A WANDERER WITH MANY HOMES
1832-1834
“I, on the other side,
Used no ambition to commend my deeds.
The deeds themselves, though mute, spoke loud the doer.”
MILTON.
“Some men, like a tiled house, are long before they take fire; but, once in flame, there is no coming near to quench them."—
THOMAS FULLER.
HAVING now supplied the temporal necessities of his friends in Raratonga, Mr. Williams prepared for his second voyage to Samoa. Makea, the king of Raratonga, resolved to accompany his friend in this expedition.
At sunset, therefore, on the 11th of October, 1832, The Messenger of Peace set sail with a fair wind. The king was in high spirits, but his friends wept very much when bidding him farewell.
On the following Tuesday, after their leaving Raratonga, Teava, a convert from Mr. Buzzacott's church, offered a remarkable prayer, which Mr. Williams has given in its entirety in his "Enterprises." Afterward, Teava inquired how it was that David in the Psalms spoke so much about Jehovah, while Paul in his Epistles chiefly talked about Jesus Christ, and yet both were inspired men. Mr. Williams endeavored to solve the difficulty by pointing out the difference between the Old and New Dispensations.
The voyage itself presents no other incidents of interest, and on the 17th, at daybreak, after a run of 800 miles, which they accomplished in five days, Manua, the most easterly of the Samoan islands, was descried. As Mr. Williams had resolved to visit every island in the Samoan group during this voyage, he stood in for Manua, and at nine o'clock was close to the shore. Although Manua was 250 miles from Sapapalia, the residence of the native teachers, several visitors who boarded the vessel announced themselves as "Sons of the Word." Here also, were to be found some natives of Raivavae, who, many years before, had drifted away from home, and who, being Christians, had erected a chapel in this strange land. On the opposite side of the island, Mr. Williams also found Christians. At Ososenga, the next island visited, the chief came on board, accompanied by an English boy who had run away from a whaling ship. This chief begged hard for powder and muskets, and when denied these, he entreated Mr. Williams to come ashore. But, being very anxious to reach Savaii before Sunday, Mr. Williams declined the invitation, and went on to Teituila. Here the natives were extremely wild, but such expert paddlers that they easily kept alongside the vessel. In one of these canoes was an Englishman, William Gray by name. From him, Mr. Williams heard of a man, who, Gray said, was "always reading his Bible, and turning men to religion." Gray himself had expressed his own religious opinions to the natives thus—"' It’s all one to me,' I says to them, `whether they worship our God or their own; it 's only another name.”
After sending an encouraging message to the Teituilan Cornelius, Mr. Williams proceeded along the coast. In one district, they found fifty people who had renounced idolatry, and had erected a small chapel for worship. Their chief begged hard for a teacher, promising to become a Christian himself, if only "a worker of religion" came to reside with him. This chief went himself regularly to the native teachers, in order, "to get some religion, which I bring carefully home, and give to the people. When that is gone, I take my canoe again and fetch some more. Give me a man full of religion, that I may not expose my life to danger by going such a distance to fetch it." Mr. Williams promised that on his next visit he would bring this "worker of religion" a teacher, and returned much encouraged to his vessel. Here he found another chief, who had come from a neighboring valley, awaiting him. This man, and his people, had also become nominal Christians, and as a proof of his knowledge, he placed his hands together in the form of a book, and after repeating a chapter from the spelling book, he knelt down upon the deck and recited a prayer in mingled Samoan and Tahitian.
Leaving these interesting people, with a promise that he would visit them again, Mr. Williams went on to Upolu, where Tamafainga had been killed. Here he met with two runaway English sailors, who described to him, with great glee, their success "in turning people religious." "I does a great deal for these people, sir," said one; “I’ve been nine miles today to see a sick man. I reads a chapter and a prayer over them, and when they gets well they generally turns religious.' “Not understanding Mr. Williams' silence, the sailor boasted that, after reading over one sick man, the pain removed to another part of the body, whence it was also driven by a second reading, and the man recovered. By these incantations he claimed even to have cured white swelling of the knee. Mr. Williams faithfully warned these men against their evil practices, at the same time encouraging them to impart what little knowledge they possessed to the people. These sailors, Mr. Williams found, had many imitators; from their influence a sect had sprung up through the islands, founded upon a perversion of Christianity.
