The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-11-05
THE OCEAN ISLES.
comparatively New Field for Cath
Ole CHARACTERIZATION.

Ollie CHARACTERIZATION.
Tho islands of Oceanic are a com
L--..,.srfycly new field for Catholic evan
l.iizatf5a. a correspondent. Father
7o3rnfm kerdal. writes of his present
mission:
emf NaHikiki, Father Theophile and
,,,self. We both belong to the Con-
location of the Sacred Heart on
mich is reflected the glory of the
7,.r.,i,. devotion of Father Damien.
,r,o died a leper among the lepers of
Nu'0kaI.
4NanIkili is part of the district of
-r.bfri. in charge of Monsignor Her
,,rr Id. sent me t. implant our holy
rarfgion i'm Manilliki. which is about
,un niles from Baratonga. where |
nsd heeu for several years a mission
I'll, and under the government of the
r-rglfsn resident stationed there.
lIanl,illi. with its sister isle, Raka-
Iauga. has a population of about
"Tnis island is nothing but a girdle
80 e9coarut palms surrounding an in
,rrfur lagoon and surrounded itself by
second girdle of coral reefs forming
natural ramparts, against which the
v.avpg break furiOusly The inner la
5non s rich in fish, and here the ma
lives dive for pearl. Copra and pearl
are the only two products which
hiring in bit of money to the power
tv-etrioken islanders, whose food con-
ei-ts mainly OF fish and cocoanuts. ex-
cent now and then when they can
Inv little meal or some biscuits.
Bu+ that takes money and they have
very little. nearly all of them are in
debt. chiefly from the purchase of to-
harca which is very dear and which
tthey can hardly get along without
Nanfkki contains two villages. not
far apart We are established at
HTuEao. which has 200 inhabitants. The
loaf-thatehed huts of the natives are
an along a beautiful road which leads
the length If the village.
Leaving Baratenga May 10. 1909.
along with Father Theophile and
Catholic family I arrived at Lukao
the 3lst Of the same month. We were
Well received at our coming The
people here are gentle-mannered. but
lazy Tt seems that the law passed on
Adam and his descendants. Thou
shalt cat thy bread in the sweat Of thy
brow, does not apply 20 them. With
the exception Of the cocoanut gather
ing twice a year. they pass their time
smoking sleeping. singing and talk
ing. IneS are nOSpllaDle, IneN DflnS |
us such food as the island furnishes:
fish cocoanut milk and dried cocoa
nuts. every week. In return we pre-
sent them with some garments and to-
bacco They take great interest in
religious questions and we take ad- |
vantage of this to sow Gods word |
among them freely. l preach twice |
every sunday, at mass and at the ro-
sary They listen eagerly. and Cath !
Ollie doctrine is called superior to Prot
estanL Sometimes during the week |
we have evening gatherings in our
house which serves as school. chapel |
and reception hall. At these occasions !
hymns are learned Our natives have /
good voices and correct ear, and are |
great lovers of song At these times,
too we take occasion to explain some |
points Of Catholic teaching. and then
question them to see if they have
thoroughly understood. Generally
speaking they are very intelligent.
They are very faithful I'm attendance
ct these reunions. and every evening
they come to prayers. which are said
in the modest chapel"