In the Land of Strangers A century of European contact

with Tanna, 1774-1874

Ron Adams

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In the Land of Strangers

Pacific Research Monograph Number Nine

In the Land of Strangers A century of European contact

with Tanna, 1774-1874

Ron Adams

Series editor E.K Fisk The Australian National University

Canberra, Australia and in New York, N. Y., USA 1984

© Ron Adams 1984 This work is copyright Apart from those uses which may be permitted under the Copyright Act, 1968 as amended, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission Inquiries may be made to the publisher.

�)All or part of this work may be copied by members of educational institutions and libraries for the purpose of research, study or teaching provided the source is acknowledged.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-publication er.try

Adams, Ron. In the land of strangers.

Bibliography. ISBN 0 86784 425 6.

1. Tanna (Vanuatu) - Population. 2. Tanna (Vanuatu) -Social life and customs. 3. Tanna (Vanuatu) - History. 4. Europeans - Vanuatu - Tanna. I. Australian National University. Development Studies Centre. II. Title. (Series: Pacific research monograph; no. 9).

993'.4

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 83.72737

Printed and manufactured in Australia by The Australian National University

Ron Adams completed his PhD at La Trobe University, Melbourne, in 1977, having travelled to Tanna, Britain and New Zealand in search of sources. He has taught history at La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne. Currently he teaches at Greenwood High School, Melbourne.

Cover illustration from Cook, James. Captain Cook's Voyages around the World, printed for Miller, Law and Carter, Vol. 4, London, 1790.

Summary

The first century of con tact between Europeans and the people of Tanna , in the group formerly called the New Hebrides and now known as Vanuatu , was charac terized by mutual misunder­standing , dis trus t and hostility . To most European observers , the Tannese were something less than human - bestial and blood­thirsty . To the Tannese , the Europeans were something more than human - if no t re turned ancestors , at least in close call with the al l-import an t spiritual realm . In terms o f their preconcep­tions , each side was given ample proof of the other ' s t reachery , and Tannese-European relations during the first hundred years revolved around attemp ts by each side to control the other . As this st udy shows , the result was inconclusive , and Tanna entered i ts second cen tury of contac t with Europe with a reputation as dark , but a spirit as unrepentan t , as at any t ime in its past .

v

Contents

Acknowledgment s ix

Abbreviations x

Int roduct ion 1

Chapter 1 Tanna and its people 5

Chapter 2 The dis covery o f Tanna by sailors and t raders 23

Chapter 3 The dis covery of Tanna by men of God 51

Chapter 4 The making o f a mi ss ionary - John G . Paton 78

Chapter 5 Towards a s criptural magi s tracy 99

Chapter 6 The great me asles epidemic 116

Chapter 7 ' Friends ' and ' enemies ' 134

Chapter 8 The Curaaoa affair 1 50 ,

Chapter 9 Variations on a theme - 1865-1874 1 6 8

Bibliography 1 83

vii

viii

Plates

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1

2

3

A view on the island o f Tanna

A woman from the island of Tanna

A man from the island of Tanna

The landing at Tanna

Paton ' s cott age at Port Re s olut ion

Old Nowar of Tanna

H .M . S . Curayoa shelling nat ive vill age s on the island of Tanna

Skirmish between brigade of seamen and marine s of H . M . S . Curayoa , and the nat ive s of Port Re solution , 12 Augu st 1865

Island o f Tanna showing main topographi cal fe ature s and place s mentione d in text

Vill age s around Port Re solution with tribal affiliation s

Vanuatu and Loyal ty Islands showing route taken by Capt ain Jame s Cook in July and August 1774

4

26

26

28

1 0 1

1 30

156

157

6

11

24

Acknowledgment s

In researching in an historical ly-specific way Tannese­European relat ions , I have always had in mind two broader questions : what do we mean by ' culture ' in the context of ' culture contact ' his tory ? And what does it mean at the level o f individual exper­ience to say that ' cultures ' come in to ' cont ac t ' ? I was fort unate in be ing guided towards some ten tat ive answers - which I presented as a Ph . D . thesis in 19 7 7 - by Greg Dening , Bronwen Douglas , Pamela Carswell , Inga Clendinnen , Roger Joyce , June Phil ipp , Tom Spear , Alex Tyrre ll , Robyn Watt and Robert Wat ts . Norma McArthur and Dorothy Shineberg encouraged me to revise , an d suggested how I might improve , the text for publ icat ion . I am indebted to all these people .

But my greate s t debt is to the people o f Tanna and to my wife Robyn , who each gave me enc ouragement and a sen se of purpose in bringing the task to comp letion . To them I humbly de dicate what follows .

R .A .

ix

Adm .

c.o. F.C.S.M.R.

F . O .

H.F.R.

J�P.H.

J.P.S.

L . M . S .

M . L .

N . L . A.

R.P.M.

Sh.G & S.G.T.L.

S.M.H.

V . S . L .

Abbreviations

Admiralty

Colonial Office

Fraee Church of Scotland MonthZy Record

Foreign Office

Ho� and Foreign Record of the Praesbyterian Church of the Lower Provinces of British North A�rica

JoUPYLaZ of Paaifia History

JoUPYLaZ of PoZynesian Society

London Missionary Society

Mitchell Library , Sydney

National Library of Australia , Canberra

RefoT'l?'ed Presbyterian Magazine

Shipping Gazette and Sydney General, TradB List

Sydney Morning HeraZd

Vic torian State Library

x

In troduct ion

I name d the Harbour , Port Re solution after the Ship as she was the first who ever entere d it . I t is situated on the North s ide of the Mos t Eastern po in t of the I sland and about ENE from the Volcano ; in the Lat itude o f 19° 32 ' 25�" S and in the Longitude o f 169° 4 4 ' 35 " Eas t . I t is no more than a l it tle creek runing in SBW�W three quarters of a Mile and is about half that in breadth . A shoal of S and and Rocks lying along the Eas t s ide makes it s till narrower . The dep th of Water in the harbour is from 6 to 3 fathoms and the bo t tom is sand and mud . (James Cook , Journal , 20 Augus t 1 774)

Thus was a l i ttle bay on the o ther side of the world brought into rel ation wi th Europe . Fixed on a map 169 degree s , 44 minutes , 35 seconds eas t of Greenwich , the inle t with the native name of Uea was hence forth to carry the name of a Brit ish s loop , s uggestive of the me ttle of the men who s ailed her . When he came t o name the island - he called it Tanna on the authority o f the naturalist Fors ter1 - Cook was les s E urocentric , but no les s pre sumptuous . If the island had a native name i t was Ipari - the name given to it by the inhabitan ts of the s urrounding islands . 2 The Tannese them­se lves had no such term , no s uch i dentity . The word tanna means s imply ' land ' or ' e ar th ' ; Fors ter made the mistake of ass uming that when he pointe d to the ground he was given the name of the island . For the group as a whole Cook reve rted to another British analogy ; an d Quiros ' Aus tralia del E spiritu Santo , Bougainville ' s Great Cyclades , became the New Hebrides - though i t is s till not clear why Cook p icked on the Hebrides to make new . Af ter more than two centuries by that name , the New Hebrides re cen tly be came Vanuatu - our islands . But Uea i s s till Port Resolution , Ipari s till Tanna - continuing memorials of the entry o f the island and i ts people into European cons ciousness .

1 cook 1961 : 489 . 2Humphreys 19 26 : xv .