On Saturday, the 20th, The Messenger of Peace reached the settlement of Malietoa. The king himself was absent from home, engaged in his favorite diversion of pigeon catching. At first, Mr. Williams took up his residence with the king's brother, but upon remembering the extreme jealousy of the natives, he subsequently removed to the king's own house. The next day was Sunday, and in the morning a congregation of 700 persons assembled in the chapel. The singing was not congregational, for it was found that the women sang the hymns at their indelicate dances, so the teachers alone sang the hymns. Mr. Williams describes the congregation as the very wildest that he had ever seen. Some of the chiefs had mats cast over their shoulders, or fastened round their middle, but their long, stiff hair, in some cases, stood erect like the prickles of a hedgehog; others had long frizzly hair which gave their heads a very large appearance, and a third section had their hair made up into a huge ball upon the head, "forming a large, round, beautiful top-knot." The women were far more savage in their appearance than the men, but so well satisfied were they with their costume, that they had continually invited the teachers' wives to dress after the Samoan mode, adding as an inducement, that then "you will have all the handsome young men of the town loving you." "However, the teachers' wives are not yet converted to the fashions of the Samoan ladies," remarks Mr. Williams with a touch of humor. After the service, about one o'clock, the king arrived. He greeted his visitors very cordially, and told them that his heart was "Monao tasi lava I to lotu a Jehova," that is, "Single in its desire to know Jehovah.”
After the service in the afternoon, one of the native teachers rose and addressed the assembly: “Friends," said he, "for a long time past we have been subjected to ridicule and reproach by some of you. You have represented us as deceivers, and have said much evil against us. Here is our minister, Mr. Williams, for whom you said that you would wait. You can now ask him any question that you please, upon the truth of what we have told you. Further, there is an imposter who has taught some of you to keep Saturday as the sacred day. Some of you have rejected us, and adhered to the advice of an ignorant and wicked man. Here is Mr. Williams, who is from the foundation of truth, England. He, with his brother missionaries, is the fountain from which all true knowledge in these seas has come. Now ask him upon all the points upon which you have doubted our words. He is our root.”
No one replied to this challenge, and after a brief interval of silence, the king himself arose, and said that the teachers should not regard what ignorant and insignificant individuals had said. "Let every one," he continued,” from this time put away all suspicions and evil feeling. For now, surely, you all are convinced that what you have heard is true. Let the Savaii and let all Upolu embrace this great religion. The Samoan people are very simple to listen to what a stinking pig had to say to them about religion, or to notice a stinking pig's Sabbath. For my part, my whole soul shall be given to the word of Jehovah, and I will use my utmost endeavors that the word of Jehovah might encircle the land.”
After the chief had concluded this speech, Mr. Williams requested one of the teachers to inform the people that on the next day he would meet the people, and answer any questions that they might wish to put to him.
In the evening of the same day, Mr. Williams preached to nearly a thousand people, and during the absence of the teachers after service (who were conducting family worship in different households), he composed three hymns for Samoan use; one of which is appended, as a specimen of his poetical powers, with a translation by himself:—
Hymn.
Translation.
Alofa tete Lena nei Ua alofa is ai tatou, Alofa tete o Jesu Christ Ioti mai i ei.
Etama pele o Jesu Chris E Atalii belei Ua oti mai i lolo nei Is ota foi tatou.
Faalogens uma lava foi Lo tatou loto nei Is malolo le atamai la sau o Jesu Christ.
Great is His compassion, His mercy to us, Great the love of Jesus Christ To die upon the earth.
A beloved son was Jesus Christ; A very good son;
But He died down here below To obtain salvation for us.
Let us every one believe With our whole hearts, That our soul may obtain salvation When Jesus Christ shall come.
The next morning, Malietoa endeavored to bring The Messenger of Peace within the lagoon, in order to thereby retain his visitors; but, fortunately, the design was detected before any injury was done to the vessel. Although he failed in this attempt, at the public meeting, which was held on the same day, Monday, Malietoa publicly expressed his determination to abandon war, and to protect any white missionaries who might, as he hoped, settle at Savaii. "My one desire is to know, love, and serve Jehovah," he declared. And when Mr. Williams expressed himself satisfied as to his sincerity, the old king clasped his hands and said, "Oh, how fearfully wise these people are!”
