer-meeting. Oh ! how much 
 depends upon the efforts of to-morrow. Will the 
 savages receive us or not ? I am all anxiety, but 
 desire prudence and faithfulness in the manage- 
 ment of the attempt to impart the Gospel to these 
 benighted people, and leave the event -with God. 
 I brought twelve missionaries with me ; two have 
 settled at a beautiful island called Rotuma, the 
 ten I have are for the New Hebrides and New 
 Caledonia. The approaching week is to me the 
 most important of my life.” 
 
 On the following Sabbath morning the little 
 missionary band stood close under Futuna, which 
 Williams described as “one large, high, rugged 
 mountain, with, in many cases, perpendicular cliffs 
 reaching to the sea.” But, after some friendly 
 intercourse with the chief, and the expression of a 
 hope that ere long the way might be opened for 
 
EROMANGA — MASSACRE OF WILLIAMS. 15 
 
 settling teachers there, they made for Tanna, and 
 on the morning of Monday the 18th they found 
 themselves in the beautiful bay of Port Resolution, 
 havingf on the west a ridge of low mountains 
 extending from the volcano to the sea, and a fine 
 sandy beach sweeping round its southern and 
 eastern sides. In the course of the negotiations 
 with chiefs and people that followed, Williams and 
 his party were once and again in imminent danger, 
 but their conciliatory mode of dealing wdth the 
 natives was attended with the desired result. 
 They succeeded beyond their most sanguine 
 expectations in settling their teachers among 
 them, insomuch that Williams records in his 
 journal on that Monday evening, “ This is a 
 memorable day, a day which will be transmitted 
 to posterity, and the record of the events which 
 have this day transpired will exist after those who 
 have taken an active part in them have retired 
 into the shades of oblivion.” 
 
 Eromanga.— Massacre of Williams. 
 
 Having remained at Tanna until the afternoon . 
 of the following day in order to inspire confidence, 
 they proceeded northwards to Eromanga, the most 
 degraded, treacherous, and cruel of all the islands 
 of the group. Though not free from anxiety as 
 he approached its shores, Williams, encouraged by 
 
16 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 the friendly reception he had met with at Futuna 
 and Tanna, was in the main hopeful, feeling as if 
 the grand object for which he had so long planned 
 and prayed was now on the eve of being realised. 
 Notwithstanding, in the course of conversation 
 with Mr, Cunningham, one of the missionary 
 party, on the morning of the eventful 28th, he 
 confessed that he was oppressed to such a degree 
 Avith the magnitude and importance of the enter- 
 prise, that he had passed a sleepless night. Nor 
 need this excite surprise. The feelings of hope 
 and fear, in their relation to the grandest object 
 that can occupy the mind of man, had that night 
 reached a climax, and were sufficient to banish 
 sleep from the eyes. The wonder would rather 
 have been had it been otherwise. 
 
 The story of what followed is no doubt familiar 
 to many, but I am unwilling to have any break 
 in the narrative by omitting it. Shortly after 
 the conversation referred to, the whale-boat was 
 lowered, Williams entered and was followed by 
 Cunningham, Harris, Captain Morgan, and four 
 hands. On reaching the head of the bay, Williams 
 soug:ht to gain the confidence of some natives who 
 had run along the rocks after the boat by a 
 distribution of beads and fish-hooks. Observing 
 a large stream flowing through a valley between 
 the mountains, and being anxious to ascertain 
 whether the water was fresh, they gave the chief 
 a boat-bucket to fetch some, which he did. The 
 
EROMASGA — MASSACRE OF WILLIAMS. 17 
 
 sight of some boys playing was regarded as a 
 favourable sign, though the absence of women 
 was remarked upon by Captain Morgan as a 
 somewhat suspicions circumstance. A landing 
 was effected ; and a distribution of cloth having 
 been made among the natives, all three walked 
 up the beach for about seven hundred yards, 
 Harris first, Williams and Cunningham following, 
 and then turned to the right alongside of the 
 bush, where they were hid from the sight of those 
 who had remained behind in the boat. Captain 
 Morgan, supposing that they had found favour in 
 the eyes of the natives, also stepped on shore, and 
 proceeded up the beach in the direction taken by 
 his three friends. Williams, as he went along, 
 was repeating the Samoan numerals to a crowd of 
 boys, one of whom was repeating them after him 
 — while Cunningham was picking up some shells 
 and w'as just in the act of putting them into his 
 pocket, when a savage yell was heard and Harris 
 was seen rushing out of the bushes. The next 
 instant Harris falls in the stream, and is beaten 
 to death by the clubs of the savages. Cunning- 
 ham took in the situation at a glance and mth 
 his utmost speed made for the boat, at the same 
 time shouting to Williams to do the same. 
 The men in the boat, seeing something was 
 wrong, gave the alarm to Captain Morgan, who 
 jumped into the boat at the same instant with 
 Cunningham — the latter of whom narrowly 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 THE MARTYE ISLANDS. 
 
 escaped being clubbed by a savage, who was in 
 close pursuit after him. Williams, alas ! was not 
 so fortunate. Instead of making for the boat, he 
 ran down the beach into the water, intending, it 
 is supposed, to swim to the boat. The beach 
 being both steep and stony, Williams no sooner 
 got down into the water than he fell, and in 
 attempting to regain his footing, received several 
 blows on the head from the club of a savage. 
 He was immediately joined by others, who com- 
 pleted the horrible tragedy. Not content ^vith 
 beating the life out of him with their clubs, 
 a whole handful of aiTows was .stuck into his 
 body. Even the boys took a fiendish pleasure, as 
 the lifeless body lay on the ripple of the beach, in 
 beating it with stones, until the waves dashed red 
 on the shore with the martyr’s blood. Such 
 is heathenism, -and so closed the career of one 
 who had sounded its depths and was fired with 
 the holy ambition of rescuing its victims from 
 their deep degradation by carrying to their shores 
 the glad tidings which proclaim peace on earth 
 and goodwill to men. 
 