1

2

During the f irs t century of this pro cess a s uccession of images of Tanna was carried back to E urope by explorers and sailors , s cientis ts and adventurers , traders and miss ionarie s ; images as dif ferent as the observe rs themselves . I f to one visitor in the 1830 s the Tannese were ' s tout , good-looking negroes • • • s imple-hearted and honest . • . children of nature ' , to another they evinced ' a treacherous dispos ition ; their hab its . • •

grovelling and the ir p ersons filthy ' . 3 The charge of treachery recurs time and again in the E uropean descrip tions of Tanna , 4 betraying immediately the frustration and the hostility o f the European unable to share the Tannese worldview , to comp rehend the logic of Tannese ac tions . When he accuse d them of pe rfidy and unreliab ility , the European was really admi tting that the Tannese had disappointed his expe ctations . But rathe r than concede that he did not kn ow them , like Prospero he appropriate d them into a private world , peopled by ' bad ' Calib ans , whom he firs t sought to c ivili ze , b ut then rej e cte d as too degene rate to be e levated .

The E uropean did n o t dis cove r his private world on Tanna , he brought it wi th him . In a sense , Tanna never really was a land of strangers , for any strangeness had been dissolved by the European ' s conviction that he kne w the Tannese . Whe ther hone st children of nature or treache rous followers of Satan , the Tannese as presented to the res t of the world were essent ially proj e ctions of what the E uropean expected to find .

The process reache d its apotheos is wi th the miss ionarie s , who fashione d the Tannese in to ' be asts des cending to the grave un taught of Life to come , unsanctifie d , unsave d ' ; turned them into the ' poor des cendan ts of Ham • • • lying in the lowe st s tate o f degradation , tro dden down by the iron heel ' ; portrayed them like the heathen of ol d , as ' exceedingly ignorant , vicious and b igote d , and almo s t voi d of natural affe ct ion ' . 5 More than any othe r group of Europeans , the mis s ionarie s negated the dist inctive featur es of being Tanne s e, in corporating them totally into the ir own scheme of th ings . To the evangelical mis sionaries of the nine teenth century , everything about the Tannese - pas t , present and future - was known . They were heathen who had straye d into darkness , and it was the missionaries ' divinely-ordaine d task to bring them back to the path of righteousne s s . In fulfil ling this task , some miss ionarie s would stop at no th ing : John G. Paton went to the length of call ing in a British gunb oat to bomb the Tannese into submiss ion . The action was extreme and s candalous , but it was also consisten t with the overall at temp t of the miss ionarie s to remake the New Heb rideans after their own image .

3Jacob s 1 844 : 2 36 ; Anon . 1 839 : 603 . 4c f . Cheyne 1852 : 34 ; Turner 1842-3 : 8 ; 1905 : 15 , 20 .

R. P. M. 1869 : 21 ; Westwood

5Gill and Stallworthy 185 8 ; Ingl is 1 882 : xxiv-xxv .

It is this which makes the miss ionarie s , and Paton in particular , worthy of spe cial attent ion : they s t and as a p aradigm example o f the charac teris tic European attemp t to dominate and control not only the Tanne se and the Pacific Is lander , b ut the whole of the non-European world .

3

The incorporation o f the Tannese into E uropean cons ciousnes s is , however , only half of the s tory which follows . The other half concerns the Tannese approp riation of the E uropean . What emerges is that j us t as the E uropean e s tab l ishe d forms o f control over the Tannese , so too the Tannese simultaneously controlle d the E uropean , phys ical ly and ideologically . When Cook and his men sailed into the l i ttle b ay of Uea in 1 7 74 they were pe r ce ived by the Tannese as re turned ance s tors ; and the Tannese response s to the E urope an range d from awe , with attempts to estab lish the correct form of ritual control , to contemp t , with control being asserte d through deris ion and ridicule . By the t ime miss ionaries set tled at Port Re solut ion in the 1 840 s , Europeans , wh ile no longer cons idered re turned ances tors , were viewed - and manipula­te d - as interme diaries with the all-powerful spiritual realm. For the res t of the nine teenth century E uropean trade goods and f irearms , and above all E uropean knowle dge , were controlled and exploited by the Tannese in terms of the ir own concep tual and social relational framewo rks . The frameworks change d over time , b ut only to the extent tha t was ne cessary to accommodate the E uropean presence . Even into the twent ie th century , with mos t of the island nominally Christ ian and seemingly under strict miss ion­ary control , the Tannese we re st ill in charge of their own des tiny . As the an thropologist C . B . Humphreys discovered in the 1920s , as far as the Tannese were concerned it was not they who were a lost tribe of Israel , but the Europeans who were a lost tribe o f Tanna . 6

6 ' The Origin of Things ' , Humphreys 1926 : 92 - 3 .

Plate 1 A view on the island of Tanna. (Engraved by W. Woollett from a drawing by W. Hodges, in Cook 1970, pl.XXIX.)

Chapter 1

Tanna an d its people

To the European visitor approaching from the open sea , Port Re solution was a welcome refuge , a p lace of promise . The more prolonged and hazardous the voyage , the more wel coming and promising it appeared (Plate 1) . To the Russ ian explorer Golovnin it was extraordinarily beautiful , ' the declivitous shores of the b ay • • • e dged by mountains covered with tropical j ungle , and set against a high , sharp-pointe d mountain • • • while at night there rose from the crater of the volcano a sheaf of f lame , which illuminated the b ay with its crys talline waters ' • 1 To the trader Cheyne it was ' a pre tty spot . The land around the village is well cultivated , and the vege tation most luxuriant ' . 2 To an unknown whaler , approaching from the northwest , it re called his nat ive Britain , with the country ' divided into farms where meadows , orchar ds , arable patche s , intersected by race-courses , avenues , and foot-paths , seem to ape civilization ' . 3 The res t of the island, with its unknown , forb idding interior and expose d coastline , offere d little welcome or promise to strangers . The hills in the nor th reach 500 met re s and fall dire ctly into the sea ; towards the south they fan out into a serie s of ridges o f about the same alt itude , separated by s teep valleys . A central plateau in the northern half of the island gradually slopes away to the wes t and east , continuing south un t il it reaches the high regions in the middle of the island. Further south is the depressed Siwi b asin , with its lake and active volcano Yasur , b ordered by a range o f high mountains . The dominant feature of the chain is Mount Tukosmere (1084m) , which forms the main founda­tion for the southern sec tlon of the island. Mount Melen (104 7m) , with its s teep north and south flanks , extends towards the east in a low chain forming the background for the Port Resolution area (Map 1) .

lNozikov 1945 : 81 .

2Cheyne 1 85 2 : 35 .

3Anon. 1839 : 60 3 .

5

6

19'20'

19°30'

0 2 4 kilometres

19°40'

169°20'

MT. TUKOSMERE A

169°20'

TANNA ISLAND

MT. MELEN A

169°30'

19° 20'

169°30'

Map 1 Island o f Tanna showing main topographical feature s and place s mentioned in text

7

Human set tlement on Tanna conforme d to the island ' s topo­graphy . During the nineteenth century , as now , the Tanne se lived in several hundred small se ttlements , stretche d across plateaux or along the tracks which followe d the mountain ridges fanning out from the island ' s centre towards the sea . The nuclear family forme d a distin ct househol d , though it was us ually l inked with s imilar households belon ging to the same patrilineage to form one settlement . Cook and Wales observe d in 1 7 7 4 a ' little St ragling Village ' whi ch consisted of twenty huts (ab out lOm by 4 . 5m) and which contained a ' prodigious number of Inhab itants ' . 4 In 1842 the missionary George Turner note d that the village s arotmd Port Resolution comprised eighty to a hundred persons , divide d into e ight or ten families . Thomas Ne ilson , a later missionary at the harb our , counte d be tween twenty and thir ty house s in the important Yanekahi village of Ump i toka , and he des cribe d another Yanekahi village , con taining forty-e igh t men , as large . In the early 1950s t he anthropologist Jean Guiart counted 2 3 3 hamlets spre ad across Tanna with an average populat ion of twenty-nine . 5 Groups of hamle ts share d common territorial names - designating the name of the land p lus the possessive suf fix 'mene ' - which Europeans have always calle d tribes . Guiart l isted 115 such tribes , made up o f from one t o half a dozen separate lineages . I t is n o t clear , however , j us t how much importance the Tannese themselves attache d to tribal affil iation . On-go ing community life was tie d to the more lo calize d yi mwarem - cleared spots in the bush wh ich charte d the so cial , as much as the physical , lands cape o f Tanna . These were sacred space s , shaded by ancient banyan tree s , where food was exchanged , p igs slaughtere d and dance s stage d and, above all , where the men congre gate d each night to drink the ir kava. But even within the same yimwarem the men were divide d into Nwnrik U)en and Kauyamera , though possib ly by the nineteen th century Port Resolut ion was exclusively Numrik U)en . B y then another divis ion had formed be tween the b ush dwe llers and the various tribes arotmd the harbour . 6 There were also language divisions - the five maj or language s suggesting that Tanna was settled by differ­ent waves of people over a prolon ge d pe riod o f time . To the annoyance o f the early miss ionaries who settle d there , Port Resolut ion was on the b oundary of two language re gions .

