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
'He told me that at New Caledonia they had reserved inalienably
one-tenth of the land for the natives, that the rest would be sold to
French colonists of the poor class, no one possessing more than ten
acres; that 5,000 convicts would be sent there, and the ticket-of-leave
system adopted, and that he thought the worst and most incorrigible
characters would be sent to Lifu. Poor John! But I can't help him; he
must make such terms as he can, for he and his people are wholly in
their power.
'Our talk being ended, I found a great circle of men assembled on the
outside with a pile of yams as usual in the centre for me. I was glad
to see a small pile also for the Frenchman. I made my speech in his
presence, but he knows not Lifu. "Be kind to the French, give them food
and lodging. This is a duty which you are bound to pay to all men;
but if they try to persuade you to change the teaching which you have
received, don't listen to them. Who taught you to leave off war and evil
habits, to build chapels, to pray? Remember that. Trust the teachers who
have taught you the Word of God."
'This was the kind of thing I said. Then off we set--two miles of loose
sand at a rattling pace, as I wanted to shake off some 200 people who
were crowding about me. Then turning to the west, climbed some coral
rocks very quickly, and found myself with only half my own attendants,
and no strangers. Sat down, drank a cocoa-nut, and waited a long time
for John, who can't walk well, and then quietly went on the remaining
eight or nine miles to Zebedee's place, a Samoan teacher. They were
very attentive, and gave me some supper. They had a bed, which was, of
course, given up to me in spite of opposition. They regard a missionary
as something superhuman almost. Sometimes I can't make them eat and
drink with me; they think it would be presumptuous. Large meeting of
people in the afternoon, and again the following morning, to whom I said
much what I had already said at We. Then fifteen miles over to Apollo's
place on the west coast, a grand bay, with perfectly calm water,
delicious in the winter months. Comfortable quarters; Apollo a
cleverish, free-spoken fellow.
'I went, on the same afternoon, two miles of very bad road to visit
the French priest, who is living here. More talk and of a very friendly
nature. He has been eighteen months at San Cristoval, but knows not the
language; at Woodlark Island, New Caledonia, &c. We talked in French
and English. He knows English fairly, but preferred to talk French. This
day's work was nineteen miles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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