John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brotherPaton, John Gibson
Religion
John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brother
Paton, John Gibson
Missionaries -- Vanuatu -- Biography; Paton, John Gibson, 1824-1907
In one of my furloughs to Australia I took the young Chief with me,
in the hope of interesting the Sabbath Schools and Congregations by
his eloquent addresses and noble personality. The late Dr. Cameron, of
Melbourne, having heard him, as translated by me, publicly declared
that Mungaw’s appearance and speech in his Church did more to show
him the grand results of the Gospel amongst the Heathen than all the
Missionary addresses he ever listened to or read.
Our lodging was in St. Kilda. My dear wife was suddenly seized with a
dangerous illness on a visit to Taradale, and I was telegraphed for.
Finding that I must remain with her, I got Mungaw booked for Melbourne,
on the road for St. Kilda, in charge of a railway guard. Some white
wretches, in the guise of gentlemen, offered to see him to the St.
Kilda Station, assuring the guard that they were friends of mine,
and interested in our Mission. They took him, instead, to some den
of infamy in Melbourne. On refusing to drink with them, he said they
threw him down on a sofa, and poured drink or drugs into him till he
was nearly dead. Having taken all his money (he had only two or three
pounds, made up of little presents from various friends), they thrust
him out to the street, with only one penny in his pocket.
On becoming conscious, he applied to a policeman, who either did not
understand or would not interfere. Hearing an engine whistle, he
followed the sound, and found his way to Spencer Street Station. There
he stood for a whole day, offering his penny for a ticket by every
train, and was always refused. At last a sailor took pity on him, got
him some food, and led him to the St. Kilda Station. Again he proffered
his penny, only to meet with refusal after refusal, till he broke down,
and cried aloud in such English as desperation gave him,—
“If me savvy road, me go. Me no savvy road, and stop here me die. My
Missi Paton live at Kilda. Me want go Kilda. Me no more money. Bad
fellow took all! Send me Kilda.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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