Reacting to the is lan d ' s dif ficult topography , fragmentation of settlement , variety of social group ings and multipli city o f language s , many e arly E uropean ob servers conc lude d that anarchy and chaos re igne d supreme on Tanna . Turner summe d up the pop ular

4cook 1961 : 49 5 ; Wales 1961 : 855 . 5Turner 1 86 1 : 85; Ne il son to Kay , 13 November 1 86 8 , 2 3 June 1 869 , R. P.M. 1869 : 22 8 , 412 ; Guiart 19 5 6 : 10-11 . 6Paton 19 65 : 1 89 ; cf . Gray 1 89 3 : 6 49 ; Humphreys 1926 : 1 3 , 59 .

8

European conception when he wro te that the Tanne se had ' no political cons t itut ion of any value whatever ' . They were at war two-thirds of the t ime and the ir ' treache rous spiri t ' made ' all jealous of the movement s of their dearest frien ds ' • 7 The assump tion of anarchy had a profomid polit ical impl ication , in that it j us t ified European attempts to impose the ir own forms o f o rder o n the Tanne se : they were even able to claim that actions which resul ted in death and the de struction of the means of live lihood , such as the bombardments o f Black Beach by H . M . S . Ins in 1858 and Por t Re solution by H . M . S . Gura<;oa in 1865 , were both right and nece ssary .

Transcending physical , so cial and linguistic divis ions , trans forming apparent chaos into cosmos , was the ritual exchange of gifts - from the daily exchange of kava b e tween men o f the same village to elaborate exchange s of pigs , ceremonies and dan ce s be tween super-tribal ne tworks . Each n ight , a little be fore dusk , men all ove r Tanna woul d mee t at the ir local yi mwarem whe re one man would produce a root or two of nekGJ;)a - Piper methystiawn -from whi ch kava is made . The Tanne se told Turne r in 1842 that the precise format of the ritual was ' sacre d ' and if tran sgres sed ' would be the cause of some great evil , i f not death ' . The person

who provi de d the nekGJ;)a root in e ffect estab l ishe d a donor-re ce i ver re lat ionsh ip with the other drinkers , who rece ive d h is gift , as it were . Over t ime , as each man cont ributed his nekGJ;)a , the circle o f re ciprocal exchange would , in theory , close itsel f . But in practice , with no s tart or cut-off poin t in the p rovision of nekGJ;)a , the circle never closed ; each donation altere d the cre dit-deb it status o f each man and daily established a new set of obligations and expe ctations .

The same principle underlay the collective exchange o f food , whi ch coul d range from a simple exchange o f yams or fowl s with in a village t o an extravagant exchange of p igs and turtles be tween two or more tribes . As Turner wrote a fter five months at Port Resolut ion :

• • • In the marum [yi mwarem] there are many frien dly meet ings for distribution o f property , feas t in g &c . The chiefs and people o f a district will erec t in the ir marum perhaps f ifty pole s forty feet long - cover the se from top to bot tom with yams - bananas and taro - heap in other parts mat s -nat ive cloth , and as much foreign property as they collect -some f i fteen or twenty pigs are al so set apart for the occasion . A day is fixed on which all the t ribe s with whom that party is on friendly terms assemble , o iled an d painted

7Turne r 1842-3 : 6 ; cf . Gill and St al lworthy 185 8 ; Bel cher 1843 : 60-3 ; MacGillivray , Journal , 3 De cember 185 4 ; Cheyne 1 85 2 : 34 . 8Turne r 1 842-3 : 8 ; Turner 18 61 : 85 .

9

in their best s tyle , and every one get s something . S imilar distrib ut ions of property are taking place all the year rotmd , but the greatest one is the yam season , and about this t ime they are followed by dancing . We landed here j ust about their ' harvest time ' and for several weeks there was a regular succession o f the se convivial meetings attended by dancing which was kept up sometimes from stmset t ill four o ' clock next morning. They dance in companies of forty or fifty at a t ime , and while one party is going on another is resting close bye and ready to j ump up and celebrate . 9

The principle was the same as in the kava ceremony : t o receive the gift ent ailed the obligation to repay at a future date , at wh ich t ime the obligat ion to give would fall back on the o ther party . To deny the obl igation to e ither give or receive was to repudiate the alliance signified by the exchange and to assume instead a hostile posture . It was possible t o give a more potent nekawa roo t or an extra pig t o establish kusus or superiority over the rec ip ien t . But i t became part o f the debt to b e repaid a t a future exchange when the host group might assert its dominance by an even grander gift . Thi s ' oneupmansh ip ' could be renewed repeatedly , perhaps years or even generations apart , on increasingly compet it ive levels , with individual and group prest ige tied to the continuation o f the exchange relat ionship . In ftmctionalist terms , it was a system able to accommodate chan ge and reallocate status an d power with relat ive ease .

Europeans like Turner quickly came to see that gift exchange was central to Tannese social life , but they were largely blind to its polit ical s ignificance . Perhaps in part it was Scottish thrift which led Turner to complain that , in devoting so much t ime and energy to the preparat ion and celebration o f exchange feast s , the Tannese were ' spending their t ime for nought ' . Turner ' s companion, Henry Nisbe t , looked to the day ' when this poor people shall have a more pro f itable way of spen ding their t ime than they have now ' . John G. Paton maintained that while ex­changes might seem ' to betoken a lovin g people ' , they ' laid not aside a s ingle feud ' . Perhaps John Ingl is best summed up the typical mi ssionary attitude when he wrote that such feasts were ' extremely tm favourable t o indust ry and economy; as those who are mos t industrious and the greatest producers are expe c ted , if not oblige d , to contribute most to the feast ' . Feasting involved ' much loss o f t ime • • • [and ] great quantitie s of the provis ions become unfit for use before they could be eaten• . 10 What all the missionaries failed to see was that feasts , as exchange rituals , were important in maintaining political networks , activating and con firming all iances between individuals and groups .

9Turner 1 842-3 :7.

lOTurner 1842 - 3 : 7 ; Nisbet , Diary , 6 August 1842 ; Paton 196 5 :136 ; Inglis 1852 : 527 .

10

The same princip le of rec ip rocal exchan ge , with all it s pol it ical ramificat ions , underlay marriage relat ion s . Soon after b irth girls would be set aside for a defin ite alliance , o ft en between lineages o f the same t ribe but somet imes between dif ferent tribes . The mat ch was not related to land di stribution so much as to the establishment and maintenance of political alliance s . Around Port Re solution in the nine teenth century regul ar marriage networks exi s ted between the Yanekahi , Kaserumene , Neraimene and Ne pikinamame tribe s ( see Map 2) - which may have contributed to , or re flected , the development o f the Kwatahrenimin grouping . II Any right s t o land a woman may have po s ses sed were lost when she married . As the Tannese woul d say : 'Men are rooted in the terri­tory of the ir fathers , but women are like the b irds; they come and go ' . Come and go they did , as the acceptance of a b ride ent ailed the obl igat ion on the receiving l ine to provide a b ride , and on the donor line to rece ive one , in the future . The ex­changes es tablished on-go ing affinal alliances , though mos t European s - e spec ial ly the missionaries - were in sensit ive t o the polit ical dimens ion s of marriage relationship s .