 It should however be remarked that some 
 white men had previously visited the island in 
 search of sandal-wood, and being opposed by the 
 natives, a son of the chief, among others, w^as 
 murdered. The massacre of Williams was doubt- 
 less an act of revenge in retaliation for the wrong- 
 doing of others. 
 
williams’ massacre followed up. 19 
 
 Williams’ Massacre followed up. 
 
 What now as regards future action ? Must the 
 undertaking be pronounced a hopeless one, and 
 are these islands to he left in the undisturbed 
 possession of the prince of darkness ? The 
 dictates of mere wordly wisdom would have 
 answered in the affirmative. But a higher wisdom 
 prevailed. Retire from the field ! Nay the death 
 of Williams only furnished Christian men with an 
 additional incentive to a renewed attack upon 
 this citadel of the enemy. No sooner did the sad 
 tidings of what had happened reach Samoa, than 
 the question, who will take up the fallen standard ? 
 was at once responded to by the oldest missionary, 
 on condition that, should he in like manner fall 
 in the attempt to settle native teachers on 
 Eromanga, another would be willing to take his 
 place. Accordingly, in May 1840, six months after 
 the death of Williams, the Rev. T. Heath proceeded 
 to carry out his noble but perilous resolve. Having 
 settled two Christian Samoan teachers on the low 
 coral island of Aniwa, he afterwards succeeded in 
 leaving other two on Eromanga. All honour to 
 them for thus taking their lives in their hands ! 
 The position of the teachers, however, was trying 
 in the extreme. They were so badly treated, and 
 had such privations that, but for the kindness of 
 a friendly native, who for five months supplied 
 them with food by stealth, they would certainly 
 
20 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 have perished. When, therefore, the mission 
 vessel called at the island in the following year, 
 and their circumstances became known, it seemed 
 a simple necessity to remove them. 
 
 Meantime, the news of the massacre created a 
 profound sensation in this country, and was the 
 means of drawing the eyes of the Christian world 
 towards this cannibal group, and resulted in the 
 appointment by the London Missionary Society in 
 1841 of Messrs. Turner and Nisbet, with instruc- 
 tions to settle on Tanna, which i.sland was reached 
 in the following year. It was a joy to them to be 
 able to report the safety of the Samoan teachers ; 
 but the prospects of the Mission were far from 
 favourable, for Dr. Turner added, “ We had not been 
 twenty-four hours on shore before we found that 
 we were among a set of notorious thieves, perfect 
 Spartans in the trade.” After seven months spent 
 there with their young wives in the earnest but 
 fruitless endeavour to conciliate the natives, they 
 were forced to betake themselves to Samoa, as the 
 only way of assuring their safety. During a period 
 of seven years efforts were made from time to time 
 by agents of the London Missionary Society to 
 carry the Gospel to these islands, the trials which 
 the Samoan teachers had to endure being many 
 and great. On two occasions, especially, they 
 narrowly escaped being murdered. Previous to 
 1848, only one case of hopeful conversion occurred 
 to cheer these devoted men duriug their long night 
 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES ENTER THE FIELD. 21 
 
 of toil. Not until that year, when there appeared 
 to be some good prospect of the work being carried 
 on by others, did the missionaries of that honoured 
 Society retire from the field. 
 
 Presbyterian Churches enter the Field. 
 
 John Geddie, a Presbyterian Minister in Prince 
 Edward I.sland, arrived at Samoa in October 1847, 
 accompanied by his wife and four children ; and 
 in May of the following year, along with a Mr. and 
 Mrs. Powell, from Samoa, they took possession of 
 Aneityum, for Christ. At first all went tolerably 
 well. Teachers were settled in the five districts 
 into which the island was divided, and buildings 
 were in course of erection. But after a time, a 
 marked change in the bearing of the people 
 occurred. It excited the worst fears of the 
 missionaries. On inquiring, the mystery was 
 explained. It appeared that the missionaries had, 
 in ignorance, disregarded certain superstitious 
 customs of the people, such as the taking of 
 cocoa-nuts from trees on their own land, which 
 nevertheless were all under tahii for a great feast; 
 the taking of coral from the reef to make lime for 
 their buildings, the demons, who were supposed to 
 have their abode near the mission premises, and to 
 have smelt the burning coral, being very angry with 
 the natives for allowing the unhallowed offence 
 
22 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 the building of a chapel on a small eminence 
 behind the mission premises, and the enclosing it 
 with a fence, thus shutting up a path by which 
 some other demons were accustomed to pass from 
 the mountain to the sea. Such are samples of the 
 charges brought against the missionaries. They, 
 of course, pleaded ignorance of the tabu, but 
 agreed to respect it in future. An assurance was 
 given that similar respect would be paid to the 
 coral, and they only begged to be allowed to burn 
 a kiln, already prepared, so that the work on hand 
 might be completed. And an open path was to 
 be left for the demons when taking their con- 
 stitutional down to the sea. In this way the 
 matter was amicably arranged. But such things 
 were constantly occurring, and the missionaries 
 required to walk very warily, as otherwise the 
 club or spear might at any moment do for them 
 what they had done for others. 
 
 Towards the close of ISIO, the Geddies, who 
 were now left alone with the Samoan teachers, 
 discerned some faint rays of light amid the 
 darkness. They were the harbingers of the 
 coming day. In the course of the following year, 
 there were some cases of decided conversion. 
 Three of the parties thus brought in, commenced 
 on the Sabbaths to do some itinerating work 
 among their heathen fellow-countrymen. But 
 the powers of darkness were not to be dislodged 
 from their stronghold without a desperate struggle. 
 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES ENTER THE FIELD. 23 
 
 On the contrary, they disputed every inch of 
 ground. As the truth slowly made way, so grew 
 the opposition in intensity. Thus we read of 
 some of the native Christians who had gone to a 
 heathen village being attacked with stones and 
 spears, and having to flee for their lives ; of Mr. 
 Geddie more than once narrowly escaping being 
 murdered ; and of his large new church being 
 burned to the ground, preceded by a somewhat 
 similar attempt in the darkness of night, in the 
 case of the mission-house, the lives of the mis- 
 sion-family being saved by a hasty flight from the 
 burning house. But for the friendly interference 
 of the chief on that side of the island, who 
 behaved nobly throughout, the inflamed passions 
 of these savages would have carried them to 
 further extremities. This state of things, causing 
 constant and painful anxiety and strong faith on 
 the part of the missionaries, continued almost with- 
 out interruption until 1859, when the last heathen 
 district in the island yielded to the power of the 
 truth. Thereafter the seed that had been sown 
 in tears bore a harvest of joy and gladness. 
 