After this gathering, Mr. Williams examined the teachers as to their experience during his absence. They told him that at first they were troubled by severe sickness, which did not abate for some time. Afterward the king's son and brother began to attend their meetings. But the war which had been undertaken to avenge the death of Tamafainga was a great drawback to their efforts. When it had terminated, the king himself embraced Christianity. He proposed that for a time his sons should continue in the old worship; in fact, until he had himself proved that there was no danger in embracing the Gospel. "If I die, or it goes ill with me," he said, "you have still your spirits, which you have not abandoned." The young men did not dare to openly oppose their father, but they secretly ate their Etu, a species of fish, in which the spirit of their god was supposed to reside. But, while thus abandoning their idolatry, the young men took the precaution to drink a quantity of scented oil, which they supposed would prevent the spirits from harming them. After awhile, they publicly announced their conversion, and, as a national repudiation of heathenism, the god of war, which consisted of a piece of rotten matting, was sentenced to be destroyed; at first it was decided to burn it, but this was thought to be too cruel an end, so the matting was drowned. In addition to this public renunciation of his idolatry, Malietoa further proved the sincerity and depth of his new convictions by refusing to engage in war, although the people of Manono gave him considerable provocation, in order, indeed, to invite a conflict, and even went so far as to conspire against his life.
With the teachers, to whose instructions this change was to be attributed, Mr. Williams was much pleased, and to assist them in their various evangelistic journeys he helped them to construct a boat of their own. One great hindrance to their work was the great natural indolence of the natives, which rendered it almost impossible to teach them to read. The Samoans could not "apply themselves with sufficient energy to master the alphabet, for before they had sat down five minutes they would cry out, ' Oh, how tired I am, put it away!'" One native ingeniously excused his ignorance by saying, "Writing, good for Captain, but Samoan more clever, and can retain things in his head, and does not need writing!" Mr. Williams, however, encouraged the teachers to persevere in instructing the natives, and strongly recommended them to adopt a catechism, as a method suitable to strengthen the memories of the people, as well as to instill into their minds useful knowledge.
That the Samoans were not deficient in acuteness appeared from an incident recorded by Mr. Williams in his journal. One morning the mission party were engaged in scalding and salting hogs in order to victual The Messenger of Peace. They had no pan large enough in which to boil sufficient water, and knew not what to do. The natives heated a number of stones red hot, and put them into a large trough full of water, which simple expedient in a few seconds made the water boil. Like the egg of Columbus, no one had previously thought of this method, though all immediately approved of it.
On Wednesday the 24th, Mr. Williams paid a visit to Amoa, a settlement about eight miles distant from Malietoa's capital. Here he found two young chiefs, who had built for themselves a chapel, as all their subjects were at least nominal Christians. Here, at Amoa, he also met with a remarkable woman. Having herself become a Christian, she became an active teacher of her sex, and by her persuasions nearly a hundred women had embraced Christianity.
Mr. Williams thus describes his meeting with this woman:—
“I was interrupted by the appearance of a line of females, following each other in goose-like procession. There were about seventy of them, and each carried something in her hand. They entered the house in which I sat, and then placed before me a baked pig, taro, cocoanuts, and other articles. The chief woman then addressed me as follows—`I have just heard that you had come up to this settlement, and I feared that you would not reach so far as my settlement. So I collected the Christian females together, and have come in order to pay my respects to you, as the chief to whom I am indebted for the knowledge of Jehovah. Our offering is small, for none of our husbands have yet become" Sons of the Word."'
“I was informed that this woman was in the habit of obtaining all the information that she could, and then of returning to her own place, and of imparting the knowledge to others which she had herself received. As soon as her stock of knowledge was expended she would revisit the teachers and spend a week or a fortnight with them.”
This woman had persuaded from between seventy to one hundred females to become Christians, though she had been unable to induce the husbands of her converts to believe as their wives did.
