The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-03-12
GOOD STORIES OF THE PRESENT DAT.
The Adventures or n Missionary Brtr In the
Gouth Sra~

Dse W thtut LOW " buAnii ~
called the Gospel Truth left New Caledonia for
Sunday Island 10 transfer six missionaries to
q new field OF labor. The island OF New Gale
donna. as You will see by your map. lies to
the northwest OF New Zealand. while Sunday
Island lies to the northeast. There were at
that date ut least two hundred English.
Scotch. and American missionaries ut work
among the natives on the islands Of tho
south Pacific lying to the north Of New
Zealand. You will rarely meet q sailor
having n good word for missionary work
away from homo. Sad experience has DEM
onstrated time and again that he is safer
among the heather than in tho sailors board
ing houses OF New York. Liverpool and Phila-
delphia. And It has always been a puzzle to
plain Jack Tar why. for every ono missionary
sent out to convert the heather. some OF his
own couutrymen would ship five barrels Of
rum to the very same locality to Offset tho
good work. That Is neither here nor there.
however. and l beg pardon for being two or
three points of my course.
From 1860 to 1872 1 was in the trading
schooner White Wings. which piled between
Australia and New Zealand. and between the
Inter country and the larger islands to the
north. We had frequently met the missionary
brig as ehe transferred missionaries to new
fields. and 1t was through us that 1t was de-
SieNu ~ poiu q w suhuhy u
We had touched there for trade. and found q
mixed population and a bad state Of affairs.
This report was made in New Caledonia In
November. Just before our sailing for New
zealand. 1t was January before the brig set
sail. and In the same month 70 loft New Iea-
land on a trip to the Friendly Islands.
The missionary craft had always been
sailed by an English Captain and
mate. with a GROW OF native fishermen
and shell gatherers. These latter were al
ways converts. and were paid ut tho rate OF SO
q month. 1t was. to our way OF thinking. like
offering a prize to any one who would be con-
verted. No mntter how good n sailor a native
was. he could not be shipped except on the
Recommendation OF a missionary that lie had
got religion" The wages. low ms thew we're.
wore three times ns much as a fisherman
could earn otherwise. and so it finally came
about that you couldn't find one who didn't
profess to have been Christianizcd. l won't
say that four-ffths OF thcm were liars anil
hypocrites. but you will presently zee that
some o! them were actuRted ythe very worst
motives In seeking for Il change OF heart"
When the brig was about ready to sail. Capt.
Baker met his death by accident. His mate. n
Mr.. Knowles. was competent to navigate. and
as mate he got an islander Familiarity known
as Buttons" He was II fisherman and n pilot.
and got his namef from wearing n big necklace
OF brass and horn buttons. lie had been known
as . tough character. but for the past few
months had protesscd religion. light men
were taken before the mast. and the brig car
ried a cook and stewart making twelve in all.
OF the six intssionnrirs taken aboard there was
women ono was his wife. onethe wife Of Mr..
Knowles. and the Other three were young
women om . from m . = to !; 80 wears q aEei T pn5 ,h Of
other three to he landed on one OF the Espe-
rance, Islands, to the south. The brig was
armed with six musksts. and tho Eer. Mr..
straight had u double barr.licd iOwling
piece besides. he being a sports man as we'll
as n 2 very fis nrst w st.c m ns ion y1yocs al, want
well. and Cant. Knowles declared that the Cos:
ne! Truth had never hal a more chccrfu! and
buttons got three Of tho muskets from the
cabin under, %rretence Of having them cleaned
ana w Fenat but in h th 1slG he 'G fa iified RG tS"ssn en- not s1 he.
cause any one had the slightest suspicion OF
his loyalty: At surrer on the evening Of the
served in ths cabin; In place Of it wa = drink
n sm I flavor Sos si Xii Would IL have e't drunk aEEifi freely.
but the liquid hni = bitter. diaaGreeable
thsse, am. and NJ ThS one s,m took 1,g m9rs et than ln,9nf TIVE or
Cart, Knowles. who stood watch, ana watch
with bis mate; was lust going of duty he was
thon going through the water at n speed OF five
or sig knots per hour. With n pretty heavy seq
r;tI;n Gx and ,n,n he must fh have in met met ch h in death Sarn
sound. asleep when, tho steward aroused Mr..
Straight and said that The CAPTAIN wanted to
dressed and went out. and was at once soized
by the mutinecrs. some were for heaving him
iIys sSonla 81 be o shared s" io St a aay 'o os tmo at tl'p iea sis
He was taken forward to the ~fo'castlo and
bound and gagged.
They proposed to find some uninhabitel
island and set up rs a colony, and they
With S,n the eo SFis that It 'H Ind % tsn st sFias
among them before the brig loft New Gale
donna as to who should possess tho five
out by the steward had been, druEcod. In
o o,s adon,st ths t" th mnEo /" wen FUSh , ,Ge ., sr i as e the
his vile heard re him and / beams ss' s,usniei ""s
that, something WAS wrong. She looked out
n time to sos him being led forward. and
then she did Just what you wouldn't, have en-
and called tho other women, to assist her in
barrisading them; Buttons, presently came
Mt with a plausible yarn. but nnding his Ilot
away, 10 wait for daylight. The Villain had com.
religious enthusiasm and had been mace tho
recipient Of many kindnesses. Unseen by the
fa!csn;,s IN an the sb aEr u iSs ia he siip nsn tn Int scn the
On the night Of the mutiny aboard the Cos
pei Truth the schooner White Wings. on her
way CiosSll. ~ 'Uhi So pb' u Hppu
many milos away Three hundred miles north
South kermndoc. We were passing this isl
and 70 the west and ton miles AWAY when; In
assisting, to stow the flying jio. which. had
been hauled down. w95 shaken OF The bow
spirit. At the cry OF Man overbonrd!' those
on dock threw overheard whatever, they could
get hold Of; and five minutes later the schooner
wave and tide were, driving full on to
tho island. and though they made, faithful
search for me | could not BE- found. WAS
HE. when ! clutched a heneoop. withtw2 fowls
In It.. which was among. the articles thrown
over. ,Clinging to this. though. u sea often
turned It end over end. ! was driven ashore
IN a couple of hours and was so nearly finished
that had only strength enough to crhwi up
a full. hour before | got into the bushes. and
then l fell into u sleep which lasted till Z O'Clock
the next morning. Before ] was on my
feet | heard voices and the sound OF oars. and
as ! sprang up | saw a brig at anchor about
half a mile OF shore; with a boat load OF men
tho Gospel Truth. It was the next morning
after the mutiny. and the crew were pulling
ashore to, inspect the island. As there were
only the five women aboard. every one OF the
crew had insisted on going ashore. It was the
TACT OF seeing SO many men crowded INTO me