 About this time the Rev. (now Dr.) J ohn Inglis,* 
 
 * The New Hebrides was the special field taken up by the 
 Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, under whose auspices 
 Dr. Inglis originally went out to the Southern hemisphere. Since 
 the Union of that Church with the Free Church of Scotland, in 
 1876, the Mission has been maintained by the latter body, its 
 efforts being concentrated on the islands of Aneityum and 
 Futuna. 
 
24 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 who had been settled in 1852 at Anamd, on the 
 other side of the island, went to visit Mr. Geddie, 
 and took with him the principal chief of his side 
 of the island. This man, named Yata, had been a 
 great warrior, and a notorious cannibal. He had 
 not been on that side of the island for years, and 
 when he entered the church he met a chief named 
 Nimtiwan, whom he had been wont to meet in 
 battle. Dr. Geddie says, “ I wondered how they 
 would act now, and oh ! how delighted I was to 
 see these two men come out of the House of God 
 with their arms round each other ! I could not 
 help calling the attention of brother Inglis to the 
 scene, and saying, ‘ See what the Gospel hath 
 wrought ! ’ ” * 
 
 Bishop Patteson, on visiting Aneityum, even as 
 early as 1856, thus wrote regarding its changed 
 condition : “ All looked as comfortable as if this 
 island had for centuries been the rendezvous of 
 traders and missionaries. Scarcely could one 
 credit the fact that eight years ago there was not 
 one Christian upon it.” 
 
 The two main instruments in the Christianisa- 
 tion of the island, as has been indicated, were 
 
 * “ Nimtiwan lived to over eighty years of age. Until within 
 a few days of his death, he continued the daily reading of the 
 Bible and private prayer. He died on 14th December 1888, 
 trusting in Jesus as his Saviour ; and the Rev. J. H. Law'rie 
 conducted the funeral service on the very day he left Aneityum, 
 on his return to Scotland on furlough. 
 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES ENTER THE FIELD. 25 
 
 Drs. Geddie and Inglis, both of whom were 
 animated by the spirit of the pioneer martyr, 
 John Williams. Nor did their wives display less 
 of the quality of Christian heroism. Both proved 
 singularly helpful to their husbands in the 
 furtherance of the work, more particularly in 
 preventing the strangling of widows, and in saving 
 the lives of, and training for usefulness, the 
 female children. Alas for the condition of such 
 children in these heathen islands, as elsewhere ! 
 Fathers might often have been seen caiTying 
 about and nursing their sons — never their 
 DAUGHTERS. On one occasion a woman gave 
 birth to her third daughter in succession. On 
 learning that it was a daughter she cried out to 
 the women around her, “ Oh, kill it ! kill it ! ” 
 The women, happily, were Christians, and her 
 request was not complied with. On another occa- 
 sion a man came to Dr. Inglis to borrow a spade. 
 Being asked what he was going to do with it, he 
 replied, to dig a grave, in which to hury his child. 
 When did the child die ? inquired the missionary. 
 “ Oh,” he said, “ it is not dead, but it is dying.” 
 By request the child was brought to Mrs. 
 Inglis, and under her careful nursing soon 
 recovered. By many such acts these twm 
 devoted women saved not a few lives, allevi- 
 ated much suffering, and gained great influence 
 over the mothers and the female population 
 generally. 
 
26 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 It is worthy of note too, as recorded by Dr. 
 Inglis in his admirably written work, “ In the 
 New Hebrides,” that at the close of the first eight 
 years residence in Aneityum there were on his 
 side of the island 1900 natives. Of that number 
 little more than a 100 professed Christianity 
 when he went there, .and wore any European 
 clothing. Before the end of those years, all 
 these 1900 heathens had renounced heathen- 
 ism, were professing Christianity, and were 
 wearing more or less of European clothing — 
 a recognised badge of Christianity — and almost 
 every one of those 1900 garments worn by the 
 natives had passed through the hands of Mrs. 
 Inglis. 
 
 Still further, it is an interesting fact that the 
 first arrowroot made in the New Hebrides for 
 export was made by Mrs. Inglis. She learned the 
 art of making it from a Rarotongan teacher ; and 
 as she was very thorough in all that she did, so she 
 was resolved that the new industry should be of 
 the finest quality possible. Accordingly, that 
 grown in Aneityum is unsurpassed. It has proved 
 most helpful to the Mission, from £2000 to £3000 
 having been realised from the sale of arroMTOOt 
 contributed by the natives. The expense of 
 carrying the Aneityumese Bible through the 
 press — a herculean task, successfully performed by 
 Drs. Geddie and Inglis, aided by the Rev. Joseph 
 Copeland, formerly missionary, of superior gifts, 
 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES ENTER THE FIELD. 27 
 
 at Futuna* — was entirely met from this source. 
 The semi-heathen island of Futuna has, under 
 Dr. Gunn’s influence, recently followed suit, the 
 natives there having contributed for the last two 
 years, on an average, about 500 lbs., yielding 
 some £25 a-year, which goes to meet the cost of 
 printing the Scriptures in Futunese. 
 