“Those women," says Mr. 'Williams, "had decorated themselves with as much care as ladies do in England when they meet with persons for whom they entertain a high respect. The dress of the chief woman consisted of a red shaggy mat, which was tied round the loins, and which reached down almost halfway to the knee. One corner of this was tucked up so as to expose the left thigh almost as far as the hip. Her body was anointed with scented oil, which made it shine most brightly in the sun. She was further tinged off with an orange-colored rouge, which had been prepared from the, turmeril. This paint was most freely applied under the armpits and about her bosom. She had a row of large blue beads around her neck, and bracelets of the same colored beads were round her wrists. Her head was shaved, with the exception of a tuft of hair which was but little larger than a crown piece. But over the left brow a lock of hair about six or seven inches in length dangled not ungracefully. Some of her companions were ladies of rank, as was evident by the white mats that they wore; but all wore the blue beads, which they esteem as English ladies do pearls and diamonds.”
But the time had now come for Mr. Williams to leave Samoa; and as the enmity existing between the chief of Manono and Malietoa might endanger the mission, The Messenger of Peace was sent to Manono with an invitation to the chief to visit Malietoa. That chief having refused to come, Mr. Williams induced Malietoa to go with him to Manono. Malietoa took several of his wives with him, who were so pleased with the softness of the pillows and sheets, that they wished to appropriate the missionary's cabin and bed for themselves.
On arriving at Manono, Mr. Williams brought the two chiefs together, and induced them to be reconciled. Malietoa for his part, said that his desire was very great for the word of Jehovah, and that he would never fight again. "I have cast away war, I have trodden it under foot. I am sick and surfeited of war," he said. He and Matetau assured their friend that "we have determined to be of one heart and mind in supporting the religion you have brought us, and we will both use our influence in the future to prevent all war.”
Near Manono is a small oblong island, inaccessible except by a narrow channel between two rocks. Mr. Williams compares the island to a basin with a quarter broken off. Should the people of Manono be worsted in battle, they retire to this island; across the chasm they throw a bridge from whence they hurl stones upon their assailants, while a tripping line is laid along the water, so that any canoe entering the passage is inevitably wrecked.
These people are called Malo or Victorious, and they keep a curious stone register of their wars. A stone of peculiar shape is put into a large basket after each victory. Just before Mr. Williams visited the island, the basket contained 197 stones. As the Malo, it was agreed, had never been aggressors in any war, the register shows the ferocity of the South Sea Islanders.
The Messenger of Peace was nearly wrecked while off this island, for just as she was weathering the point, the wind suddenly failed. The strong current carried the ship helplessly towards the fearful cliffs towering above, with the waves dashing against their precipitous sides in awful fury. But providentially a breeze sprung up, and saved the vessel from drifting upon those dreadful walls. After escaping from this peril, the missionary party encountered many other difficulties before they found a harbor at Apia. Here they were surrounded by natives, "who were extremely anxious for tin to make their pipes with, our Sottish countrymen," notes Mr. Williams, "having taught them the use of that noxious herb, tobacco. Not being able to obtain tin, they thought copper would answer the purpose, and tried to take some off the ship's stern-post; but being caught in the act, we obliged the canoes to keep a more respectful distance.”
Upon the following day the party landed, and were struck with a singular custom that the women of Apia have of plastering their ',hair with lime. "The lime burns their hair, and gives it a brown tinge, of which they appear very fond." The chief of this place professed himself a Christian, and about 80 of his people shared his faith. While praying with them, Mr. Williams says, "never did I feel more bitterly the evil of Babel's confusion, than when I was obliged on this interesting occasion, to pray in the Raratongan tongue.”
After leaving Apia, The Messenger of Peace touched at Keppel's Island, where the missionaries found the widow of Puna, formerly a teacher at Rurutu. "The poor woman sent her two children to meet me, and conduct me to the hut she was living in," says Mr. Williams in his journal. "Native-like she clung to my legs, and wept aloud for a long time." At Keppel's Island they also heard of a teacher who called himself Samuel; by this man's influence half of the 500 natives living upon the island had become Christians. With Puna's widow and children on board, the voyage was resumed.