In a s imilar way , Europeans misunderstood the significance of cannibal ism on Tanna . It had been suppose d since the time of Cook - when one of his men claimed to have been invited to a cannibal feastI2 - that the Tannese were all anth�opophagous . But it was left to Turner to brin g a t rue Ballan tynian flavour to the subj ect , with his portrayal of the Tanne se as a hoard of salivating savages , impat ient ly wait ing to pop the ir next vic tim into the oven , to be served up with yams at the fol lowing meal . ' It would appear that although they invariably eat al l slain in war ' , two visiting L . M . S . missionaries reported in 1858 , ' the prac t ice of eat ing human flesh is from hab it pre fer­ence and taste and not always merely for revenge but from the mere grati ficat ion wh ich they enj oy in eat ing such as food ' . Lit tle won der that the following year poor Paton fel t obl ige d to s it a lonely vigil over his wife's grave , gun in han d , for ten days and night s - or so he claimed - to preven t the Tannese get t ing at her decomposing rema in s . I3 In fact , for the whole island there were never more than twenty-eight families with the r ight to eat human flesh , and they confined themselves to the bodies o f fallen enemies - whe ther to �ain the ir st ren gth or to heap indignity on them is unclear . I What con fused Paton an d Turner was what they saw as a diabolic al trade in corp se s as they traced a path along ceremon ial routes . Turner describe d the ir path in 1842 :

l lcf . Turner 1842-3 : 32 . I2 [Marra ] 1 7 75 : 2 7 5 . I3Turner 1861-82; Gill and Stallworthy 185 8; Paton t o Kay , 1 April 1861 , R. P.M. 1861 : 305; cf . Paton 1965 : 8 7; Meade 1870 : 2 49 . 14Guiart 1956 : 79; Gray-1893 : 6 6 3; Humphreys 192 6 : 60 , 8 3 .

Rautobus (Kas.) • larofi (Yan.) •

• Nakauraku (Yan.) Yunesefa (Yan.) •

Umpitoka (Yan.)e •

Opekekikan (Yan.)• lamaro (Yan.)

• Samoa (Nep.) �Yarepen (Ner.)

• Yetakwar (Ner.)

• lfataraba (Ner.)

(;') YASUR lJVOLCANO PATON'S [J HOUSE

• Yakwopen (Ner.) • Yuanawefa (Ner.)

• Raumio (Ner.) • Yr siau (Ner.)

Villages around Port �esolution, with Tribal Affiliation.

Kas. Kaserumene

Yan. Yanekahi

Nep. Nepikinamame

Ner. Neraimene

11

Map 2 Villages around Port Re solut ion with tribal affiliat ions

The people in our imme diate neighbourhoo d • • • when they were in the habit of brin ging a vict im from inland • • • took it to the marum of the district next to the ir own , an d exchanged it for a pig . The people who got it then carrie d it o n t o the next marum, and there again exchan ge d i t f o r a p ig , and after bein g carried through several marums in this way , it reache d the dist rict next to the sea , and as they could not carry it farther , there it was cooked and eaten . 1 5

The dea d man ' s j ourney ended when the corpse reached such a stage of put rificat ion that the body fluids were b reaking through the skin , and when a group which had a family or family l ine of cann ibal s dec ided to keep the body . 16 The acceptance o f the body entailed the obl igat ion to send b ack in exchange one day the body of a killed enemy , followin g the same route but in the oppo s ite

1 5Turner 1842-3 : 11. 16Guiart 1956 : 7 9 .

12

direc tion . Invariably , it seems , p i gs we re exchanged for the corpse a t each poin t of i ts j ourney . The Samoan teachers who were p lace d at Port Resolut ion in 1839 reporte d that they saw two bodies prepared for the oven , and that ' a compensation was demanded fo r these 2 lives , and a pig was accordingly given ' . William Gi ll and Henry Nisbe t noted in 1846 that a European ' s body was disposed of in a similar way . Paton reported in 1861 that ' a large fat pig ' was given for each o f ten bodies receive d . Years later Paton ' s son Frank w�ote that when two men were killed on the east coast of Tanna their bodies were passed from village to vi llage right ac ross the island , t ill one of them was eaten at a village on the west coast . ' Heathen ' a t tended from far and near , and pieces of the body were sen t throughout the missionary ' s dist ric t . 1 7 By such means alliances were est ab lishe d and confirme d , o r repudiate d , according t o the same prin ciple o f reciprocity which llllderlay other Tannese ri tuals .

Even warfare , that most characterist ic feature o f European ac collll ts of Tanna, signifyin g to E uropean eyes soc ial and even moral chaos , was essen tially an exchange ritual . Batt les were pre-arranged , depended on suitab le wea ther , and had to fit in with the rout ine of daily life , such as work in the garden s . 1 8 They coul d often be avoided by a gift to the aggrieved party , b ut failin g that , fightin g was conduc te d along what the mission ary Gray described as 'well recognize d war t ac t ic s ' • 1 9 Captain Erskine o f the Royal Navy dismissed fightin g between two Port Resolut ion tribes in 1849 as 'a war party marchin g out daily to t he bolllldary-line to exchange a few spears or stones , without any very serious result ' . A dec ade later , Paton desc ribed an altercation on the beach between the harbour t ribes and an inlan d t ribe as a grand sort o f b arbarous Homeric scolding mat ch , where the prot agonists exhausted their rage in j ave lin s of reproach . Ing lis noted that if one man were killed the batt le con cluded for the day , to allow the losin g side t o examine whether any one had breached any of their ' appoin te d ob servances ' , thus provoking the anger of the gods . 2 0 A battle then , like any o ther exchange on Tanna , might be viewed as a ritual re-enactment of a theme pas sed down from the gods , inve s t ing real ity with it s mythic and s acred quality .

1 7Hea th 1840 : 1 3 ; Gill an d Nisbe t 1846 : 13 ; Paton to Kay 1 April 186 1 , R.P. M. 186 1 : 305 ; F .H . L . Paton 190 3 : 2 18 . 1 8Nisbet , Diary, 1 7 September , 16 December 1842 ; Turner 1842-3:26 , 38 ; Ne ilson to Kay , 28 Oc tober 18 74 , R.P. M. 1875 : 148 . 1 9c f . Nisbe t , Diary, 14-1 7 January 1843; Murray and Hardie 1849 : 7 ; Murray 186 1 ; Paton to Kay , 6 January 1862 , R.P. M. 1862 : 285 -6 ; Nei lson to Kay , 13 November 1868 , R.P. M. 1869 : 22 8 ; Gray 189 3 : 660 . 2 0Erskine 185 3 : 30 4 ; Paton 1965 : 9 3 ; In glis 1852 : 52 5 .

