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
'Somehow I did not much like the manner of some of the people; they did
not at night come into the Ogamal, or men's common eating and sleeping
house, as before, and I overheard some few remarks which I did not quite
like--something about the unusual sickness being connected with this
new teaching--I could not be quite sure, as I do not know the dialect
of Aruas. There were, however, several who were very friendly, and the
great majority were at least quiet, and left us to ourselves. The
next morning I started at about eight, buying two small pigs for two
hatchets, and yams and taro and dried bread-fruit for fish-hooks. I
gave one young man a piece of iron for his attention to us. As we pulled
away, one elderly man drew his bow, and the women and children ran off
into the bush, here, as everywhere almost in these islands, growing
quite thickly some twenty yards above high-water mark. The man did
not let fly his arrow: I cannot tell why this small demonstration took
place.'
When an arrow was pointed at him, it was Bishop Patteson's custom to
look the archer full in the face with his bright smile, and in many
more cases than are here hinted at, that look of cheery confidence and
good-will made the weapon drop.
After a few more visits to the coasts of this archipelago the boat
returned to Mota, where Mr. Pritt and Mr. Kerr had kept school every
day, besides getting the station into excellent order and beauty. Their
presence at the head-quarters left the Bishop free to circulate in the
villages, sleeping in the Ogamals, where he could collect the men. They
always seemed pleased and interested, and their pugnacious habits
were decidedly diminishing, though their superstitious practices and
observances were by no means dropped.
The Diary, on July 24, thus speaks of the way of life; which, however,
was again telling on the health of the party:--
'I am so accustomed to sleeping about anywhere that I take little or no
account of thirty, forty, fifty naked fellows, lying, sitting, sleeping
round me. Someone brings me a native mat, someone else a bit of yam; a
third brings a cocoa-nut; so I get my supper, put down the mat (like a
very thin door-mat) on the earth, roll up my coat for a pillow, and make
a very good night of it. I have had deafness in my right ear again for
some days; no pain with it, but it is inconvenient.
'Several of our lads have had attacks of fever and ague; Wadrokala and
his child of a wife, Bum, a Bauro boy, &c. The island is not at all
unhealthy, but natives cannot be taught caution. I, thank God, am in
robust health, very weather-beaten. I think my Bishop's dress would look
quite out of keeping with such a face and pair of hands!
'There is much as usual in such cases to encourage and to humble us.
Some few people seem to be in earnest. The great majority do their best
to make me think they are listening. Meanwhile, much goes on in the
island as of old.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account