After being becalmed for two days, the party were alarmed on Sunday evening, the 11th of November, by finding that half-an-hour's pumping did not clear the ship. Seven minutes was generally sufficient for that purpose. A careful search revealed the fact that a hole had been bored in a water cask, containing 130 gallons, and that the lad had forgotten to insert a plug. This, however, did not account for the quantity of water they found in the hold, and after pumping the ship dry, they determined to lay to until the morning. About four o'clock, the mate aroused Mr. Williams, to say that there was three feet of water in the hold. Two and a-half hours' vigorous pumping cleared the ship of water; but it was found that one pump must be kept going, to keep the ship dry. The efforts of the crew to discover the leak Were unavailing; and towards evening, the two bags of biscuits and some cocoa-nuts were placed in a convenient place, near the two boats and canoe, ready in case those on board were compelled hurriedly to leave the ship. "Thus a day of consternation, anxiety, and distress has passed over me, such as I never experienced," wrote Mr. Williams. “I have been enabled, however, to maintain entire suppression, and to make all arrangements with the utmost coolness. It is to all appearance a frowning providence, but a smiling face may one day be known to be hidden behind it. During the following night, while sleeplessly listening to the pumps, I traced over in my mind almost every plank and every seam, and every bulk end in the vessel, from stem to stern-post, and from keel to deck, and I don't think anything can possibly have given way.”
To add to their anxiety, a strong head wind now sprung up; but by working the pumps for seven minutes every half-hour, they kept the water from accumulating. To their no small joy, on Friday the 16th, they made Vauvau, where some Wesleyan missionaries were now stationed.
They had much difficulty in making an anchorage, but at ten o'clock they came to the beach, and Mr. Williams went on shore to ask if the missionaries had any letters for Tonga. Makea accompanied his friend. "He is always ready to go on shore where a missionary resides, but he does not like to trust himself on shore where no missionary has been," says Mr. Williams.
The visitors were somewhat astonished when they reached the mission premises to find the natives all drawn up under arms, "some with spears, some with clubs, and others with the more formidable weapon, from whose mouth issues fire and brimstone and smoke." Mr. Turner was from home, busy upon the house that he was building for the mission, but Mr. Williams went in search of him. The two missionaries speedily became fast friends, and spent a pleasant evening in each other's society.
“I was happy to find," says Mr. Williams in his journal, "that nearly the whole of the inhabitants of Vauvau have embraced Christianity.
“The congregation on Sabbath days consists of two or three thousand people. Although they have erected a large chapel, Mr. Turner says that it is not nearly large enough for the requirements of the converts.”
About two hundred of these hearers met in class, and eight hundred others were candidates for baptism. This was the result of only four months' labor. Mr. Williams, writing on the subject, says: "I felt a considerable interest in listening to the details of the progress of the mission at Vauvau, for from the determined opposition of the king, Finau, when we saw him two years ago (when he threatened to put to death any of his people, man, woman, or child, who should embrace the religion of the Gospel), it could not have been anticipated that, in so short a time, he himself, with every man, woman, and child in his island, should embrace the religion to which he appeared at that time to have such an utter aversion. But so it is in the ways of God; frequently a blessing is near when it is thought to be a long way off.”
“I asked Mrs. Turner if she did not feel the loneliness of her situation very much, and told her that I wondered how she could possibly content herself in this altogether out-of-the-world place. She replied, that truly it was trying to be so circumstanced, but that her only desire was to be where the Lord would love her to be. If this were so, she thought she could be reconciled to any place, however lonely.'" Such a reply, so much in the spirit of the questioner, is the more to be noticed when we learn that sometimes the missionaries were short of supplies. At times they were so short of water that they were compelled to purchase it by the cocoanut-shell full. Nor were the natives at all liberal towards their benefactors. They refused to perform the least service for the missionary unless liberally paid for all that they did. This absence of the gentle courtesies which soothe and soften the sorrows of life was keenly felt by the missionaries to be an aggravation of their hard lot.
The exiles were therefore the more loth to part with their visitors, and strongly urged them to remain, at least over the Sunday. But the desire to return home, that Mr. Williams confessed now filled his soul, prevented his accepting this welcome invitation. From the loneliness of her own situation, Mrs. Turner was able to sympathize with this feeling, and she asked Mr. Williams how long he had been absent from home.
