Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1895-03-02
RING OF CORAL ROCK
Such Is tho Island Of HlO 10 tho
Southern Pacific.
HABITS or me ISLANDERS DEs.
JRiBED.


The following letter from a young
missionary in the Society Islands 10 his
father aud mother. who reside 100 Weber
County Utah, will be read with much
interests
OIErA HAo, October 9th, 1898.
IuJmutu Isles.
ltis with much pleasure that cast
away lll thoughts ui missionary duty
and the probabilities of my Office and
calling and say "heIIu" once more.
You cannot imagine how good % feels 90
rus distance from home. $500 miles,
which BE- equal To- ten times Tue distance
nom JWu 60 England OF Germany
when We consider mail acI.Iuc and
allow ones thoughts to- wander where
lcy Will Iu contemplation OF home aud
Us associations. ltUa luxury which %
INDUCED intoy often bugumts pf1JIc.
tive of Injurious RESULTS %. tHgI ui eat
iuE too much pie. have been blessed
vain wonderful control over myself loo
ths respect thus iJg so much 10 iHJt
Time haa never yet been heavy 600 my
hands or aglmgI slow iu passing.
though when ggt home Il win be iGe
DAY mat ! have been looking i0rwaid
to Tor years.
Your letters of March s5,h. April 10Th.
May 2sHd aud june l1,I. most ui them
Wuucn over t"O years alter my dcpar
llTc from the land OF milk and honey,
reached mg Iuiy lgih, August sagu aud
September 900, some az them beiug f.t
days OF over 1--we months, guIUuly.
They were about % month coming 5000
miles aud iue other three months com
my the remaining 500 miles. When
they reached their destination tagy
found them Ives outside OF the pale Of
civilization which IS my present res.-
dggcg, "a place lew white ucn have ever
seen.
Tie people here have different Ian.
Euagg altogether 60 the IaniuJuH
though most oI them understand some
Iamuau. We do our preaching n tug
lahluau language, as tuar Languages
not % written language and tue Hilic b.
translated into ue Ilaiulu. But BOZ
conversation We have to understand
their uuwriitcn language or else not
understand all. Hau lies about golmi.cs
east Of Tahiti and s visited about one
or Two times month by some trading
oOp, so that we hear from the outside
Hlo, like all the rest OF the pluu1,u
isles, b. circular iu shape. rac. q finger
ring ON the table, think OF tie space
outside the ring as the bul1wy ocean
auu The splCg inside us % lagoon rang.
M from ten TO several hundred feet
dccp, ininh OF the narrow edge OF the
ring 's land aud you have Hnu all boo a
nutshell, the TiHE Of land being from
twenty leel TO block WIDE,
hb land l) D. composed entirely of
rock, there u not @ handful OF soil ON
the island lob sure there are some
SANDY places, but % Is mostly all coral
rock Soto'ntis anud lev non'iuudpfu-
dueing uegs grow freely and Che sea OF
course yields a1lndlnuy OF hsh. The
latter ana g0cuauuta are the only native
| looNa worm Mentioning hy reason
however OF ihere being pearl shell iu
the lagoon, for which the natives dive
lsomgunes gong as Tar as ll1 feet
! down aud which brings a good price,
lhey are enabled To buy uIue ilouI
| etc, 10 Keep BODY ana soul alive 10
You people cannot ah down 20 the table
without having pie, cake nut or pud'
a.ng, etc. cry hard TIMES aud actually
lhinE YOU are hard up were TO come
! Gown mere ana see What naive lives on
Tor q month or 80, the cfy of hard lines
would be heard OF no more, Tor IN
stance, % You had cooked ail your
| food ON bonfire, as have
done Tor months and as the poor ma.
tiycs do all the stimc, you who lie on
/ soft beds, ride in carriages or buggIe8.
street cars and cat pie might well Cry
| hard time and say were hard up"
Would you like to know how / live
hcft' Then ! will tell you OF few
items, though TO tell you 40 would &C..
quite q book Of considerable size, We
arise from our bed. which consists OF
pine boards at 6g1 O. M. and eat a
lunch OF bread lwntn we have Do, or go
without when we haven't % aud hot
water or "AIumon tca" COB IL is known
| here at O.. m,, wc are at school, We
have 10. IS, 20 or SO pupils, men and
women the latter number when the
people aIg gathered from 40 parts OF
| The island, We have them commit To
memory and explain verses of Scrip.
tuTe, and though you call u5 hcathens
we can find aud quote more Scripture
! than you civilized Saints can. We Te.
/ peat q sentence and they repeat Il after
/ ls in chorus, this process being carried
ON until they eau repeat the verse them.
selves, MgthInks hear you whisper,
III must be tiTesumc,' upon which
point / have nothing more 90 49, than
| the words OF Paul that "lu5uIaiion
| workgth patience. Looking at It In
| this light. il becomes a haapuraa, t. e.,
school Tor us. and Il we learn our les.