13

This supernatural quality pervaded every level of social act ion . As Turner wrote after six months among the Tannese : ' Con­nected with almost every word and act ion they have some superstit­ious ideas ' . Like Melanesians elsewhere , the Tannese did not make a clear distinction between the physical and non-phys ical realms . They believed in powerful spiritual ac tors who controlled and affec ted their lives but who , in turn , could themselves be con­trolled if only the correct rituals were observe d . Turner not iced that the Tannese men would pray aloud every night at kava­drinking to their aT'erriha:

The word aT'errha • • • s ignifies nothing more than ' dead man ' : so that when they speak o f praying to aremha they merely mean that they pray to the spirits o f their fo refathers . Every dis tric t has its differen t aremha . Chie fs who reach an advanced age are the persons whose spirit s are suppose d ent itled to religious homage . To the se they presen t the first fruits of the yam, b read fruit &c naming them and saying a prayer such as thi s : ' Compass ionate father! This is food for you - eat it - and be propit ious to us on account of it • • • • They say , 'we plant a banana and it grows - we plan t a bread frui t and it grows - we p lant a yam and it grows - our forefathers certainly cause all this ' . 21

The ancestral spirit s were believed to inhabit the sub terranean world of !pay, 'where they live much the same as here on earth , where they dig , plan t, marry , and are given in marriage ' . 22 Primus inteP paT'eB among the spirits was what Paton called ' he roes ' , and William Gray , the first missionary at Whitesands , ' superhuman beings ' - human monsters posses sing superhuman at tributes : ' the Noahs and Samsons of the B ib le rtm to tmlimited extravagance • • • the heroes of Homer and Virgil ' . 2 3 Some were quite loca l , the ancestors of particular t ribe s . Others were known throughout Tanna; while the knowledge of some , such as Karapanamun, extended to the surrotmding islan ds . One, Mwat ikt iki , was known throughout the Pacific . There was also Kwumesan , s imultaneously the fotmding deity and an abstract concept meaning the beg inning : ' the great supernatural power or powers for that matter ' , wrote Gray , ' conceived of as a tmit y , behind all things ' • 24 The ancest ral spirits , the heroes or superhuman beings , and later Jesus Christ , were napungi nanimen - inter­mediarie s be tween the Tannese an d Kwumesan , links with the tmder­lying supernatural powers.

21Turner 1842- 3: 1 1- 12.

2 2Mrs Watt to [ ] , 15 July 1872 , R.P.M. 187 3 : 96.

2 3Paton 1965 :73; Gray 1893 : 656 .

24Gray 189 3 : 65 1.

1 4

Good and bad forttme , tmexpected events , sickness an d death , were a l l the work o f the napungi nanimen - though the spirit s could themse lve s be directed by human interme diaries who possesse d the knowledge of the ways of the spirits . Life ' s const ant quest , as it were , was to en sure the napungi n animen worked for you, not against you . Every man was his own magic ian and had his preferred ways of prop itiatin g the spirit s . Gray , surprisingly sen sit ive for a Pre sbyterian missionary - a cultural relat ivis t , in fac t - realized an d accept ed that the Tannese had woven for themse lves an int r icate an d seamless spiri tual web which invested eve ry obj ect and every even t with a t ranscenden t , o ther-wo rldly , significance . Earlier missionaries , like Paton , even though c onfronte d every day with the dep th of the Tannese att achment to a spiritual realm, s t ill procee de d as if that attachmen t were shallow ; were t.mab le or tmwilling to see beyond the ir own caricatures .

I t was the same at the political leve l . Like Europeans be fore him, Paton so ught out the chief s2 5 wi th whom to barter for goods , land or protec tion . The men usually sin gled out were the yere lrRJ)anu, distin guished by the impress ive feathered head-dress kayoo - which they wore on ceremonial oc casions . There were always some who would come forward to receive the gifts and recognition , conf irming the Europeans in the ir assumptions about chie fly power and authority . When H . M . S . Reso lution called at Port Reso lut ion in 1 7 74 , one of her landing partie s identif ied a yeremwanu as the ' king ' o f Tanna on accot.m t of his ' so lenm. and ben ign ' appearance - though Cook noted that , while the Tannese seemed to have ' Chiefs amongs t them , at least such have been pointed out to us by that Title , . . . these . • • seemed to have ve ry lit tle authority over the re s t of the peop le ' . John Reinold Forster , naturalist on board, was close to the mark when he wro te that the chiefs of Tanna were not generally dis t in guish­able from the ir subj ects ' by rank or authority , an d seem to enj oy only an here ditary title ' . As the missionary Turner was to discove r , to give presen t s to seven or eight chiefs was to o ffend seventy or e ighty ' pe tty chie fs ' . He fotm d tha t in a village of eighty to a ht.mdred inhab itant s there were at least one or two yere lrRJ)ctnU who , along with the ' heads of familie s ' , regulated local affairs , and whose authority did not extend beyond ' a gt.mshot from his own dwe llin g ' . Unable to shake completely the belief tbat polit ical re lat ion s ought to have been more ordere d , Turner began a vain search for the real chie f s . Paton gave up any a ttempt at consi stency , claiming that ch ie fs on Tanna really had no powe r , but at the same time accusing them of duplic ity and coward ice when they failed to exerc ise it . A lat er miss ionary , William Wat t , perseve re d in at tempts to gain in fluence amon g the

2 5 Though European not ions o f chie f ly power and authority on Tanna were of ten wide of the mark , I have retained the term ' chie f ' , without connnen t , throughout the text as a mat ter of conven ience .

15

Tannese by the tradit ional me tho d of ' winn ing over the chie fs ' lon g after his wife had not e d , ' Chieftainsh ip may be said to con­sist only in name . In a village of e ight or n ine men , s ix will claim to be chiefs ' . 2 6

What exasperate d mission arie s l ike Turner , Paton and Watt was that the yeremwanu ' s righ t t o wear the kayoo , though a signific an t privilege in a r it ual-orien t e d so c ie ty l ike Tann a ' s , did not corre spond to a political ro le in the We stern sense. Ul tima te authority appears to have res te d with assemblies where individuals would argue for hours and days un t il a consen sus was reached . Tho se yeremwanu who were mo s t in fluen t ial in the assembl ie s appear to have exerc ise d power an d authority according to other soc ial role s . Kuanuan , an in fluent ial Nerai mene yeremwanu in the Port Reso lution area , in addit ion to wearin g the kayoo , could also feast on the head o f the turtle and pract ise atmospheric and agrarian magic . He was also reputed to own large t rac t s of land - though , go ing by the s ituation to day , whe re the yeremwanu tend to have smalle r lan dholdings than ordinary men , the higher a man ' s ritual and magical status , the le ss he needed land to exist socially . Manuman , anothe r important Nerai mene yeremwanu , could prac t ise nahak sorcery , and the two principal yeremwanu at Kwamera , to the south , were also renowne d magician s . Kat i , in addition to wearing the kayoo , had stones to control the sea , s ickness , cert ain foods , the sun an d the rain . Early in 1862 Kapuku , as a s ign of his acceptance of Christian ity , handed over t o the mis s ionary Mathe son twen ty sacred stones , inc luding s tones for war , the sea , sickness an d s torms . 2 7 Nearly a century later , the an thropo logist Guiart found that of Tanna ' s 472 yeremwanu , j ust 140 had only the privi­lege of wearin g the kayoo : 2 35 could also feast on the head of the tur tle , twenty-seven coul d supervise the cookin g o f the smooth pig , thirteen were masters o f the nek CIJJ)a to pu:ngu ( a special varie ty of pi per m9thysti eum) , three could take part in cann ibal feasts , and 106 were magic ian s . 2 8

The early miss ionaries to Tanna were patronized by importan t yeremwanu l ike Kuan uan ; but in times of unrest , such as the great epidemic of measles in 18 61 , they survived only by the interven­t ion o f the yani en dete or war chief , whose sin gle material privilege as a yani en dete was a black and red pen is wrapper. 2 9 In times of peace , Turner observe d , the war chie f had little

26 cook 1961 : 4 96 ; Wales 1961 : 860 ; Forster 1778 : 380 ; Turner 1842-3 : 25 , 186 1 : 84-5 ; Paton , Notebooks and Journal s , passim ; Wat t 1896 : 110 . 2 7Matheson to Bayne , 31 January , 20 February 1862 , H. F. R. 1 862 : 2 22-4 . 2 8Guiart 1956 : 7 7-86 , 107-9 . 2 9Guiart 1956 : 85 .