“Nearly twelve weeks," was the reply.
“How can your poor wife endure the loneliness thus among savage people?" queried Mrs. Turner; "I will not press you to stay even a day with us, for it would be cruel to do so. I know how I should feel it if Mr. Turner were absent.”
As the water was very smooth, natives were employed to dive beneath the vessel, and thus were able to thoroughly examine her hull. At the same time the interior was carefully scrutinized and the cabin floor taken up. But all their efforts were fruitless, the leak could not be detected. At eleven o'clock the party left Vauvau and went on to Tonga, or Tongatabu, which means sacred Tonga. Vauvau is not so much one island, as a collection of small rocky crags that are only habitable in the little bays that here and there pierce through the tall crags. "It is the most dreary place imaginable; the tall barren rocks shut in the people, the general barrenness and the deathlike stillness that prevailed-except for the vicious sounds of the sea rushing beneath the bases of the rocks-make residence there a terrible trial." A strong head wind prevented them from making as much haste from this dreary spot as they desired, and therefore, instead of being twenty-four hours in making Tonga as usual, they were six days on the voyage, and this with the leak in the vessel undiscovered and unstopped. Twelve days they had been fighting with the water in the vessel, and therefore they were delighted to find an English ship at Tonga.
This island, unlike Vauvau, is flat; the long line of shore is not relieved by any mountain scenery. Here, in the year 1796, a party of ten missionaries were landed. Three of them were cruelly murdered, and the survivors only preserved their lives by hiding until a ship touched at the island. In this they left Tonga, and for some time the island was without missionaries. As in other places, the opposition against them was caused and led by a renegade Englishman, who in this case was an escaped convict. This man induced the king to believe that the missionaries were wizards, and that an epidemic which then raged with great fury was the result of their enchantments.
Upon the next page is a picture of a Tongan village. It will be seen that the houses are oval in form, the rounded ends being indications of their primitive condition.
Miss Gordon-Cumming says of these structures: “They have the same deep thatch as the Fijian houses, which is generally of reeds of the wild sugar cane. The walls are of plaited cocoa palm leaves or of leaves interlaced. The houses have no stone foundation to raise them above the damp earth, and in many of the poorer huts the floors are merely strewn with dried grass, instead of having neat mats, such as the poorest Fijian would possess. Only in the wealthier houses did we see coarse mats made of pandorus. In the majority, however, there is an inner room screened off to form a separate sleeping corner; and we noticed that the Tongan pillow closely resembles that of Fiji, being merely a bit of bamboo supported by two legs. The cooking is generally done in a separate hut, built over an oven in the ground, but a good many ovens are al fresco, and the daily yams or the pig of high festivals are baked quite in public.”
A boat came off to The Messenger of Peace, and from the young man in charge of her Mr. Williams heard that Raiatea was again threatened with war. As the reefs around Tonga were very dangerous, and he was totally unacquainted with them, Mr. Williams gave the vessel into the pilot's charge; and set off in an open boat for the shore. They were nearly five hours before they landed, but the cordial welcome that they received from their missionary brethren made them soon forget their fatigue.
Among other items of news that he learned during the evening, Mr. Williams heard some tidings of dissension between Christian men, which caused him to exclaim, "How numerous are the enemies that Satan raises against the good work of the Lord, both at home and abroad, both among its professed friends as well as from other quarters!”
After a night's rest, Mr. Williams put off in the boat, in order to look for the vessel. She, however, could not be seen, and as it was blowing hard they landed upon a small island. Here they found a water-snake, with some thirty or forty young ones, that lay curled and twisted together. They killed the mother, with a few of her young, and carried them to the boat. The large snake was found to measure three feet six inches in length, and to be about the thickness of a lady's wrist. But when the skin was placed on the rocks in order to dry, the natives of the island assailed them, because they had killed their god when they killed the snake. After a while they were a little pacified, but they threatened the "mischievous man" who had been seen with the snake skin in his hand that he should not dare to land. After this trouble had been overcome, Mr. Williams began to be much disturbed because the ship was not in sight. Even if he were able to return home, he could not but dread the perils that he felt would be caused if he went back to Raratonga without Makea. But about noon the ship was discovered in sight, and they went aboard. The vessel had suffered greatly from the gale, much to the alarm of Makea. "Everything was turned upside down," says Mr. Williams; “the spirit case was upset, and all the bottles were broken. The spirits had run into my clothes-bag. The oil was spilled, the barrels broken, and much other damage required repair.”
