New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-10-09
MISSIONARY EXPERIENCE.
AMONG CANNIBALS.

HEBRIDES An auobiogl apply Edited oy LIS
brother. l2mo, PIP. 315. Robert carter d bio'n0i''
The writer of this really fascinating memoir
belongs to an order of men more numerous In the
past than to-day, and whose religious exaiunuon
and heroic devotion recall the indomltaDie spirlt
Of those old Jesuit, Dominican ana frahclso"n
fathers who of old journeyed into the ends oi inc
earth to teach and convert the heathen, anu
marked the spread of Christianity by martyrdouls
as dreadful and as noble as any which are recoroeo
In the annals of early persecution Jonn U' ration
was born of Scotch cotter parents, near Dumfrles.
His father was stocking manufacturer on u
small scale having his looms set up in his dwell
ing-housc, and being assisted by his family The
boy passed his youth in the thriving village OF
Tortharwald, a few miles from DumfrieS Both
his parents were deeply religious, of the old COW
enanting type carrying their theology into secu-
lar life. and striving TO live up TO the highest
standards. II in such an intellectual and
moral atmosphere that young Patton grew up and
from the first he appears to have regarded him
self as devoted to the service of Cod The simple,
straightforward and modest chronicle of his life
shows a distinct bent, doubtless partly inherited
toward the missionary calling, and when, after
hard struggle for higher education, marked by
personal privations which for time affected his
health seriously, he came to occupy the office of
City Missionary in the busy town of Glasgow,
there could be no doubt as to his vocation
For ten wears he labored aSsiduously among the
poorest and most backward classes of Glasgow,
and with decided and beneficial results. He bad
to confront strong opposition, especially from tho
LIQUORS sellers, who ragged to see their victims
withdrawn from their influence, and who sought
in many ways to counterfeit and neutranze the
work of the City Mission. At the end OF this
period the Mission Board found itself In din
Guilty Missionaries were wanted for the New
Hebrides. but there were no candidates. The
reason Of this was simple enough The New
Hebrides were inhabited by fierce cannibas, who
had killed and eaten the last missionaries sent to
them within q few hours Of their landing Now,
however jealous evangests may be, they naturally
reeoil from an undertaking which holds out no
prospect of the least usefulness as compensation
for swift martyrdom So the New-HebrideS found
no candidates until young Patton, after serious
elaboration, determined to offer himself for the
work and was initiated by his roommate and
fellowworker Before leaving Scotland Mr.. Patton
married a minister's daug hter. whose heart was in
the enterprise and together they set sail for the
distant and dangerous station. They were 10
found a mission on the island Of Tanna, where no
missionaries had ever been allowed to i've. oh
another island of the group, Aneityum, MISSION
had been founded, and the natives. though un-
certain and treacherous, had so far permitted IL
IN exist. At Tanna everything had TO be done,
and il WAS only after much trouble that permission
TO land and to put up house was obtained
crave blunder was committed at the outset.
NJ Patton knew nothing of the climate. ana ne
built on low ground near the shore Inc region
ros malarions The natives themselves were care
ful to live on the hillsdes, where the trade WINDS
lyept the air sweet To this initial mistake Mr..
arahl
cnea and died shortly after having borne him
child who followed the mother quickly. From the
beeinning of their residence on Tanna, however,
tronble had beset the mission The presence OF
white men was barely tolerated, and that only
bv a few local chiefs The normal condluon
of the island was anarchic. The interior tribes
we're perpetually at war with those OF the coast
Raids, battles. skirrnishes, were always going
nm and the prisoners on both sides were habltualy
kiIIed and eaten AS soon as tho native priests
found what the missionaries purposed they De-
rane their deadliest enemiesI and from lhat mo-
ment never ceased TO compass their destructon'
AT one time some of these medicine men uhner-
tool n kill Mr.. Patton by "Nahalls" or sorcery.
He calmly walked into their assembly iaughed at
their pretensions, and challenged them to try
their magic upon him then and there Inc pup-
Iictv Of this defiance left them no alternative ana
H. baean their ceremonies and lamentations,
wbi1e the destined victim sat at little distance
matching their operations amusedly. The natives,
,vbo firmly believe in the sovereignty OF Nahak'
rnomentarily expected the rash challenger 10 lall
nyer death-smtten But nothing happened to him.
and after prolonged seance the priests were COM
nelled TO own that they had failed VI course
This incident was advantageous to the missionary
cause The priests lost prestige ana some con-
verts were made But the situation was geheraLy
desperate and this less because oil the herceheSs
Of the natives than because of internal conditions
Whenever European missionaries nave hau u
work coincdentally with European traders they
have been handicapped by the abuses vices anu
crimes of the latter In the New-Ilebrides this
drawback was particularly great. Inc Wlhoe
traders who infested that group of islands twenty
years ago were as infamous set oil sco1hores
as ever bore the ill-savored nickname OF oedch-
combersn Whether these ruians kept store on
sbore or sailed about in schoOners and other vessels
of small tonnage, their practice was the same
They treated the natives with persistent cruelty
and treachery. They kidnapped them into virtual
slavery under the thin disguise OF contract LABOR;
they carefully sowed diSsenslons among them 10
the end that the sale of musketS ana am
munition might be increased; they sold them lhe
yilest LIQUOR and cultivated debauchery among
them. and when they had apparently exhausted
the market they put their heads together anu
olotted the determination of the savages, with
the object of getting possession, without pay
ment. of the valuable timber which grew on the
islands To clear off the natives these exemplars
of Christianity sowed the measles broadcast over
the islands The complaint proves fatal IN the
absence Of remedies and under the ignorant native
treatment, and it swept through the New-Heo-
rides, carrying off scores Of thousands The situa-
ton was appalling The pest-smitten islanders
were frantic and there doubt as TO the
origin of the epidemic, for the traders had gone
20 work with cynical openness. They had put
several men on whom the disease had broken out
l., %to hold Of a veSSel Thpn they had visited