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influence over the ' connnon people ' , and wo rked in his garden ' j ust like common men1 • 3 0 But in times o f war he was re spon s ib le for the group ' s safe ty . He was warned o f threats , he knew the routes the enemy would follow , an d he negotiated to ward off poten tial threats or con firm and strengthen allian ces . If it were ne cessary , he dec ide d the fl ight route , pas sing through the terri to ry of all ie s of his cho ice . In the as semb l ies he was the last to speak , which mean t that he had the final say in dec is ion makin g . 3 1 The war chie f ' s skill an d st rength lay in determin ing at what point discuss ion could be finalized and the con sen sus summed up ; his authority coul d be cha llen ged by another person sub sequently risin g and disputin g that the final posit ion had been reache d .

That the yani en dete summe d up the group ' s collective will is sugge st ed in the Engl ish term somet ime s used to designate the person : the ' mouth-piece ' or ' talkin g ch ie f ' . Frank Paton not ed that Iavis , a powerful y ani en de te of the we st coast Loinio tribe , was ' the best talker in the whole dist rict , he can go on all day and talk any number o f Heathen down ' . 32 That is how the Tannese often got the ir way in the assemb l ies - by lite rally t alking down the ir oppon en t s :

On these occasion s some of the orators chant their speeches , and all in del ivering their addre sses make the mo st savage gesture s - b randishing the ir club s &c . All keep walkin g too while they speak . The different tribe s are a l l seated round the marum , leaving an open space in the cen tre . The orator rises from amon g his tribe , advance s at a slow pace to the middle of the marum , speaking al l the while , here he stands for a momen t , an d then re turn s in silence to his people . He se ts out again with another paragraph -an d goe s on so unt il the close of his speech . 3 3

Ano ther person woul d then have his say - risin g and chan t in g his address and then stoppin g . ' This would b e answered from ano ther party - and so on ' . The de signation mouth-piece also suggest s that the y ani en dete ' s authority lasted on ly for as lon g as he expressed the tribe ' s collec tive will - a sugge st ion which is con firme d by even t s at Port Re solut ion in 1861 , when the two pr incipal y ani en dete were unable t o convince the ir fellow t ribe smen of the need to go to war . Paton recorde d :

A severe war inlan d , in which on some days a s many as ten men have fallen and b een feaste d on , has forced

3 0 Turner 1842-3 : 6 . 3 1 Guiart 19 56 : 86-90 . 3 2 F . H . L . Paton 1903 : 8 3 . 3 3Turner 1842 - 3 : 6-7 .

1 7

hundreds of people down from the motmtain s , an d they have mos tly taken shelter under S irania and his people , and are ac t ive , mild , and friendly to me . Nauka once summoned all our peop le to j oin the inland war , but next morning he left for it with only one at ten dant , and becoming fain t-hearted , he turne d and came home next day . Last week Miaki summone d our people again to j oin the war , but next mornin g he le f t with his b ro ther and six or seven boys ; but as the enemy had heard of his desire , the n ight be fore they had surprised and sho t two of his leadin g friends . On hearing this , he returne d about midday with his boys , being laughed at by all our people , havin g tm iversally re fused to j oin him. 3 4

In these two case s t radit ional authority relat ion s had been upset by European in terven t ion : at o ther t imes the yani en de te appears to have had a greater say in que s t ion s of war and peace . For in stance , when a small girl was k il led in a raid by enemies o f the Loinio tribe ( on the west coast ) late in the n ine teenth cen tury , the victim ' s father did all he could to st ir the tribe into a war o f revenge . But Iavis , the yani en dete, re fused to sanc t ion any f ight in g . So lon g as h e was war chief , Frank Paton recorde d , there could be no war ; so the war party attempted to depose Iavis and put ano ther man in his place . But no other name coul d command such authority and Iavis remained the War Chief of Loinio.

In a s imilar case Nemak , the oldyani en dete of the Iounmene t ribe , dec lared st rongly for peace after some tribe smen pressed for war again st a t raditional enemy . The only way that the pro-war party was able to pro secute the war was by shoot in g Nemak in an ambush . 3 5 But even this example len ds weight to the view that a yani en de te ' s authority depended on his ab il ity to express and re spon d to the group ' s co llective will .

This role is implie d in the t it le yani en de te , literally ' master o f the canoe ' . On the physical level it refers t o the two sacre d stones represen t in g the hull and beam o f a canoe , which the yani en dete coul d , for example , rub with certain leaves to obtain a s ign . But on the metaphysical plane the yani en dete was thought of as the front of the canoe - the canoe in question corresponding to a so cial realm , the Tanne se body politic . When , after the measle s epidemic of 18 61 , Paton warned the Tannese that Go d would punish them further for their wickedness , the yani en de te Miaki repl ied that such was the ir con duc t : ' We and our fathers have loved such conduc t , and if the worship condemns it , I say it is fo rb idden for you to condemn it • • • My

34Paton t o Kay , 6 January 1 862 , R.P. M. 1862 : 2 86 . 3 5 F . H . L . Paton 190 3 : 9 9-100 , 112 .

18

heart is very good , and I hate your t eachin g ' . 36 To Paton ' s ears the claim rang out as a blasphemous contradict ion . To Miaki , the fron t of the canoe , Paton was the blasphemer . But , face d with naval bombardment as well as divine retribution - wh ich , as the measles epidemic had shown , posed a more pro foun d threat to Tanna than any one in dividual ' s exertion s - the helmsman foun d himsel f interceding with his own followers on the mis s ionary ' s behal f . The doub le irony was that Paton interpre ted h i s e fforts as a ploy and called in the n avy anyway .

Both in a metaphys ical an d in more pract ical ways , the group ' s de st iny was t ied to the master o f the canoe . And as a rule there was only one such person in each tribe . But , again , it is difficult to po int to a clearly de fined political role . As Miaki ' s abort ive call to battle in 1861 in dicated , the ya:ni en de te ' s author ity could lapse if he misread the wil l of his followers ; and even when he coul d count on his group ' s backin g , i t wo uld appear that fac tors other than h is po s it ion o f o ffice he lped de termine his in fluence . Accordin g to Turner , they were ' the princ ipal proprietors o f the soil ' 3 7 -- though because they were spokesmen for the group on mat ters o f land , it might j ust have appeared that way in the eye s of the European . Judgin g b y Miaki , the important ya:ni e n de te had many wives . 3 8 Many were renowned magic ians - Miaki could brin g rain and make the yams grow . Nowar , the ya:ni en de te for the Ne pikinama.me could make the sun shine an d the bananas ripen . Others could cook the smooth p ig , eat the head of the turt le , take part in cann ibal feast s . 3 9

Those who coul d t ake part in cann ibal feas t s provoke d the most intere s t among Europe ans - and were the most mal igne d . Though they s e t out t o cre ate the impression that they were surrounded by a nat ion of cann ibals , sign ifican t ly the early miss ion arie s gave no specific re ferences in their let ters an d j o urnal s to individuals who act ually pract ised cann ibal ism. For the whole islan d there were neve r more than twen ty-e ight family line s with the privile ge , and at mo st on ly one in each tribe . Its purpose clearly was political : to maintain exchange re lat ion­ships be tween different individuals an d group s . But , apart from William Gray , mo st miss ion aries had l itt le incl inat ion to look beyond their own caricatures .

I t was the same with so rce ry . After the cann ib al , the sorcere r , or nahak magician , person ifie d for the n ine teen th­cen tury mis sionary the ut te r degradation of the heathen Tannese .