 Di'. Geddie died in Geelong in December 1872, 
 and a wooden tablet at the back of the pulpit in 
 the chiu’ch at Auelcauhat, Aneityum, presented by 
 friends in Sydney, bears an inscription, in which 
 the following occurs — “ When he landed in 1 848 
 there were no Christians here, and when he left in 
 1872 there were no heathens.” This unique sen- 
 tence was suggested to Dr. Steel of Sydney by 
 what is recorded of Gregory of Cesarsea — that 
 when he went to that city, there were only 
 seventeen Christians, and when he died there 
 were only seventeen heathens. 
 
 Dr. Inglis returned to this country in 1878, 
 after thirty-three years’ missionary labour, of 
 which eight had been spent in the first instance 
 among the Maories in New Zealand, and in 
 ministering to the Presbyterians in Auckland. 
 
 A considerable number of teachers, trained on 
 Aneityum, have been usefully employed on other 
 islands of the group under the superintendence of 
 missionaries. 
 
 * Re-signed on account of health, and now acting as editor of 
 the Sydney Presbyterian. 
 
28 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 Eromanga Reoccupied — More Blood- 
 shedding. 
 
 To return to Eromanga. It ’s a long cry from 
 this island in the sunny south to Nova Scotia. 
 But the cry, “ Come over and help us,” reached 
 the ears of the Rev. George N. Gordon, then com- 
 pleting his studies in the Presbyterian College 
 at Halifax. When followed up by the question, 
 “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” 
 there came from him the ready response, “ Here 
 am I, send me.” Full of zeal for the salvation of 
 the perishing, with a splendid physique, and able 
 to turn his hand to almost anything, Gordon was 
 just such a man as Williams would have heartily 
 welcomed. Accompanied by a like-minded wife, 
 he landed on Eromanga on 17th June 1857. Not- 
 withstanding trials not a few, caused mainly by a 
 chronic irritation kept up among the natives owing 
 to the unscrupulous conduct of the sandal-wood 
 traders at Dillon’s Bay, on the west side of the 
 island, the work, during the first four years, pro- 
 gressed with some measure of encouragement. In 
 1861, the island was visited by a great hurricane. 
 This was followed by the introduction of measles 
 by a trading ship, causing the death of many. 
 The superstitious natives blamed the missionary 
 for these troubles, and formed a plot to take his 
 life. One day, while engaged in building a new^ 
 cottage on the heights, a thousand feet above 
 
EROMANGA REOCCUPIED. 
 
 29 
 
 Dillon’s Bay, having sent away the men who were 
 assisting him for thatch, a heathen came to him 
 saying he wanted medicine. Gordon went to get 
 it. On the way, nine natives, who had been lying 
 in ambush, sprang out and clubbed him to death. 
 His wife, hearing the noise of their yells, went to 
 the door to ascertain the cause. On inquiring, 
 she was told by one of these natives it was the 
 boys at play. Turning round to look, she was 
 laid low by a blow from his tomahawk. Friendly 
 natives buried the martyrs on the banks of the 
 river near where Williams and Harris fell twenty- 
 two years before ; and good Bishop Patteson arriv- 
 ing soon after, he went to the grave and read the 
 burial service over it. 
 
 Again the cry, “ Come over and help us,” was 
 heard and responded to by James D. Gordon, a 
 younger brother of the martyred missionary. On 
 the completion of his studies at Halifax he went 
 out, nothing daunted, to the blood-stained shores 
 of Eromanga. For eight years he laboured in 
 the island, for a time at Dillon’s Bay, and after- 
 wards at Portinia Bay, on the opposite side, his 
 place at the former station being occupied by the 
 Rev. James Macnair, who arrived from Scotland 
 in 186G. 
 
 Mr. Macnair’s career was one of exceptional 
 interest. He was emphatically a self-made man. 
 Having been employed as a youth in the delivery 
 of letters at Dunoon, his natural energy and excel- 
 
30 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 lence of character were such that, on a vacancy 
 occurring some years after in the ofl&ce of post- 
 master there, Sir Rowland Hill, then Secretary to 
 the Post Office, and the reno\vned author of the 
 penny postage system, in response to a memorial 
 largely signed by the inhabitants, gave him the 
 appointment, it being one of the distinct condi- 
 tions of the same that no Sabbath work was to 
 be done. Sir Rowland, having afterwards taken 
 up his summer quarters at this much frequented 
 watering-place, was surprised, on going into the 
 post-office one day, to find Macnair poring over 
 Bagster’s Greek New Testament. The conversa- 
 tion that followed made a deep and lasting impres- 
 sion, and indeed was the beginning of a warm 
 friendship between the two, which was continued 
 until the death of Macnair. Although it was an 
 unprecedented thing for the post-office authorities 
 to do, they, on the advice of Sir Rowland, con- 
 sented to his attending the Arts and Theological 
 Classes during the college sessions, and engaging 
 the services of a trustworthy substitute during the 
 months he was thus occupied. Such, briefly, were 
 the circumstances in which providentially Macnair 
 was enabled to prepare himself for the work on 
 which his heart was intensely set, the making 
 known to the heathen the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ. 
 
 It is the testimony of those who knew him best 
 that courage, downright earnestness, thorough- 
 
EROMAXGA REOCCUPIED. 
 
 31 
 
 going honesty, indomitable energy, along w'ith 
 unselfishness, guilelessness, lovableness, and a 
 quite singular faculty of securing the confidence 
 of the natives, were among Macnair’s character- 
 istics. These traits soon made their mark upon 
 the Eromangans, some of whom were by his 
 means brought under Christian influence. 
 
 After four years’ devoted labour, Macnair’s 
 health, which had never been robust, entirely 
 failed, and he died in July 1870, a martyr in 
 spirit, if not in deed ; his removal being greatly 
 lamented, especially by the Christian natives. 
 
