Life of John Coleridge Patteson : Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian IslandsYonge, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary)
Religion
Life of John Coleridge Patteson : Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian Islands
Yonge, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary)
Missions -- Melanesia; Patteson, John Coleridge, 1827-1871
'The house itself is built, after the fashion of these islands, of
wattle plastered with coral lime, the roof thatched with the leaves of
the cocoa-nut and pandana; the fences of the garden were made of cane,
prettily worked together in a cross pattern; the path neatly kept,
and everything looking clean and tidy. We sat down in a small,
well-furnished room, and looked out upon the garden, verandah, and
groups of men and women standing outside. Presently Mrs. Inglis came
into the room, and after some discussion I was persuaded to stay all
night, since the schooner could not reach her anchorage before dark, and
the next day the water-casks were to be filled.
'An excellent dinner was provided: roast fowl with taro, a nutritious
root somewhat like potato, rice and jam, bananas and delicious fruit,
bread and Scotch cheese, with glasses of cocoa-nut milk.
'Afterwards he showed us the arrangements for boarding young men and
women--twelve of the former, and fourteen of the latter. Nothing could
well exceed the cleanliness and order of their houses, sleeping rooms,
and cooking rooms. The houses, wattled and plastered, had floors covered
with native mats, beds laid upon a raised platform running round the
inner room, mats and blankets for covering, and bamboo cane for a
pillow. The boys were, some writing, some making twine, some summing,
when we went in; the girls just putting on their bonnets, of their own
manufacture, for school.
'They learn all household work--cooking, hemming, sewing, &c.; the boys
tend the poultry, cows, cultivate taro, make arrowroot, &c. All of them
could read fluently, and all looked happy, clean, and healthy. The girls
wear their native petticoats of cocoa-nut leaves, with a calico body.
Boys wear trousers, and some had shirts, some waistcoats, and a few
jackets.
'We walked about a small wood adjoining the house, through which a small
fresh-water stream runs. In the wood we saw specimens of the various
trees and shrubs, and flowers of the island, including those already
noticed in Mr. Inglis's garden, and the breadfruit tree and sugar-cane,
and a beautiful bright flower of scarlet colour, a convolvulus, larger
than any I had ever seen elsewhere; also a tree bearing a very beautiful
yellow flower.
'We then returned to the house, and shortly afterwards went to the
church, which is at present used also as the school-house, though the
uprights of a larger school-house are already fixed in the ground.
'Men, women, and children to the number of ninety-four had assembled in
a large oblong building, wattled and plastered, with open windows on
all sides; mats arranged on the floor, and a raised platform or bench
running round the building for persons who prefer to sit after the
English, instead of the native fashion,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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