A short sketch of the missionary work in the South Seas—Concerning John Williams, James Chalmers, and others.

I can do no better than conclude this short sketch of the three most important groups of the South Sea islands by touching on the work and lives of those brave fellows the missionaries, who have left all the comforts of their English homes—their best friends and everything else that was dear to them—to teach the gospel of their Master and bring peace and happiness to these wild savages.

It is an easy thing to sneer at these “Gospel punchers” as they are so often called “out west.” But in spite of all the little things against them, one cannot help asking: Is it not through the work of the best of them that we are to-day able to go amongst these savages?

The most bigoted unbeliever if he thinks, and if he knows the sort of lives that many of these pioneers have led, must acknowledge their bravery, {194} even if he doubts their beneficial influence; but only the most ignorant could do that.

Mercenary reasons have always been assigned to account for the presence of the missionary in savage lands and all over the world, and particularly in New Zealand, one hears tales of the way the early missionaries piled up the gold. In Australia the same stories are told, but there was little in these savage South Sea islands to attract the seeker for gold at the time missionaries first began their work, for whatever they made would be at such a risk that it would not be worth their while.

In Australia and New Zealand, of course, there is a difference, in the latter place particularly, for there the Maoris were owners of large tracts of valuable land, and, undoubtedly, one or two of the lukewarm missionaries were tempted and fell.

One story I was told by an old Maori of a certain missionary is worth relating, as his acts rather upset the work of many honest men who were really trying to do good to these noble savages.

“Your clergyman be all right,” said the old man, when I mentioned missionary work. “He teach us about God, but He too greedy. He want all the Maori got.” {195}

“Nonsense,” I said; “who told you that yarn?”

A smile went round the little crowd as the old man glanced at his friends. “Mr. —— he told us to look to God and we looked, while we looked Mr. —— took our land. Then one day he come to us and he say, ‘God wants more land,’ and we gave him more land. Then some time soon he came again and he say, ‘God wants cattle to put on the land.’ And we give him cattle. Then he say, ‘God wants sheep.’ And we give him sheep. Then long time after he come again and he say, ‘God want money to keep the cattle and the sheep.’ But we had no money and so we had no more God.”

It is acts like these, committed by a few of the black sheep, that have made the bushmen, the cattlemen, and the traders sneer at the missionary, and in their ignorance they have condemned the whole for a part.

The trader and the kidnapper of the South Seas have for years fought tooth and nail against the missionaries, and it is they who have spread wild tales of the misconduct and strange practices of these noble men. They had an end in view, as they knew their worst foe was not the savage but the {196} missionary; it is the missionary who has been the means of stopping the ghastly trade in black men; it is the missionary again who has seen that the native was dealt with fairly; and these are the sins he has committed and can never be forgiven.

As early as 1796 the London Missionary Society, then the Missionary Society, undertook the work of sending men to these islands in the hope of winning their inhabitants to better lives. At that time the lives they were living were as bad, if not worse than those of savage beasts, and the publication of Captain Cook’s Voyages in these islands aroused men of Christian feeling, and was the means of the Society sending out men to Tahiti; most of whom eventually died of sickness or were butchered by the natives.

For years these men and others worked their hardest against fearful odds, and for ten years they made little or no progress. Reports show that in 1813 one Tahitian had become a Christian. But this was the beginning, and during the next few years progress was as rapid as it had been slow before. Eventually the king of the island acknowledged the Christian belief, and set to work to destroy the heathen gods.
THE ARTIST’S GUIDE, ON MALEKULA, NEW HEBRIDES

The adjacent islands were next approached, and {197} the Tahitian Missionary Society was formed with the avowed object of devoting all its energies to the conversion of the natives of these islands. Amongst its teachers the Society had a large body of natives, and it was not only assisted in this way but financially also by the very men who a few years before would have nothing to do with it.

Then came one of the greatest of the great men to these islands; John Williams, who was not only a splendid worker but a magnificent organiser. He soon had a boat fitted out in which he was able to visit the adjoining islands; finally confining his labours to New Guinea and the New Hebrides.

In 1823 Williams discovered Raratonga, an island in the Hervey group, and he seems to have devoted more of his time to the natives of this island than any other. It was his island, “dear Raratonga,” as he always called it. The population of it when he landed he estimated as about 7000, and in less than a dozen years he wrote of them in the following way:—

“I cannot forbear drawing a contrast between the state of the inhabitants when I first visited them, and now in 1834. In 1823 I found them all heathens, in 1834 they were all professing Christians. At the former period I found them with idols and {198} Maraes; these in 1834 were destroyed, and in their stead there were three spacious and substantial places of Christian worship, in which congregations amounting to 6000 persons assembled every Sabbath day. I found them without a written language, and left them reading in their own tongue the wonderful works of God.”

And again he said—

“In reference to the island generally, it may be observed that the blessings conveyed to them by Christianity have not been simply of a spiritual character, but that civilisation and commerce have invariably followed in her train.”

Succeeding this noble man in the islands were men of fine characters, the Revs. William Gill, E. W. Krause, and Messrs. Pitman and Buzacott, and then in 1867 came the man whose sterling good qualities will never be forgotten—James Chalmers, or “Tamate,” the name by which he was always known by the natives.

“Tamate” was bred and born in Scotland, and it was there he grew muscular and learned to love open-air life. Quite as a youth he became enthusiastic to devote his life to missionary work in savage lands; but subsequent events, and probably his companions, who were young men keen on {199} mischief and adventure, helped to make him forget his early aspirations. In fac............