The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1913-08-28
PAGE FOUR = OEF
The Actual Experience of Another
Foreign Missionary

that matter, every day commences
and ends.
Shortly after this, the Scotch
Presbyterian Missionary Society Sc
lected me as one of the young mis-
sionaries to be sent to Vuna-Taviuni,
one of the Fiji group Of cannibal is
lands in the South Pacific Ocean.
There were twelve of us altogether,
four men and eight ladies. Our lit
tie party was supplied with a large
number of books, glass beads, per-
fumery and trinkets of all kinds, to
say nothing of a vast quantity of
timed meats put up in Chicago. Our
voyage out was long and to some eX-
tent interesting, but I will not write
of this at the present time. After
about two months we arrived at the
island and found that the natives
whom we had to convert were the
ordinary brown people of the Pacific
islands. However, we were bya no
means the first white people to ar
rive; we found a party of devout
Catholics already installed, and
from them we learned that the first
missionaries, party of American
Methodists, had been eaten by the
natives. They also apprised us of
the fact that this island was exactly
on the one hundred and eightieth
meridian, that is, it was one humid
red and eighty degrees west of
Greenwich and one hundred and
eighty degrees east of Greenwich. A
British man O. war, equipped with
scientific apparatus and instruments
had visited the island some years
before, made observations, and set
up a row of stone posts having the
figures "180" deeply sculptured in
each. This was said to be for the
guidance of mariners in those dis
tant seas.
The missionaries were by no
means the only white people on the
island there was quite a number
of traders, and rather low variety
of whites, known locally as beach
combers. The traders imported rum
and tobacco, brightly-colored woven
fabrics, gun-poWder, fish hooks,
needles, thread, buttons, glass beads
and various kinds of cheap tools, for
which the natives paid in corpa (the
dried kernel of cocoanut) and
mother of peal.
The government of the island was
largely in the hands of the mission
aries, sand, curi6usly enough, both
the devout Roman Catholics and our
own equally Nevout company of
Presbyterians BARRED our differences
and joined forces to control the ma
tives and put some restraint on the
traders. Both the Catholics and the
Presbyterians we're strong Sabbath
rians; among other restrictions, a
law was passed making it a criminal
the Sabbath day. The converts were
about equally divided between the
Catholics and the Protestants. I
noticed, shortly after the passing OF
the Sabbath Day law, row of shan
ties being erected exactly on the line
of the one hundred and eightieth
meridian. At first 1 did not under.
stand the object of this arrangement
but l soon learned. Suppose, foI
example, that it was Sunday morn
ing on the west side of the meridian
line, Sunday would commence tC
travel westward, and would take
twenty-four hours to get completely
around the earth and arrive at the
east side of the same meridian, then
again, the very instant that Sunday
arrived, Monday morning would
start on the west side, therefore
while it was Monday on the west
side of the meridian If was Sunday