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COLLECTION TITLE:

Bingham family papers

COLLECTION ID NUMBER/CALL NUMBER

MS 81

ACCESSION NUMBER:

None

SERIES NUMBER:

I

BOX NUMBER:

1

FOLDER NUMBER:

14

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MANUSCRIPTS AND ARCHIVES

Letter in Hawaiian from Bingham to Baldwin, July, 1837

Translated by Henry P. Judd, Sept. 1949

Original in Hawaiian Mission Children's Society.

Greetings to you, Baldwin:

The ship is sailing to Maui and taking back the king to the
transactions with the warships and the consuls.

They have released the Roman Catholic missionaries, altho
Kinau did not tell them to do so.

Captain Belcher brought the ship "Clementine". He said to
me in anger: "If one of my men is injured in carrying out your
orders, you are the first person whom I shall imprison. Thus he
spoke to me.

The consul said to the captain of the French warship:
"Bingham dictated these commands". I denied it.

He spoke like a roaring lion, "If you insult me again, I
shall thrash you with a horsewhip".

Thus they two spoke in the presence of the chiefs when I
had concluded the interpretation of their words to Kinau and her
retinue.

Bingham

Mrs. Bingham has been ill, but is now somewhat better. God
took care of us two last night when our opponents came to cause
trouble on the street at midnight and until nearly dawn, beating
the drum of revilement.

Endorsed May 24, 1839

To P.A. Brinsmade, Esq.

Dear Sir

The kind Providence of God which has returned you to this country in
circumstances very favorable to promote the cause of Philanthropy and to
further the interests of the nation for which we have consecrated our best
energies, and on which we are happy to rely on your sympathy and cooperation
is a matter of congratulation and of thankfulness to our Great Benefactor
who has smiled on the efforts to evangelize the inhabitants of these
interesting isles of the sea.

The general meeting now in session beg you, dear sir, to accept their
thankful acknowledgements for your kind attention to the interests of this
mission and of this nation while in the U.S. and (line indistinguishable)
favor the meeting with your company this afternoon at 2 o'clock, and with
such statements respecting the condition of our country in general, and its
relations with the Sandwich Islands in particular, as may be agreeable to you.

By order of the general meeting

With cordial salutations

Friday morning

May 24, 1839

COLLECTION TITLE:

Bingham family papers

MS 81

ACCESSION NUMBER:

None

SERIES NUMBER:

I

BOX NUMBER:

1

FOLDER NUMBER:

14

HIRAM BINGHAM TO THE MISSIONARIES AT THE SANDWICH ISLANDS

Barque Flora off Aïneo

Sept. 7, 1840

To you, my dear Bretheren, & your beloved helpers, I feel it a duty and a pleasure to give a brief account of ourselves before we pass on from the far famed Islands now in sight, & shall begin now so that in the bustle of a few days visit I shall not be deprived of the opportunity to speak of this first stage of our long journey. It is now a month & 4 days since we were hurried on board the Flora, by the kindest of friends, as though escaping from an enemy when on reaching the deck, all hurry of preparation seemed to cease like the abating of a storm. The charterers were not ready. The supplies were not ready, but as the passengers were on board, the charterers would not probably think it well to detain them & the ship in order to get the supplies needful for their comfort. The charterers had not furnished an Irish potatoe nor an egg, nor made any provision for milk for our children, nor provided any pot or arrowroot *fit for use*. Capt. Spring says he purchased one barrel of Irish Potatoes for his men, of which we were allowed to share while they lasted; but which have been some time gone, and our whole stock of sweet potatoes were exhausted last week. Mrs. Bingham and Mrs. Rogers both have poor appetite thus far; each of them weighs less than 100 lbs. and both make great account of Irish potatoes, of which we are to expect no more during the voyage, tho if we had them they would often be glad to eat a roasted Irish potatoe with salt when other ship cooking is not to them relishable, and all the passengers must greatly feel the need of that almost indispensable (sic) vegetable, & Capt. Shaw assures us & says he told Mr. L. that Irish potatoes *cannot* be obtained at the Society Islands. Capt. Spring says he told Mr. Ladd we should need 10 barrels of Irish Potatoes slightly scalded to prevent their sprouting. Those of our number who have had good appetites have lived well thus far, but about 2/5 of our flour is exhausted already, and the Flora creeps moderately along. As for my poor self, I have had but little relish for food, cooked on board; have not been thoroughly cured of seasickness, & have lost flesh. My system run down as it was when I left you has been slow to rally. I preached on Board the first Sabbath out, once, and the 2 Sabbath, twice, the third, fourth & fifth Sabbaths. I conducted the service in connexion with Capt. Spring who read, because I did not feel well enough to preach to better purpose. Day before yesterday I had two turns of violent vomiting. But I have not allowed myself to keep my berth a single day. I determined from the first not to yield to the overpowering, and semiannihilating power of seasickness, if it were possible by resolution, & exercise, & proper regimen to resist or conquer it. I held my head up as I have before been called to do before the enemy, I moved about on deck and breathed the fresh air a large portion of the time - began early to jump the rope with the children, and jumped till I blistered my fingers whirling a hard and heavy rope on deck; then went to work and made a settee for my children as we came without seats for them, but I was worse after it, as I thought. Capt. Spring advised walking the deck as the best exercise. I then walked till obliged, as they say here, to make a offering to Neptune. The Capt. advised abstinence from meat, which by the bye I had used but in small quantity. Then vegetable food soured more readily in the

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Sept. 7, 1840

stomach and was rejected. We have no <u>Physician</u> on board, but many doctors & doctresses. Prescriptions abound, "Raw Brandy" ('Twould kill a well man) "Brandy and water" ('Twould vanquish a jesuit), "Teawater", "Peppermint water," "Rochelle salts", and "Tamarind water" &c. The three latter of these only I have tried, the two last I think I have found salutary, a dram or two of the salts with soda on going to bed at 9, and a tumbler of thick tamarind water at sunrise, after washing and coming on deck; but like other maladies that adhere to my system, I am sure no trifling prescriptions will remove any of them. Time & the graces of God may extirpate them or palliate them, or teach me and my friends to bear with them. His holy arrangements are all wise and good and it is well when we can acquiesce in them all, when nature is disposed to rebel.

I have spoken of my own seasickness as I have appeared to be the marked one in this respect. Most of the passengers have been seasick some. They got over it soon. Mrs. Thurston & family have appeared to suffer but little from sickness of any kind, Mrs. Rogers, tho' she has been a good deal unwell has gotten along better than we expected, she found that sarsaparilla mead, an article she had provided was a great comfort. We found it so too as through her kindness we sometimes shared it with her as a very agreeable effervescing draught and nourishing and comforting to the stomach.

Mrs. Bingham, with all her pains, weaknesses and ills, has been occasionally sadly <u>homesick</u>. Hiram has had here & there a rub which may perhaps help sober down his full toned voice, & antic movements, & help him to consider. He has sometimes wished himself back to Honolulu, (bad as it is) and I am not quite sure he is the only one.

Capt. Shaw & his little ones have got along well with the other passengers. Both he and Mr. Gray have themselves (sic) quite agreeable. Mr. Olmsted too is kind and agreeable, but I think doses himself too much to enjoy good health. He is not seasick at all.

I will say a little more about the health of the company. Mr. Rogers was considerably reduced when he came on board & shut himself up in a dark state room and had a little light food carried to him; if he crept on deck for a few moments he came rather as a blind man who had no use for the light, so completely bandaged & covered were his eyes. I undertook to advise nurse him a little poor as I was myself in health & medical skill, as I thought perhaps arrogantly that I could advise him a little better than he could himself. I encouraged him to let his eyes have the fresh air as much as they could possibly bear. He had kept them both from air & light till they would bear neither without pain, tho' free from inflammation or nearly so. He tried this, & soon found the advantage of it. He applied calomel to his felon on the neck to make it discharge but I think it tended to (word illegible) the openings which were very small. An abscess formed near the seton (or felon) which seemed to require the lancet, which I applied successfully & soon after removed the seton.