36Paton to Kay , 10 June 1861 , R.P.M. 1862 : 38 . 37Turner 1842 -3 : 6 . 3 8Pat on t o Kay , 10 June 1861 , R. P . M. 1862 : 38 ; c f . Turner 1842 -3 : 8 , 186 1 : 86 . 3 9Guiart 1956 : 108 .

19

Following Turner , Paton perceive d the ' disease-makers ' as a confederat ion of sacred men who terrifie d other Tannese in to a unit e d opposit ion against the mis sion . In fact , the only recorded case o f sorcerers banding toge ther to oppose a miss ionary was when three of them pitte d the ir col lect ive magical st rength against Paton . And that episode en ded with two of them Paton ' s firm friends . 4 0 Usually there was only one nahak magic ian in each tribe , and he pract ise d his craft alone . 4 1 Turne r gave a full de script ion of the pract ice :

The peop le here have strange notions as t o the greater part of the disease that prevails amon g them. It is supposed to be cause d by certain ' s acred men ' . It is supposed that if these person s get hold of a few crumb s of food - a banana skin - a drop of blood or sal iva , or any such rubb ish whatever that they have it in the ir power t o sicken and put the party to death to whom it bel on ged. When any s tuff of this kin d is go t hold of, it is eagerly seized by the se disease makers , who are always prowlin g about i n search of it . They go to a large tree - scrape o f f some of the bark - mix it wi th the stuff - ge t a stone and be smear it all over . They now roll the rubb ish in a leaf , in a thin elongated form, tye it tightly , and it is ready for burnin g . Then they go t o their house - suspen d the stone over the f ire , and place the one end o f the st uff close to the f ire but in such a way as that it may burn very slowly. Whenever the burnin g commences , it is supposed that the person to whom the rubb ish , or ' nahak ' ( as they call it ) belon ged is thrown into great pain , an d that i f it is permitted to burn unt il all is con sumed , the party shall certain ly d ie . Whenever a person is attacked with severe pain , it is thought that some one is burnin g his nahak . He causes a shell to be blown - a s ign that he is will ing to give a presen t to the man who has got his nahak i f he will but give over burnin g it . At the same time messen gers are dispatched to the head quarters of these disease make rs to fin d out who has go t it , and to o f fer property that the man ' s l ife may be save d . 4 2

Gray wrote that the re was a regular ne twork of carriers who assisted the nahak magic ian , the rubb ish being passed from carrier t o carr ier to pre serve the anonymity o f the or iginal taker . 4 3

4 0 Turner and Nisbe t to L . M . S . , 10 December 1842 , L . M. S . South Seas Let ters ; Turner 1842-3 : 30 ; Paton 1965 : 72 , 140- 3 . 4 1 Guiart 1956 : 70 . 4 2 Turner 1842-3 : 8 . Turner ' s in formant was Maran - c f . Nisbe t , Diary , 1 4 October 1842 . 4 3Gray 1 89 3 : 65 3-4 ; c f . Nisbet , Diary, 12 October , 2 6 November 1842 ; Paton 1965 : 14 1 .

20

Pos sibly it was this network which gave rise to the mis sionary claims of a confederat ion of disease-make rs .

The miss ionaries were not as ob se sse d with agrar ian and atmospheric magics which , as one might expect in a sub sistence economy , were prac t ised by more people more openly . Every garden would contain a smal l , thatched shel ter , hous in g the family ' s protect ive ance st ral spirit s . All adult Tanne se , cer­tainly all the men , pe rfor�ed private , in dividual rites to ensure the success o f their crops . There were also rites pe rformed by acknowledge d spec ialist s for the benefit of the group , in which case the ritual was usually more elab orate and the magic ian s had to observe a part icular mode o f con duc t - such as ab st ain ing from cert ain foods , kava and sexual relat ion s - during the ritual period s . In return for their spe c ialized magic the agrarian magic ians might have the pr ivilege o f eat ing the f irst fruits b rought by the ir fel low tribesmen , or of receivin g some p igs and nek C(l;)a at a food exchange . 4 4 Be tween magic ians the re appears to have been considerable rivalry . Kariwick , an acknowle dge d Ya:nekahi agrarian magician during Paton ' s t ime , had a special stone called nukuma , with four holes representing north , south , east and we st , which could affect the c rops o f surroun ding areas . Accordin g to one o f Guiart ' s in formant s , at one time each agrarian magician had a stone mw a:numa i, which allowe d him to stop the bene f ic ial e ffect s of his rite s at the tribal boundaries ; an d Humphreys was told of ri te s being pe rformed to bring down rain when an enemy ' s crops nee ded sun , o r win d when an enemy was on the po int o f embarking in canoes for a voyage to another part of the island . 4 5

Le ss common and mo re secret ive than agrarian and atmospheric rites , were the magic s to make the son gs and dances of the toka and nao cycles beaut iful . There were also magics for fish ing , hunt ing , fat tening p igs , repell in g or attrac t ing sharks , causing invas ion s o f mosquitoe s , and increasing the proport ion o f male ch ildren . As well as magic ians the re were the more secular specialis t s - the men who could pe rform the circumcis ion operat ion , or cook the head o f the turtle . Guiart found in the 1950s that more than two out of every th ree men on Tanna could lay claim to some such tit le - e ither magical o r secular . 4 6 There is no reason to bel ieve that this was not al so the case a cent ury be fo re . But , as the y a:ni en dBte Miaki discovered when his t ribesmen refuse d t o foll ow him into b attle in 186 1 , no dignitary bene fited from a stereotyped ro le on al l occasion s . Given the number of dignitaries , it is dif f i cult to find a system more

4 4Paton to Kay , 6 January 1862 , R.P. M. 1862 : 2 84 ; Gray 189 3 : 6 50 ; Guiart 195 6 : 36-51 . 4 5Guiart 1956 : 4 5 , 51 ; Humphreys 1926 : 7 3 . 4 6 Guiart 1956 : 10 7 , cf . 6 3-6 .

2 1

flexible and mo re democrat ic a t the same t ime . Not surprisin gly , in such a fluid soc ial environmen t , mis s ionaries faile d to real ize their goal of a clo se d theocracy .

Though some never stopped looking for them , European s inevitably were disap£oin te d in their search for another Cakombau , Pomare or Kamehameha . 7 Every secon d man seemed to be a chief , ·

and a leader one day would be a follower the next - this one would prac t ise magic to make the yams grow , that one woul d lead the people into battle , anothe r would b ring rain . If the yams withered , if the t rib e suffered de feat , or if there was a drought , the failed dignitary ' s command of the group ' s allegiance woul d wane . N o t only was there no s trat ifie d , pyramidal pol it ical structure transcending the different soc ial context s of Tannese life, b ut the l ines of authority which did operate nee ded repeated aff irmation through succes s .

If aut hority relation ships d i d break down , however , not j us t anyone coul d assume leadership . As on the other islan ds of the group , digni taries or magician s on Tanna were set apart from other men by the poss ess ion o f naveti rrrin , sacred stones , which had come down through the ages from Kwumesan . Each had a name according to the spirit which inhabited i t . Unlike pictures of the suffering Christ for the Western Chri s t ian , the stones did not merely represen t a sacred o rder t o the Tannese - they gave concret e expression to it . Though they were obj ects o f the natural world , they als o manifested a transcendent reality which enc ompassed both the material and spiritual realms , revealing the t rue essenc e of li fe . Gray found in the 1880s , more than a cen t ury aft er their first contac t with European s , that even Christ ianised Tannese still shuddered wi th t error when shown some nahak stones found by a local trader . 4 8 To possess a stone was t o be an in termediary between, the human and superhuman spheres . It was this possess ion o f nave tirrrin , rather than genealogical p lacemen t which invested an individual with authority . However , because the stones were passed down within the patri­lineage , succession to ' office ' was in e ffec t by patrilineal descen t . Henc e , Speiser and Capell coul d write o f ' heredit ary patrilineal chie ft ainship ' on Tanna ; Humphreys coul d c laim that ' when a chie f die s he is succeeded by one of hi s son s , in the c lassificatory sense ' ; and Guiart could describe the yani en ckte or war chief as ' le represen tant aine le plus direc t de la lignee t radit ionellemen t deten trice de la fonc tion ' . 4 9 In cases where patrilineal descent did not operate , it is like ly that nave ti rrrin

4 7Turner 184 2-3 : 25 , 1861 : 84-5 ; c f . Humphreys 1926 : 35 . 4 8Gray 1893 : 655 . 4 9Speiser 1913 : 2 70 , 1 9 2 3 : 339 ; Capell 19 38 : 78 ; Humphreys 1926 : 36 ; Guiart 1956 : 8 7 .