 To return to James D. Gordon. The young 
 missionary was privileged to carry forward the 
 work of Bible translation begun. by his brother, to 
 be the pioneer missionary on the large island of 
 Espiritu Santo, and eventually to win the mart}’r’s 
 crown. In March 1872, while engaged in the 
 Mission-house at Portinia Bay in revising the 
 translation of the Acts of the Apostles, having 
 just finished the story of Stephen’s death, a native 
 called and asked for an empty bottle. The bottle 
 was brought, and on Gordon handing it to the 
 native, the savage with his tomahawk struck him 
 a deadly blow. With the murderous weapon 
 sticking in his skull, Gordon staggered from the 
 verandah into the room, where he fell lifeless. 
 The murderer having secured his tomahawk, made 
 a hasty flight. As in his brother’s case, James 
 Gordon’s life was taken in revenge for the death 
 
32 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 of a child, of which he was believed to have been 
 the cause. Those natives whom he had been 
 instrumental in bringing to the knowledge of the 
 truth, bore him to the grave which he himself, in 
 anticipation of an early death, had previously 
 marked out, and made great lamentations over 
 him. 
 
 For the third time the old cry was heard in 
 Nova Scotia — all honour we gladly say to that 
 Colony ! On this occasion the response came from 
 the Rev. Hugh A. Robertson, who hastened, in 
 1872, to raise aloft the blood-stained banner. His 
 labours there have been attended with marked 
 success. The church members now number 190, 
 of whom 33 are employed as teachers on their 
 own island, while others have gone to assist in 
 mission work on heathen islands, as is done by 
 the Aneityumese, the congregation giving e\ddence 
 of its appreciation of the blessings received by a 
 very substantial contribution, year by year, of 
 arroivroot for the support of the Gospel. It 
 should be added that in the church at Dillon’s 
 Bay, erected about ten years ago, is a Memorial of 
 the martyrs, gifted to the Mission by the Christians 
 in New South Wales. 
 
 Nor did the native Christians escape the rage 
 of the heathen. Not only Eromanga, but Aneit- 
 yum, Tanna, Efate, and other islands, also have 
 among them their martyrs’ roll in the case of 
 some, and a noble record of steadfast adherence to 
 
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE ISLANDS. 33 
 
 the Gospel in the midst of murderous plots and 
 attacks on the part of others. 
 
 Present Condition of the Islands. 
 
 Other islands and labourers merit attention. 
 We can only refer to one of the latter. Few 
 missionaries have laboured more devotedly in 
 these islands than the Rev. John G. Paton. For 
 a number of years he made most self-sacrificing 
 efforts to secure an entrance for the Gospel on the 
 island of Tanna, spoken of as a black spot, and 
 one of the hardest to work and win for Christ. 
 But after many hardships and hairbreadth escapes, 
 of which, in his recently published Autobiography, 
 he has furnished an intensely interesting record, 
 he was compelled, sorrowfully and in circumstances 
 of extreme personal danger, to leave it. Having 
 afterwards settled on the island of Aniwa, he has 
 there, by God’s blessing, achieved marked success, 
 so much so that Aniwa is now ranked as one of 
 the christianised islands. 
 
 Of the thirty inhabited islands embraced in the 
 New Hebrides group, several are wholly Christian, 
 while others have been partially christianised. The 
 larger islands to the north have only recently been 
 occupied by missionaries. In particular, the Rev. 
 J. Annand, missionary of the Canadian Church, 
 has been transferred from Aneityum to the south 
 
 c 
 
34 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 of Espiritu Santo, the largest island of the group. 
 Owing to the great diversity of languages, six 
 additional missionaries, at least, are required 
 before the whole field can be brought under 
 Christian teaching. 
 
 And what, does the reader ask, is the character 
 of the Christianity ? Is it of a genuine t}qDe ? 
 Does it influence the daily life ? Have the 
 natives, as the result of embracing it, been raised 
 to a higher platform in the scale of civilisation ? 
 In reply, it has to be acknowledged that there is 
 not a little that is disappointing. Their faith and 
 steadfastness and general consistency of conduct 
 are far from being all that one would desire. 
 There is in the Church much of the feebleness 
 that is characteristic of infancy, and a sad tendency 
 on the part of some to relapse into former heathen 
 practices. But, notwithstanding, and keeping in 
 view the depths of heathenism out of which they 
 have so recently emerged, and the evil example 
 of some white traders, the reality of the change 
 effected by the Gospel upon the character and 
 outward life of the people is patent to all impartial 
 observers. JVIany illustrations might be given. 
 Let the following suffice. 
 
 Forty years ago a British ship was becalmed off 
 the shores of Efatd The ground swell drove her 
 ashore. She struck on a sunken rock, and was 
 wrecked. The entire crew of twenty-three, with 
 the exception of one boy, having been massacred. 
 
THE S.P.G. SOCIETY AND ITS MISSIONS. 35 
 
 were distributed among the villages, their bodies 
 being cooked and eaten by the savages. 
 
 Thirty years afterward, another British vessel 
 was wrecked during a hurricane near the same 
 place. There were 150 labourers on board, bound 
 for the sugar plantations in Fiji. All were got 
 safe on shore but very few provisions were saved 
 from the wreck. The captain might have main- 
 tained a few with what food he had, but with 
 such a number he knew not what to do. In this 
 dilemma, the Kev. J. W. M'Kenzie assembled the 
 natives, and explained to them the condition of 
 the strangers who had been cast upon their shores. 
 The result was that ninety of the helpless, ship- 
 wrecked crew were taken in three equal propor- 
 tions to the villages of Eratap, Erakor, and Pango, 
 where, without either pressure or promise of 
 reward, they were for four weeks housed and fed 
 by the natives ; some of those who treated them 
 in this Christian manner having picked the bones 
 of the former shipwrecked company. 
 
 The S.P.G. Society and its Missions. 
 
 The honoured name of Bishop Patteson having 
 been referred to, it is fitting that some particulars 
 should be furnished respecting the Mission with 
 which for sixteen years he was identified. 
 
