Part 10 (1/2)
An old man, Sirawia, one of Ian's under-chiefs, then said, ”Miaki and Nouka say that the land on which Missi lives was theirs; though they sold it to him and he has paid them for it, they all know that it was ours, and is yet ours by right; but if they let Missi live on it in peace, ill all live at peace, and worshi+p Jehovah And if not, ill surely claiain”
Miaki and his party hereon went off to their plantations, and brought a large present of food to Ian and hisThis they accepted; and the next day Ian and his ht Miaki a return present and said, ”You know that Missi lives on our land? Take our present, be friends, and let him live quietly and teach us all
Yesterday you said his as good; obey it now, else ill punish you and defend the Missi”
Miaki accepted the token, and gave good promises for the future Ian then came to the hill-top near our house, by which passed the public path, and cried aloud in the hearing of all, ”Abraham, tell Missi that you and he now live on our land This path is the ht back the land of our fathers by a great price to prevent war Take of our breadfruits and also of our cocoanuts what you require, for you are our friends and living on our land, and ill protect you and the Worshi+p!”
CHAPTER xxxV
UNDER KNIFE AND TOMAHAWK
CHAFED at the upsetting of all their plans and full of revenge, Nouka and Miaki and their allies declared publicly that they were now going to kill Ian by sorcery, _i e_ by Nahak, more feared by the poor Tannese than the field of battle Strange to say Ian became sick shortly after the Sacred Men had made the declaration about their Nahak-sorcery I attended hirateful
But he soon fell sick again I sent hiave shi+rts and calico to a nurateful and pleased Ian, however, gradually sank and got worse He had every sy easily accomplished, as they know and use reat, which preventedhis collapse to mere superstitious terror I did all that could be done; but all thought hiry atof Miaki; and Miaki's people were now rejoicing that Ian was being killed by Nahak
One night, his brother and a party cao till the e, I saw many people about, and feared that I had been led into a snare; but I at once entered into his house to talk and pray with hi After prayer, I discovered that I was left alone with hie; and I knew that, according to their custom, this meant mischief Ian said, ”Come near me, and sit by my bedside to talk withto him he lay as if lost in a swoon of silent ar-cane leaf thatch close to his bed a large butcher-like knife, and instantly feeling the edge of it with his other hand, he pointed it to within a few inches ofthere, all atremble with excitement I durst neitherto the Lord to spare me, or if my time was come to take me home to Glory with Hiht went and came Not a word had been spoken, except to Jesus; and then Ian wheeled the knife around, thrust it into the sugar-cane leaf, and cried to o quickly!”
Nextsoul was to be seen about the village I understood then that it had been agreed that Ian was to kill me, and that they had all withdrawn so as not to witness it, that when the Man-of-war came to inquire about me, Ian would be dead, and no punishment could overtake the e, lest soht observeI had escaped, ht overtake and murder me, I ran for my life a weary fourGod for such a deliverance Poor Ian died soon after, and his people strangled one of his wives and hanged another, and took out the three bodies together in a canoe and sank the killed his enemy by Nahak; but the Inland people now assee that death on Miaki, Nouka, and Karewick These, on the other hand, boasted that they would kill all their enemies by Nahak-sorcery, and would call up a hurricane to destroy their houses, fruit-trees, and plantations I a storreat hurricanes actually s waste His eneed, andrevenge on Miaki Hitherto I had done everything in my power to prevent war, but now it seemed inevitable, and both parties sent word that if Abraham and I kept to the Mission House no one would harm us We had little faith in any of their promises, but there was no alternative for us
On the following Saturday, 18th January 1862, the war began Musket after ed quite near us, and the bush all around rang with the yell of their war-cry, which if once heard will never be forgotten It came nearer and nearer, for Miaki fled, and his people took shelter behind and around our house We were placed in the heart of danger, and the balls flew thick all around us In the afternoon Ian's brother and his party retired, and Miaki quickly sent ers and presents to the Inikahimini and Kaserumini districts, to asseht Missi and the Tannese ere friends of the Worshi+p” He said, ”Let us cook his body and Abrahae on this side of the island!”
Yet all the while Miaki assured e
The ent on, and poor Nowar the Chief protected us, till he had a spear broken into his right knee The enemy would have carried hi wildly his nareat impetuosity and carried their wounded Chief hoed ainst the walls with their clubs They smashed in the door andof our storeroom, broke open boxes and casks, tore my books to pieces and scattered the for which they cared, including my boat, mast, oars, and sails They broke into Abraham's house and plundered it; after which theyto break it in A Chief, professing to be sorry for us, called h it crying, ”Come on, let us kill him now!”
I replied, ”My Jehovah God will punish you; a Man-of-ill come and punish you, if you kill Abraham, his wife, or me”
He retorted, ”It's all lies about a Man-of-war! They did not punish the Erroans They are afraid of us Come on, let us kill them!”
He raised his tomahawk and aimed to strike my forehead, many muskets were uplifted as if to shoot, so I raised a revolver in ht hand and pointed it at them The Rev Joseph Copeland had left it with me on a for it, saying that the very knowledge that I had such a weapon h it was harmless they fell back quickly My i, ”Missi has got a shortflat on the ground for a little, they all got up and ran to the nearest bush, where they continued yelling about and showing their htfall they left, loaded with the plunder of the store and of Abraharaciously protected us fro, after they left, I went to Miaki and Nouka Miaki, with a sneer, said, ”Missi, where was Jehovah to-day? There was no Jehovah to-day to protect you It's all lies about Jehovah They will come and kill you, and Abraham, and his wife, and cut your bodies into pieces to be cooked and eaten in every village upon Tanna”
I said, ”Surely, when you had planned all this, and brought them to kill us and steal all our property, Jehovah did protect us, or ould not have been here!”
He replied, ”There was no Jehovah to-day! We have no fear of any Man-of-war They dare not punish us They durst not punish the Erro the Gordons They will talk to us and say we ive us a present That is all We fear nothing The talk of all Tanna is that ill kill you and seize all your property tomorrow”
I warned him that the punishment of a Man-of-war can only reach the body and the land, but that Jehovah's punishment reached both body and soul in Time and in Eternity
He replied, ”Who fears Jehovah? He was not here to protect you to-day!”
”Yes,” I said, ”my Jehovah God is here now He hears all we say, sees all we do, and will punish the wicked and protect His own people”