But by the aid of Captain Henry, who had accompanied Mr. Williams from the shore, the ship was safely brought within the reef. Mr. Williams was much affected when he saw the spot where Mr. Cross, one of the missionaries, had been drowned for lack of a proper boat. The next day was Saturday, and they decided to commence operations on Monday morning, in order to discover the leak. The captain of a vessel that had just arrived proffered his assistance, which was gratefully accepted. This captain had himself run his ship aground near Vauvau some twelve months previously, and therefore he was able to sympathize with his friends in their trouble. This having been settled, the king of Tonga sent an invitation to Makea to visit him. Makea accepted the invitation, and was received in great state. He was placed beside the king, and a baked pig and a basket of yams were placed before him. The pig was lifted up into full view of the semi-circle of chiefs who sat round. Then a native orator returned thanks in the name of Makea, who was thereupon requested to make himself at home in Tonga. A great root of kava was then presented to public view and duly acknowledged by the orator. This individual then “desired the people to prepare the kava. This they did by splitting the wood into small pieces, and each one took a mouthful of kava to chew. When they had well masticated this wood it was placed in a wooden bowl, and water was then poured upon it.
The refuse was then strained out by a fibrous bark or grass, and the liquor was ready for use. The person officiating now fills a cup and cries out, ' The cup is full,' and then he calls out the name of the person to whom it is to be taken. This favored individual claps his hands together, thus producing a hollow sound, I suppose by way of answer to his name." The orator called out his own name first, and clapped his own hands in reply, and only at the third cup did he call out the name of the king. Then Makea was favored, and after him Mr. Williams was invited to partake of the kava, which he refused. He says, however, “I determined—being fond of experiments—to try my powers of mastication upon the root.
Accordingly, I chose a little piece out of the heart, but before it had been in my mouth half a minute I was glad to put it out again. It was extremely bitter, and produces a great discharge of saliva. The Tonga people had a hearty laugh at me, and said, 'The white men were clever at most things, but not at chewing kava.'”
The next day was the Sabbath, and Mr. Williams was delighted to see nearly six hundred of the natives assemble for Divine worship. He was also much struck with the singing, which was exceptionally good at this station.
“It has often excited my astonishment," says this intensely practical man, "that so little attention is paid to this art in our missionary seminaries, and that it does not enter into the minds of missionaries, and those who have charge of their education, that the heathen will be dependent on them, not only for making their hymns, but also for teaching them to sing the praises of God. It is therefore needful to direct the attention of the missionary student to the rules of poetical composition as well as to singing.”
On Monday, all the valuable articles were taken out of the ship and placed in the mission house for safety.
A friend, who was more accustomed to these matters than Mr. Williams, undertook all arrangements that were needful, and the missionary therefore spent most of his time with the brethren who were stationed at Tonga.
Meanwhile the two English captains, whose ships were in harbor, assisted in heaving The Messenger of Peace down, and they then discovered that an auger hole into which the bolt had not been driven, was the cause of all the distress. Another hole had been pierced near it, but the first hole had not been plugged For nearly six months dirt and stones had filled the hole so effectually that The Messenger of Peace had sailed several thousand miles without harm. The carpenter, with an auger, cleared out the hole, but neglecting to plug it, the ship began to fill again. She was at once dragged in shore, and foundered in shallow water. By this new disaster, the tea, sugar, salt, and biscuits, which had been placed in the cabin, were all "pickled together." A fortnight's labor was required to repair all this damage.
During this period of delay, the visitors were spectators of a native marriage. Both bridegroom and bride were young, not more than twenty years of age, and each was dressed in the height of Tonga costume. The dress of the female consisted of a huge roll of cloth, which was swathed round her like a belt, forming an immense protuberance all round her body. This necessitated the aid of a person who sustained her weight, for it was quite impossible for the poor creature to sit upright without assistance. The upper part of her body was quite bare, and so profusely anointed with sweet oil that it made the eyes of the spectators water to look upon her. The young man was also wrapped in a bandage of mats, one piled upon another, and the upper part of his body was also anointed with oil.
