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
“But that same evening, as we sat at a late tea, our spirits brighter
than usual, feeling that relief was near (though it came not in the way
we expected), for the _Dayspring_ was to leave Sydney on Monday and
would be getting nearer us every day, we heard the fatal shot go off
close beside us! We have heard as loud reports and even nearer, when
they were killing flying foxes or birds, which caused us nothing more
than a start and a laugh; but there was something in that which made us
spring simultaneously from our seats and stand in awe. John said, ‘Some
one is shot! Either Mungaw, or some one by his hand.’ He had barely
uttered the words, when the awful death-wail in Litsi’s voice confirmed
our fears. Our girls rushed in from the bath-room, where they had
been filling baths and getting all ready for Sunday, and said, ‘That’s
Mungaw, Missi, for the Inahutshi people told us not to be alarmed if we
heard a shot after dark, as we would know it was Mungaw killed.’
“It had all been deliberately arranged, and we knew not a word about
it. John said, ‘Then I must run and see what I can do for the poor
fellow,’ and was off; but another loud report made me implore him to
come back, till we ascertained certainly what the matter was, as he
might be shot in the dark without any one meaning it, and F. decided
the matter by saying in a faint voice, ‘Papa, will you stay and take
care of us?’ His papa put his arm round him and said, ‘Yes, my boy,
I’ll not leave the room again.’
“Two or three Natives came to tell us that Mungaw was shot dead, and
that John’s going would be no use now. He engaged in prayer, and oh,
how our hearts bled for the poor fellow! Now that his sad end had
come, we could only think of him as he once was; as, for instance, we
saw him one evening years before stand calm and tranquil, with three
enraged men pointing their muskets at him for spoiling some Heathen
performance, and telling them he would not fight, and that the worst
they could do would only send him to Heaven. Or again, as he used to go
about pleading with the young boys (a mere boy himself) not to follow
the footsteps of their fathers, but come out decidedly for the Lord
Jesus. Or again, we thought of the time when he was John’s right hand
man, and would almost have laid down his life to serve him. His two
nearest friends, on coming to ask if they would bury him at once, laid
down their heads and sobbed aloud, though, like all the Aniwans, they
had wished for his death. It was a sad, sad night; the hurried and
midnight burial, the suppressed excitement, the fear and uncertainty
about the real murderers and what would follow next, and last of all
that young and once noble fellow cut down in the midst of his days.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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