He now comes to the table for his meals, walks on deck without glasses, goggles, or bandages to cover his eyes, & his health appears to be rapidly improving. Lucy was ill one day from eating Banita. Capt. Spring also another day from the same cause. But we are all getting along if we except the

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Sept. 7, 1840

Flora who since we weighed anchor, seems to have been in no great hurry. Capt. Shaw says she is the slowest vessel he ever had his foot on. We made the Society Islands on Saturday morning falling about one degree to the Leeward of the latitude of Wilkes' Harbor, Tahiti, which we wish to enter, to land Messrs. Shaw & Gray. We have been 48 hours trying to come up but we are still about 30 miles from the harbor, a brisk wind (sic) directly in our teeth and eyes. The Flora has not cargo enough to keep her steady under a press of sail; it is difficult to make her go ahead with any wind more than 7 miles an hour and attempting to beat against a head wind she does scarcely more than go back and forth on the same track. Unless Capt. Spring shall take in cargo, ballast or water to balance the ship, we have a prospect of a very long passage. The Lausanne will stand a fair chance to get home first, so please report us by that vessel or any other that may sail soon.

Tuesday Sept. 8. It is 24 hours since my last date. We have gained about 15 miles Easting our harbor bearing S.E. 30 miles distant. We stood off Northerly toward home about 12 hours and are now 9 hours on this tack south S.E. and are endeavoring to pass the Eastern extremity of Moosca or Aimeo on this tack. Capt. Shaw says it is possible that he and I can get ashore tonight in some canoe. I shall (word blotted out) to myself the means & indulge the hope of making some additions to this communication, after seeing a portion of this interesting field for missionary labor which for 44 years has attracted so much attention and called forth so much "Brittish" benevolence and "Brittish" Prayer; and Christian benevolence, sympathy & prayer too, which I trust has not been in vain.

Wednesday 9, Sept. ½ past 9 A.M.

Another 24 hours have "beaten round." We stood off again last night, Northerly till we came in sight of the breakers around a small low island, Teturooı over against Malovai Bay 30 miles distant as laid down on our charts. We are now standing in again S. by E 1/2 E. the harbor bearing S.E. 20 miles distant. Some hope is entertained that if wind & current are not more unfavorable we may get to anchor tomorrow! It is now 5 days since we are said to have made the islands, & yet we have no fair prospect of seeing their beauty or conversing with their occupants today. Is not this somewhat tantalizing? especially as we are all longing for the oranges, the vi (?), & even the kalo of these shores. We can see several ships in the harbor.

9 o'clock P.M.

A pilot came on board at sunset and encouraged us to think he could bring us right in, so at his bidding we steered for the Passage, but while expectation was on tiptoe, rather tottering, the unwelcome sound "ready about" & "keep her off till morning" settled the question of coming to anchor under this date. Capt. Shaw went on shore with the pilot, or with one of the pilots as two seemed come in that character.

Thursday 10 Sept. or 11 Tahitian time. 9 o'clock P.M. Stood off and on all night gaining a little Easting so as to (sic) more sure of entering. We took the Native Pilot "Jim" on Board this morning, who is said to have served 16 years without meeting with any disaster in his profession. He has a spattering of sailor English which he shows off with becoming dignity. It becomes me to speak well of him for he brought the Flora through the opening in the reef about 9 o'clock A.M. & the boat up about 1/2 a mile in an hour and dropped her anchor in peaceful and beneficial harbor of Para, or Wilkes' Harbor, at Pa-

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Sept. 7, 1840

poete.