From a wedding to a cemetery is a contrast, but it is often found in life. After the wedding ceremony, Mr. Williams took part in a native prayer meeting. Then he visited the sacred burying place of the chiefs. This was an extensive enclosure surrounded by a reed fence, within which were several small houses, each of which covered the grave of a chief. The grave itself was covered with white sand, and was carefully kept free from weeds. "The gigantic trees, with their varied and rich foliage, afforded a grateful shade, which, together with the deathlike stillness that prevails, gives a degree of solemnity to the place which you cannot help feeling as you saunter through the sacred regions of the dead. The deathlike silence is broken by the occasional screech of the vampire bats, that hang in great numbers from the tops of the trees.”
From the cemetery, the visitor passed to the abode of the living chief who, however, was not at home. His six wives were busily engaged, during his absence, in painting a piece of native cloth fifteen or twenty yards long, and about ten yards wide. The paint was obtained from the juices of certain herbs, and was applied by hand to the fabric. The ladies, after answering Mr. Williams' questions, requested him to give them some tobacco, of which they were very fond. The chief had meanwhile returned, and he wanted Mr. Williams to partake of some refreshment. Before doing so, the missionary asked a blessing, whereupon the chief inquired of the interpreter who this stranger was. The interpreter, feeling himself great in his master's glory, told the chief that Mr. Williams was a very great chief, and said that he had carried the Gospel to many islands. Then he enumerated them all in detail. The chief then complimented Mr. Williams upon his influence and wealth. "How rich you must be," he said, "So different from Tonga chiefs, who are very poor!" He then artlessly inquired as to what articles were manufactured at the various islands which had been visited by The Messenger of Peace. "Oh! mats, cloth, and nets.”
“Dear me, those are the very things that I most require. Have you not a net to spare for me?”
Amused at the man's method of begging, Mr. Williams replied, "Yes, I have a net to spare. I will send it to you.”
“Oh, no, I will come for it; do not take the trouble to send it to me.”
But thinking that if the man came for the net he might discover that he was also in need of other articles that were on board the vessel, Mr. Williams refused to allow him to come, and promised to send him the present. The gift of a pair of scissors made the chief completely happy.
When asked about Christianity, this man at first parried the question, and when pressed he said that he did not care to be forced to believe in Christ. When the desire to do so grew of its own accord, he would follow the example of others and embrace the Gospel.
In his case, as with others, the chief difficulty probably was that he was unwilling to renounce the immoral dances of the heathen, and to give up his plurality of wives.
Mr. Williams found that the missionaries were fully alive to the intense importance of combating error by means of books. They had a large printing-press at work which, in little more than twelve months, had turned out twenty-nine thousand one hundred small books, which in all contained four million seven hundred and seventy-two thousand pages.
The only fault that Mr. Williams could find with the missionaries was that they had insisted upon doing too much of the manual labor with their own hands; this, in such a climate, Mr. Williams considered to be very unwise. On the 5th of December he and his party left Tonga, making Raratonga in January, 1833. They had been fifteen weeks upon their voyage.
Mr. Williams now resolved to visit England, and therefore dispatched The Messenger of Peace to Tahiti. She was to be sold there, and a vessel chartered in April to bring up Mr. Williams and his family. But no ship appeared, and Mr. Williams thought seriously of building another. An American had some time before commenced a vessel, but had not succeeded in completing her. Mr. Williams purchased his hull, finished the ship, and sailed in her to Tahiti. At Eimeo, he found a gentleman named Armitage, who had been sent out by the Directors in order to teach the natives how to weave. Leaving his wife and family in Mr. Barff's care, Mr. Williams returned with Mr. Armitage to Raratonga. Then he went on to Atiu, and after he had landed at this, to him, ill-fated island, the vessel was blown out to sea, and did not make the island again for three weeks. Mr. Williams had almost resolved upon building another vessel when the lost ship came in sight. He reached Raiatea on the 14th of October, and, after a brief stay, sailed with his family for England. He arrived there in June, 1834, and landed upon its shore after an exile of eighteen years.