A Half Century Among the Siamese and the Lāo: An AutobiographyMcGilvary, Daniel
History
A Half Century Among the Siamese and the Lāo: An Autobiography
McGilvary, Daniel
Lao (Tai people); Missions -- Lao (Tai people); Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. -- Missions
The accident happened on this wise: The doctor had been walking awhile
for exercise behind his riding elephant, and then attempted to pass up
beside the creature to the front. The elephant, startled at his
unexpected appearance, struck him to the ground with a blow of his
trunk, gored him savagely in the abdomen, and was about to trample him
under foot, when the driver, not a moment too soon, got the creature
again under control. With rare nerve the doctor cleansed the frightful
wound, and sewed it up by the help of its reflection in a mirror, as he
lay on his back on the ground. He despatched the messenger to us; gave
careful instructions to his attendants as to what they should do for him
when the inevitable fever and delirium should come on; and resigned
himself calmly to await whatever the outcome might be.
The situation was, indeed, desperate. We could not possibly hope to
reach him before the question of life or death for him would be settled;
nor could he be brought to us. The best we could do was to get an order
from the Prince for a boat, boatmen, and carriers, and despatch these
down the river, committing with earnest prayer the poor sufferer to the
all-loving Father’s care. The doctor was carried on a bamboo litter
through the jungle to the Mê Ping River, and in due time reached
Chiengmai convalescent, to find that the two expected young missionaries
had arrived in safety before him. After a month’s rest he was able to
return to Bangkok; but not until he had assisted us in organizing the
First Presbyterian Church of Chiengmai.
In the _Presbyterian Record_ for November, 1868, will be found an
interesting report from the doctor’s pen. Naturally he was struck with
the predominance of demon-worship over Buddhism among the Lāo. We quote
the following:
“Not only offerings, but actually prayers are made to demons. I
shall never forget the first prayer of the kind I ever heard....
We had just entered a dark defile in the mountains, beyond Mûang
Tôn, and had come to a rude, imageless shrine erected to the
guardian demon of the pass. The owner of my riding-elephant was
seated on the neck of the big beast before me. Putting the palms
of his hands together and raising them in the attitude of
worship, he prayed: ‘Let no evil happen to us. We are six men
and three elephants. Let us not be injured. Let nothing come to
frighten us,’ and so on. On my way down the river, at the rapids
and gloomy passes in the mountains the boatmen would land,
tapers would be lighted, and libations would be poured, and
offerings of flowers, food, and betel would be made to the
powers of darkness.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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