John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 1 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brotherPaton, John Gibson
Religion
John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 1 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brother
Paton, John Gibson
Missionaries -- Vanuatu -- Biography; Paton, John Gibson, 1824-1907
“The men of Erromanga killed Missi Williams long ago. We killed the
Rarotongan and Samoan Teachers. We fought Missi Turner and Missi Nisbet,
and drove them from our island. We killed the Aneityumese Teachers on
Aniwa, and one of Missi Paton’s Teachers too. We killed several white
men, and no Man-of-war punished us. Let us talk over this, about killing
Missi Paton and the Aneityumese, till we see if any Man-of-war comes to
punish the Erromangans. If not, let us unite, let us kill these
Missionaries, let us drive the worship of Jehovah from our land!”
An Inland Chief said or rather shouted in my hearing,—
“My love to the Erromangans! They are strong and brave men, the
Erromangans. They have killed their Missi and his wife, while we only
talk about it. They have destroyed the Worship and driven away Jehovah!”
I stood amongst them and protested,—
“God will yet punish the Erromangans for such wicked deeds. God has
heard all your bad talk, and will punish it in His own time and way.”
But they shouted me down, amidst great excitement, with the cry,—
“Our love to the Erromangans! Our love to the Erromangans!”
After I left them, Abraham heard them say,—
“Miaki is lazy. Let us meet in every village, and talk with each other.
Let us all agree to kill Missi and the Aneityumese for the first of our
Chiefs that dies.”
On Tanna, as on Erromanga, the Natives have no idea of death coming to
any one naturally, or sickness or any disease; everything comes by
Nahak, or sorcery. When one person grows sick or dies, they meet to talk
over it and find out who has bewitched or killed him, and this ends in
fixing upon some individual upon whom they take revenge, or whom they
murder outright. Thus many wars arise on Tanna, for the friends or the
tribe of the murdered man generally seek a counter-revenge; and so the
blood-fiend is let loose over all the island, and from island to island
throughout the whole of the New Hebrides.
The night after the visit of the Erromangan boat, and the sad news of
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon’s death the Tannese met on their village
dancing-grounds and held high festival in praise of the Erromangans. Our
best friend, old Nowar, the Chief, who had worn shirt and kilt for some
time and had come regularly to, the Worship, relapsed once more; he
painted his face, threw off his clothing, resumed his bow and arrows,
and his tomahawk, of which he boasted that it had killed very many men
and at least one woman! On my shaming him for professing to worship
Jehovah and yet uniting with the Heathen in rejoicing over the murder of
His servants on Erromanga, he replied to this effect,—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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