 Dr. A. G. Selwyn, first Bishop of New Zealand, 
 
36 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 feeling a strong desire to carry the Gospel to 
 some of the unoccupied islands of the South 
 Seas — for he, as did also Bishop Patteson, made it 
 a rule not to interfere with the labours of other 
 Churches or Societies — set sail in 1847 on a 
 voyage of inspection. A second voyage was 
 undertaken in 1849, the islands specially visited 
 on each occasion being the more northerly of 
 the New Hebrides group, the Banks and Solo- 
 mon groups, and the Santa Cruz and Swallow 
 Isles lying between the latter. As these islands 
 were found to be very unhealthy for Europeans, 
 during at least a portion of the year, he decided 
 to make Auckland in New Zealand the base of 
 operations, where accordingly he founded a pre- 
 paratory Training College. 
 
 The system adopted by the Bishop was that 
 of regularly visiting the islands referred to in 
 the healthy season, and of inducing some of the 
 natives to allow their sons to accompany him 
 on his return voyage to Auckland, in order to 
 receive there a suitable education and training — 
 the youths being taken to and from their island 
 homes each healthy season until the completion 
 of their educational training. This mode of 
 operations, which is somewhat analogous to that 
 adopted by the Universities Mission in East 
 Central Africa, but is quite exceptional in the 
 Southern Pacific — is not approved by many. 
 But the special reason for its adoption has to 
 
THE S.P.G. SOCIETY AXD ITS MISSIONS. 87 
 
 be considered, and the object contemplated 
 appears to have been in some measure accom- 
 plished. As a further outcome of his voyages, 
 there 'vvas established an Australasian Board of 
 Missions for the conversion and civilisation of 
 the aborigines of Australia and the natives of 
 Melanesia. Bishop Sehvyn’s success was largely 
 due to the circumstance that he, like Macnair, 
 had a wonderful art in securing the confidence of 
 the natives. In a very large degree also he Avon 
 the esteem and affection of the Presbyterian Mis- 
 sionaries, by Avhom the remembrance of his labours 
 is still warmly cherished. His friendliness and 
 helpfulness AA'ere indeed quite marked. Thus, 
 AA'hen Dr. Inglis was arranging in 1852 to leave 
 Auckland for Aneityum, Bishop Selwyn, most 
 kindly, at much personal inconvenience, conveyed 
 him and his Avife, Avith their furniture, &c., thither 
 in his Mission Schooner. Year after year he 
 called at the island Avhen on his Avay north, these 
 visits being always greatly appreciated ; and one 
 year Avhen pleading the cause of the IMelanesian 
 Mission at Dunedin, Wellington, and Auckland, 
 he made a special appeal to his Scotch friends 
 in these toAA’ns for aid on behalf of the Mission 
 on Aneityum, and as the result gladdened the 
 hearts of Drs. Geddie and Inglis by putting into 
 their hands no less a sum than £103. This he 
 supplemented by a contribution of £60 in the 
 folloAving year from Dunedin and Auckland. A 
 
38 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 similar substantial gift was afterwards presented 
 to Mr. Paton by the good Bishop. Such friendli- 
 ness was, in a small way, warmly reciprocated. 
 Meeting on one occasion the Bishop’s son (the 
 present Bishop), in Dunedin, Dr. Inglis through 
 him invited the Sabbath school children of the 
 Episcopal Church to go down to the wharf, see 
 over the Dayspring Mission Ship, and get a 
 cocoa-nut each. The invitation was gladly 
 accepted, and by arrangement carried out, to 
 the no small delight of the children. 
 
 In 1855 Bishop Selwyn was joined by John 
 Coleridge Patteson, who was consecrated Bishop 
 of Melanesia in 1861. With characteristic self- 
 denial and enthusiasm. Bishop Patteson carried 
 out the plan of operations adopted by the 
 apostolic pioneer of the Mission, its head-quarters 
 being in 1867 transferred to Norfolk Island, lying 
 midway between New Zealand and the New 
 Hebrides, where, aided by the Rev. R. H. (now 
 Dr.) Codrington, the natives were prepared, as 
 they still are, educationally and industrially, for 
 active service in the islands to the north. 
 
 Massacre of Bishop Patteson. 
 
 When in the Santa Cruz Archipelago, in the 
 Mission Schooner, Southern Cross, on the 20th 
 September 1871, Bishop Patteson made for the 
 
. MASSACRE OF BISHOP PATTESON. 
 
 39 
 
 coral reefed island of Nukapu, in the Swallow 
 group. Four days previously, he wrote express- 
 ing the hope that, if it ivere God’s vdll, he 
 might be permitted to begin work among these 
 wild but energetic islanders. He was, however, 
 afraid that some outrage had been committed 
 there by one or more vessels, and that he might 
 be exposed to considerable risk on this account. 
 His fears, alas ! were only too well grounded. 
 On nearing the island four canoes were seen 
 hovering about, two others joining them shortly 
 afterwards. As the natives recognised the Bishop, 
 and appeared to be friendly, he desired the boat 
 to be lowered, and entered it with a Mr. Atkin 
 and three Christian natives, taking care as 
 usual to provide himself with a good supply of 
 presents. On reaching a part of the reef two 
 miles from the island, the natives in the canoes 
 were anxious that the boats should be hauled 
 up on the reef, but as this was not agreed 
 to, two men proposed to take the Bishop into 
 their boat. He landed on the beach and was 
 soon out of sight. Meanwhile the boat wth 
 the crew had been drifting about with the canoes 
 for half an hour, when the natives in the latter 
 shot off their yard-long arrows, which unhappily 
 took effect, Mr. Atkin’s shoulder being pierced 
 by one, the cap of a second being pinned to 
 his head, while a third “lay in the bottom of 
 the boat ‘ trussed,’ ” as an eye witness describes 
 it, “ with six arrow's in the chest and shoulders.” 
 