Capt. Shaw brought us 100 oranges tempting enough, of which we seized and devoured 2 or 3 a piece with a good gust. Some did not stop short of 6 or 7.

Mr. Pritchard boarded us almost as soon as we passed the reef, and politely invited us to his house; but on account of the indisposition of Mrs. Pritchard the occupancy of his house by two American lady boarders, and the illness of 4 of his children with whooping cough which has sprung up spontaneously in his family the first known at these islands, he could not conveniently lodge us. My large family of 12 accepted his kind invitation and went there to dinner. The children however were accommodated at Mr. Joseph's whose house is near and who is the acting missionary at this station. We were kindly received there at tea, then invited to take seats "in the parlor" about half of the floor of which was covered with oranges, tho' he said the season for them had gone by.

Two of Mr. Barffs children are with Mr. Pritchard's family. Mr. Joseph Barff & Miss Louise Barff, both well bred, intelligent, interesting persons, grown up and marriageable (sic). The former has spent about 3 years in England & is now studying theology & filling (?) to be a missionary under the tuition of Mr. Pritchard. This is proof of the confidence reposed in the Missionary consul.

A little before tea we walked over to Mr. Barff to pay our respects to her Majesty the Queen Pomare, Mr. P. being engaged in a Friday meeting at the time when we were expected by her to call. Mr. Pritchard soon came and acted as interpreter tho I had conversed a little with her in broken Tahitian. She met us kindly, very plainly dressed, wearing her hair as Mother Eve doubtless did, which is very fashionable here both at home & at church.

She made kind inquiries about the king of the Sandwich Islands, about the number of missionaries, and our prospects there. When I told her what kind of laborers were employed in our field, & how they were distributed, the preachers & pastors, the Printers & Binders, the Physicians, professors, schoolteachers, secular agents, &c. she seemed gratified and said "You have your plan well cut out and arranged in all its parts for your work." I informed her that we had printed 10,000 copies of the entire Bible in token of my earnest desire that she and all her people might be guided and benefitted by its contents which had already been placed within her reach by her own teachers. She said "Your thought is a very good one."

About 70 Bibles in the Tahitian language have arrived from Eng. the rest of the Edition 3,000 is expected shortly.

Sept. 11. This morning the Missionary Brig The Camden, Capt. Morgan, came into Harbor. I had the pleasure of meeting the patriarch Mr. Nott from Eng. with his wife. Mr. Drummond & his wife, a reinforcement, Mr. Rogerson

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Sept. 7, 1840

and his wife of Roraboror, & a son of Mr. Henry who all came in the Camden from Sidney, together with the Rev. Mr. Heath Missionery at the Navigators, an interesting arrival, & how opportune for us and for the people too for the Camden brings a shipment of bibles, testaments & other useful books, it is said about 3,000 each, or 9,000 in the whole for these islands.

12. Mr. Nott preached, but with feeble voice in the forenoon -- I was pleased with the singing of the natives; it was entirely different from ours.

25 Sept. I have seen a large portion of the stations in this island & all the missionaries of the Windward group. The people are very ready to pay 2 Doll. cash for the Bible, & they are sold off at once.

Schools are not flourishing.

The missionaries are in good health.

Much has been done, much remains to be done.

The sisters with me will tell you many things which I have not time to do now. We sail this morning - from this place having taken on board about 100 tons cargo - (word illegible) Irish potatoes and but a very few yams.

I enjoyed myself well most of the time at this place but have had a very ill turn, a kind of cholera, I think. --this accounts in part for the haste in which I am obliged to close this letter, as I am hardly recovered from it.

Mrs. B. has gained I think some since we arrived here but has not much courage to undertake the voyage.

Mr. & Mrs. Rogers both had an attack last night of cholera morbus, but are relieved this morning.

I am sorry to break off so hastily but it is necessary.

Farewell --

Your affectionate brother