The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-09-25

fellows. and they arranged a plot te
Kill all the foreigners. They sent for
.Sauele. and said he was to ask the
chief of the ship if they could give a
I silva. or native dance, before them all.
SaneIe rsuspectingly. did as he was
asked, and the captain agreed. So all
the ships company gathered on the
main decisive the man at the helm.
Gradually the dancers so arranged
themselves that they formed circle
round the foreigners. Then at a given
=, signal they set upon them, three natives
10 one white. The latter were so COM
pietely taken by surprise that they were
either killed OF badly wounded, all save
the. man at the wheel. Even Sanele was
wounded, but he was able to beg for mis-
life by pointing out that he alone could
help them with the ship. But in the
meanti rne the wheelsman had run down
below and secured a gun, and was able
to keep up such a deadly fire that many
were killed, and no one dared to go near
him. They huddled all together above
the main hold, and then the white man
saw his opportunity. For he went down
below. and getting a barrel of gun
powder set it underneath them, and on
setting fire to it the deck was blown
off, and all We're blown into the sea.
Only the white man and SaneIe were
left, and together they worked the ship
to a South American port Sanele
afterwards reached one of the Ellice
Islands. There he first learned to know
God and fear him, and gradually the
light began to pierce his dark, heart,
and the desire for a new life came to
him. So he was the first of the South
ern Gilbertese to hear the gospel from
the agents of the London Missionary
Society"
Sanele did not go at once to Beru. The
people at that and other islands had
become. very shy of vessels that came
near them, naturally fearing that they
were slave ships ready to capture and
carry them away. But when the John
Williams appeared they found it was
a missionary vessel. and their fears
vanished until they saw their old
enemy, SaneIe, on board. They had not
known what had become of him, and
when he appeared they supposed he was
on his former cruel errand. They fear
ed him just as the early Christians
feared Saul of Tarsus, the prosecutor,
when he first sought to join the dis
ciples. Mr.. Sibree says
Il leave you to imagine the feelings
which the islanders had when they saw
their fellow-countryma Their fear
was not soon changed to confidence in
him who had done so much evil to them
and theirs-for many had he killed. and
many others had he helped to carry off
into slavery. l am told that it was a
long time before they could believe that |
he was a changed man. But when at
last they did believe it, you can under |
stand what a powerful living argument !
ne was for the missionary pastor.
"Sanele. or Mataio, as he is called /
since he was converted, was as anxious /
low to do right as he had been to do |
wrong before. And instead of catching |
men to make slaves of them, he set |
lbout to help catch men to free them /
rom sin and Satan. He couldn't be a !
pastor, so ne is the very next best thing |
o it, for I hear he is a Deacon and up i
o the present day is trying to serve |
christ and the church as best ne car, /
according to his light. If there was an
,ffice as king in the islands, and Ma
aio had liked to make himself such, no ,
me would have denied him, for ne is /
low so respected for his good and up
light life. missionary Herald.