Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1907-12-20

the island of Tanna, in the South Pa
cif1c.
He had q mission station there, and
his native converts were no strangers
to Christmas observance; but they
invited large number of their heath
en- friends tc come to their Yuletide
feast. These heathens knew moth
ing about Christmas, and were quite
unaware that it is supposed to be a
period Of peace on earth and good
will toward men,"
Over 1000 natives were gathered for
the great feast. The crew OF q
"blackbirding schooner" eager to get
Kanaka labor by fair means or foul
for the Queensland sugar plantations,
heard Of the gathering and dropped
anchor off the island on Christmas
morning. The captain, however, see
ing the number Of natives, hesitated
to modest them.
Telling the story, Mr.. Patton said:
my first anxiety was the labor
schooner, but soon q new peril threat
ened. Some of the heathens had not
met since war had ragged between
them. At first they simply glared at
each other, and then old hatreds broke
out and hot words were spoken.
Again. and again started some
contest that would scatter the excited
groups, but they soon came together
again. Then I went from group to
group and tried to spread a better
feeling. Our Christmas gathering was
nearly turned into scene of blood.
shed in our very garden, but fortu.
nately all passed off most happily"
Among the Head Hunters of ForEaosa.
Through the center of the beautiful
s. island Of Formosa there runs, like a
backbone, a great range OF forest-clad
mountains. The original inhabitants
Of Formosa, a wild, savage, ferocious
race of men, live upon these noun
tains. Christmas was first carried
to these people by brave missionary
named George Leslie MacKay.
MacKay had spent several years on
the coast and in the interior, but he
hesitated long before he took hts life
In his hand by seeking out the bar
barians Of the mountains, to whom
no white man had ever yentured.
The favorite pastime Of these sav.
ages was to cut of the heads Of their
enemies and decorate their huts with
them. They had been INDUCING in
this sport when MacKay drifted into
one Of their villages and spent Christ
mas day with one Of their chiefs.
"The chiefs home consisted of one
large room 80 feet long" said MacKay.
"A fire blazed at either end. The
men, dressed In coarse linen sacks
with holes cut for the arms, and q
broad belt Of braided rattan, in which
was stuck long, crooked, sharp-point.
ed knife, stood around one fire; while
the women, with much the same dress,
save that in addition they had many
rings Of brass around their arms and
limbs, and innumerable ornaments on
their bodies. squatted around the
other IRE.
$50, ON that Christmas night, / ss4
there with these rude people, the
room lighted by the fires and by can.
dles made from tho heart Of the fr
tree. The men smoked their bamboo
pipes, while the women were busy
threadmaking on curious little ma
chimes Of their own; and an, men and
women, were laughing and talking
merrily and making great noise. It
was certainly merry Christmas, and
q strange one to me.
AFTER time, with the help Of the
native converts, who had accompanied
me on this dangerous trip, sang
some Christmas hymns to these saw
age mountaineers, who had never
seen white man before: and spent
Christmas evening trying to explain to
them the old, old story that has been
told SO often in 80 many lands since
the first Christmas morning"
The savages took great pleasure in
the singing Of the Christmas hymns,
and MacKay and his friends came 70
no harm BY their bold expedition.