40 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 Atkin, notwithstanding that he \vas thus sorely 
 wounded, insisted on going back in search of the 
 Bishop. He feared the worst. Hours elapsed 
 before the reef could be crossed. A canoe drifted 
 towards the boat, no native being visible in it. 
 It contained only a large bundle wrapped in 
 matting. On lifting it up there arose a yell from 
 the shore. It was the Bishop’s lifeless body ! 
 “ The placid smile was still on the face ; there 
 was a palm leaf fastened over the breast, and 
 when the mat was opened there were five wounds, 
 . . . one evidently given with a club, which had 
 shattered the right side of the skull at the back, 
 and had destroyed life instantly and almost pain- 
 lessly ; another stroke of some sharp weapon had 
 cloven the top of the head ; the body Avas also 
 pierced in one place ; and there were two arrow 
 Avounds in the legs, but apparently not shot at 
 the living man, but stuck in after his fall, and 
 after he had been stripped, for the clothing was 
 gone, all except the boots and socks.” Such, to 
 human understanding, was the sad termination of 
 a life of singular consecration to the missionary 
 cause. 
 
 It is generally, and with good reason, believed 
 that the Bishop’s death, as in the case of Williams, 
 AA'^as in revenge for five native men in Fiji Avho 
 Avere knoAvn to have been kidnapped from Nukupa 
 by unscrupulous traders, though probably super- 
 stitious fear of further injury at the hands of the 
 
OUTSTANDING DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 41 
 
 white men had also something to do with it. To 
 the same cause or causes the murder of Commo- 
 dore Goodenough, in one of the bays of the Santa 
 Cruz Archipelago, is to be attributed. 
 
 Whatever may be thought of their mode of 
 carrying on mission work, Bishops Selwyu and 
 Patteson rendered incalculable service to the 
 grandest of causes by their fine missionary spirit, 
 and by the manner in which they braved the 
 perils, not of the deep only, but of savage life. 
 A cathedral has been erected on Norfolk Island 
 as a memorial of the Mart}T-Bishop and the 
 Commodore. 
 
 Dr. Codrington having refused the episcopate, 
 the Rev. J. R. (now Dr.) Selwyn, a son of the 
 pioneer Bishop, was consecrated to the Melanesian 
 See in 1877. By last accounts the Christian popu- 
 lation of Norfolk Island numbered 500, of whom 
 160 were communicants. 
 
 Outstanding Difficulties. 
 
 The more outstanding difficulties that the mis- 
 sionaries to the New Hebrides and neighbouring 
 groups have to meet and overcome, as these have 
 been stated by Dr. Inglis, may be thus sum- 
 marised : — 
 
 1. The first arises from the deep degradation of 
 the 'natives, of which ignorance, superstition, savage 
 cruelties, including infanticide, beating of wives. 
 
42 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 tribal wars, and all the vices and abominations of 
 heathenism, form the staple. 
 
 2. The unhealthiness of the climate is a con- 
 stant source of trouble. The deadly malaria lurks 
 unseen in every valley, swamp, and thicket, and, 
 as the result, fever and ague prevail more or less 
 in nearly all the islands, affecting white men and 
 natives alike. 
 
 3. The number of languages is a further serious 
 hindrance. In the New Hebrides group, for in- 
 stance, not fewer than tiuenty different languages 
 are spoken, each one differing from the rest as 
 much as English does from Gaelic, or Latin from 
 Greek. Even on opposite sides of the same island 
 such differences in certain cases are to be found. 
 In the Papuan languages the names for the same 
 object are different on the several islands, and even 
 the construction of the languages is not always 
 the same. They abound in concrete terms. The 
 words are hard, long, and full of consonants ; even 
 the numerals are different — thus. 
 
 
 Aneityum. 
 
 Fotuna. 
 
 Tanna. 
 
 Eromanga. 
 
 1. 
 
 Ethi. 
 
 Tasi. 
 
 Riti. 
 
 Sai. 
 
 2. 
 
 Ero. 
 
 Rua. 
 
 Kuru. 
 
 Duru. 
 
 3. 
 
 Eseij. 
 
 Torn. 
 
 Kahar. 
 
 Disil. 
 
 4. 
 
 Emanowan. 
 
 Fa. 
 
 Kifa. 
 
 Mindivat. 
 
 5. 
 
 Ikman. 
 
 Rinia. 
 
 Krirum. 
 
 Sukrim. 
 
 4. Not the least formidable certainly of the 
 difficulties has arisen from what Dr. Inglis well 
 describes as “ the operation of an unsanctified 
 
OUTSTAXDIXG DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 43 
 
 commerce.” First came the lucrative but debas- 
 ing sandat-wood trade, said wood having been col- 
 lected, in Eromanga especially, by gangs of natives 
 in the employment of unprincipled white men, 
 and shipped by the latter to China, to be burnt 
 by the Chinese before the images of their gods. 
 This trade, which, it has been said, was steeped 
 in human blood and indescribable vice, being 
 practically exhausted, there followed the no less 
 iniquitous labour, or, to speak more correctly, 
 kidnapping traffic, the responsibility of which 
 lies at the door of the planters in Fiji and 
 Queensland, and to suppress which the British 
 Parliament some years ago passed a special Act. 
 Speaking generally, the traders of the present 
 day are, happily, of a somewhat higher type than 
 those of former years. Still another threatened 
 evil in the same unto^vard direction has to be 
 named — that, namely, of the liquor traffic, which, 
 it is devoutly to be hoped, may not be permitted 
 to decimate still further these fair islands. 
 
 But the difficulties, although certainly not less 
 than in most other heathen fields, are not insuper- 
 able. As Dr. Inglis well observes, we have already 
 set our feet on the necks of some of the most 
 formidable of them, and have overcome them ; and 
 time, and patience, and perseverance, and well- 
 directed effort, with the blessing of God, will 
 accomplish the rest. 
 
44 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 Mission Vessels. 
 
 In addition to the Southern Cross, which plies 
 among the more northerly of the Islands of the 
 New Hebrides, the Solomon, Santa Cruz, Banks, 
 and other groups in connection with the Church 
 of England Mission (S.P.G. Society), the Day- 
 spring performs a similar service to the Missions 
 on the more southerly of the New Hebrides 
 Islands, under the care of the Presbyterian 
 Churches of Scotland, Canada, Victoria, New 
 South Wales, South Australia, New Zealand, 
 Otago and Southland, and Tasmania. In the 
 absence of roads, railways, tramway cars, coaches, 
 canals, horses, post offices, telegraphs, and the 
 like, the service thus rendered by these brave 
 little ocean crafts, which can be fully appreciated 
 only by those who are dependent on their period- 
 ical visits, is as beneficent as it is indispensable. 
 The time has come for the latter Mission Vessel 
 — a three-masted schooner of 160 tons — being 
 supplemented, if not superseded, by one with 
 auxiliary or full steam power, for which, in 
 response to the Rev. J. G. Paton’s fervent appeals, 
 the necessary funds have been provided by the 
 young people of the Presbyterian Churches in 
 Britain and Australia. 
 
 Heathenism in the New Hebrides dies hard. 
 Satan is loathe to let his captives there go. But 
 
THE COMING TRIUMPH. 
 
 45 
 
 he does not retain undisturbed possession ; and 
 the Evangelised Islands, like the Fiji group, once 
 a hell upon earth, are earnests of the coming 
 triumph of light over darkness, and righteousness 
 and peace over abounding wickedness and strife. 
 The Scripture cannot be broken, and there it is 
 written by the finger of Inspiration that the 
 abundance of the sea shall be converted unto 
 Him in whom all the families of the earth are to 
 be blessed. 
 
4G 
 
 THE MARTYR ISLANDS. 
 
 List of Missionaries connected with 
 New Hebrides Missions. 
 
 Missionary. 
 
 ippointed. Location. 
 
 Supported by 
 
 Eev. J. W. Mackenzie, 
 
 1872, Efat4, . i 
 
 
 „ Hugh A. Robertson, 
 
 1872, Eromanga, 1 
 
 Pres. Ch. 
 
 „ J. Annand, M.A., . 
 
 1873, Espiritu j 
 Santo, . ] 
 
 of Canada. 
 
 „ James H. La'n'rie, . 
 
 1879, Aneityum, 
 
 F.C. of 
 
 Dr. Wm. Gunn, 
 
 1883, Futuna, . 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 Rev. John G. Paton, 
 
 1858, Aniwa, . 
 
 
 „ D. Macdonald, 
 
 1871, Efate, 
 
 Presb}'- 
 
 „ T. W. Leggatt, 
 
 1886, Malekula, 
 
 terian Ch. 
 
 „ Alex. Morton, . 
 
 1886, Do., . 
 
 ofVictoria. 
 
 „ Alex. H. Macdonald, 
 
 1888, Do., . 
 
 
 
 
 Pres. Ch. 
 
 „ Wm. Watt, 
 
 1869, Tanna, 
 
 of Xew 
 Zealand. 
 
 „ Peter Milne, . 
 
 1869, Nguna, . 
 1878, Tongoa, . 
 
 Pres. Ch. 
 
 „ Oscar Michel sen, 
 
 of Otago. 
 Pres. Ch. 
 
 „ Robert M. Fraser, . 
 
 1882, Epi, . 
 
 of Tas- 
 mania. 
 
 Pres. Ch. 
 
 „ Wm. Gray, 
 
 1882, Tanna, 
 
 of South 
 Australia. 
 
 Pres. Ch. 
 
 „ J. D. Landels, . 
 
 1886, Malo, 
 
 of Xetv 
 S. Wales. 
 
 yote . — The Missionaries belonging to the various Churches 
 have formed themselves into a Mission Synod, ■which meets 
 annually “to make arrangements for the sailing of the Vessel, 
 for selecting Mission Stations, for settling Missionaries, for sanc- 
 tioning the printing of Translations, and generally for trans- 
 acting all necessary business connected wth the Missions.” 
 
BOOKS RELATING TO THE NEW HEBRIDES. 47 
 
 Books relating to the New Hebrides. 
 
 Life of Rev. John Williams, by Rev. Eben. Front; London, 
 John Snow, 1843. 
 
 Life of Bishop Patteson, by Charlotte M. Yonge ; London, 
 Macmillan & Co. 
 
 Mr. W. E. Gladstone’s “ Gleanings.” Art. on Bishop 
 Patteson. 
 
 The New Hebrides and Christian Missions, by Rev. R. 
 Steele, D.D., Sydney ; London, James Nisbet & Co., 
 1880. 
 
 Life of Rev. John Geddie, D.D., by Rev. G. Patterson, 
 D.D. ; Toronto, 1882. 
 
 In the New Hebrides, by Rev. John Inglis, D.D. ; Edin- 
 burgh, T. Nelson & Sons, 1887. 
 
 John G. Paton, an Autobiography ; London, Hodder & 
 Stoughton, 1889. 
 
 Memoirs of Rev. S. F. Johnston, Rev. J. W. Matheson, and 
 Mrs. Matheson, by Rev. G. Patterson, D.D. ; Phila- 
 delphia, 1864. 
 
 The Island Mission, Reprinted from Mission Lifey London, 
 Wm. Macintosh, 1869. 
 
 The Martyrs of Polynesia, by Rev. A. W. Murray ; London, 
 Elliot Stock, 1885. 
 
 The Bible in the Pacific, by the same ; London, Nisbet & 
 Co., 1889. 
 
 A Year in the New Hebrides, by F. A. Campbell ; 
 Geelong, 1874. 
 
 Polynesia : Outline Missionary Series, by Rev. S. J. 
 Wliitmee, F.R.G.S. 
 
 Missions Bibliothek : Last Part, by Rev. R. Grundemann, 
 D.D., Morz, Germany : also French (Translation of 
 the same, published by Mons. Fischbacher, Paris. 
 
EDINBURGH *. 
 
 PRINTED BY I.ORIMER AND GILLIES, 
 
 ST. ANDREW SQUARE. 
 

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