22

had changed hands . Yawiray (who did not come from a line of yani en dete ) was a yani en dete at Enfintana owing to his po s s­ession of two stone s which his ance stors had acquired from another line ; and Guiart notes that his posit ion was rendered ' relatively legit imate ' by the extinc tion of the l ine with traditional c laim , 5 0 which suggest s that the assump tion of privileges by a new line was viewed as something like us urpation .

In so far as he pos�essed the means of influenc ing the ever-present spirit ual powers , a nave timin-owner ' s opinion assumed some importance among his fellows . But to establish and maint ain his influenc e , part ic ularly in the t ribal assemb lies where important decisions were t aken and where power was , as it were , given pub lic expres sion , the nave timin-owner had t o demonst rate the relative success of his methods , the dist inctiveness of his knowledge - inc ludin g knowledge of land botmdaries , ancest ral names , myths , magical techniques and , above all , knowledge of the spirits . To achieve status and power , he had to create for himself what a recent researcher 5 1 has called a controlling middleman ' s posit ion between a group of followers and the wider wor ld , whether natural or supernatural .

The boundaries of the world , both natural and supernat ural , were exploded with the coming o f the European . After 1 7 74 , but more part ic ularly after 1839 , an individual aspirin g to status and power - espec ially in the intensive contac t area of Port Re solut ion - had to create a controlling middleman ' s posit ion between a group of fo llowers and the wo rl d of the Europeans . As the novel ty and mystery of contac t began to wear thin he had also to compete direc tly with Europeans - either by c laiming to have incorporate d their knowledge an d rituals , or by demonst ratin g the superiority of h i s own . The hist ory o f the first century of European c ontac t with Tanna is the story not only of the incorporation o f the Tannese in to the world o f the European , but al so of the Tannese at temp ts to estab lish control over the European and to exploit the world he brought with him .

5 0 Guiart 1956 : 9 3-4 . 5 1 Lindst rom n . d . : passim.

Chapter 2

The discovery of Tanna by sailors and t raders

Tanna came into contac t with Europe when it was discovered by Captain Cook in August 1 7 74 . For the two weeks that his sloop lay at anchor in the bay he named Port Resolut ion , Cook and his men foreshadowed all that was to come in the next hundred years of Tannese-European contact; with each side reacting to it s own limited and often distorted image of the other . Most of the con tac t in the century after Cook occurred after 1840 as hundreds o f European trading vessels called at Tanna . After 184 7 , when the first o f a string o f t rading stations was established at the harbo ur , Tannese and Europeans came into more intimate contac t . As wel l , many Tannese l ived alongs ide Europeans for weeks and mon ths at sea in the c ramped space aboard t rading ships , some travelling as far afield as Sydney and Hobart Town . By and large , Tanne se-trader relations were satis fac tory to both sides : there were occasional clashes , and what the Tannese understood as exchange the Europeans perceived as trade , but overall each side was able to benefit from the relationship . Relations with the Royal Navy ran a greater risk of deteriorating in to power contest s as officers and men trie d to enforce codes o f behaviour dreamt up on the other side of the globe . With the o fficers in part icular , the European assumption o f superiority came easily , but ult imately it was always thwarted by the Tannese refusal to accept the inferior role cast for them .

When he came upon Tanna in 1 7 74 Cook was midway through his s econd voyage around the world in search of the elusive southern continent . At the start of the year he had been sailing his ship as close as possible around the South Pole , t urning north in the first week of February to escape the encroaching Antarc tic winter . His plan was t o ' ge t within the Tropicks and proceed to the west on a route differing from former Navigators , touching at , and set tling the Situation of such Isles as we may meet with , and if I have t ime , to proceed in this manner as far west as Quiros ' s Land or what M . de Bougainvi lle calls the Great Cyclades ' .1 He

1 cook 196 1 : 326 .

2 3

24

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Map 3 Vanuatu and Loyal ty Islands showing route taken by Captain Jame s Cook in July and Augus t 1774

did have t ime , and after a sweep o f Polynesia which t ook in Easter I slan d , the Marquesas , Tahit i and Tonga , he fe ll in with the Frenchman ' s Great Cyclades , picking up the east side o f

25

Maewo - Bougainville ' s Aurora - on 17 July . From there he sai led south through the group he was to name the New Hebrides - at least it became a group with his charting of it - landin g briefly at Port Sandwich , Malekula and Polenia Bay , E rromango be fore reachin g Tanna on 5 August (Map 3) .

For the E uropean s on boar d H .M . S . Reso lution , sailing we st out of the relatively familiar world o f Polynes ia into the tmknown world of Melanesia , it was c ontac t wi th a new race o f people quite tm like the Polynes ian - or at least the European image o f the Polynesian - in appearance , language and manner . The nat ives of Malekula were ' the mo st ugly and ill-proport ioned peop le ' Cook had ever seen , ' and in every respec t dif ferent from any we had yet seen in this sea ' . They spoke a di f feren t language : ' of about Eighty Words which Mr . F [ ors ter ] collec ted hardly one bears any affinity to the lan guage spoke at any other island or place I have ever been at ' . To the nat uralist John Re inold Forster they were a ' small , nimble , slender , b lack and ill-favoured se t o f be ings , that of a l l me n I ever saw , borde r the nearest upon the t rib e of monkie s ' . The Erromangans were a dif feren t race of peop le again , ' and seem ' d t o speake a quite differen t language ' . Though more tolerable in appearance than the Malekulans , the ir behaviour was contrary and t reacherous : after ' charming ' Cook with a lit tle gift they attempted t o t ake his boat by force , at tacking the c rew with arrows , dart s and s tones . The sailors opened fire , killing one ' Indian ' . The Tanne se , it seemed at first , were a race somewhere be tween the natives of the Friendly Islands and those of Malekula , ' but a lit tle acquaintance with them convinced us that they had lit tle or no affinity to either except it be in their hair ' (Plate s 2 and 3) . Their lan guage was ' di f ferent to any we had before me t with ' , leadin g Cook t o c onc lude that they were ' a dist inc t Nation o f themselves ' . 2

Unlike the Europeans , the islan ders did not real ly have a sense o f coming in to c ontac t with a new race of people . True , the visitors were different in appearance , lan guage and cus t oms -b ut basically t hey were an extension of themselves . For the Malekulan s , Erromangan s an d Tannes e it was con tac t with an anc ient worl d , with an old race of people , with their ancestors . At Port Sandwich , George Forster heard the word constan tly repeate d , ' Tomarr ' , Malekulan for ancestors , and Cook was given one small pig , half a dozen small coconuts and a little water - nourishment enough for ghost s . 3 There was ano ther propit iatory of fering at Polenia Bay - ' a Yam and a few Coco Nut t s ' - followed by the

2cook 1961 : 466-7 , 480 , 5 0 3-4 ; For ste r 1 7 7 8 : 24 3 . 3 Fors·ter 1 7 7 7 : 2 05 ; Cook 196 1 : 462 .

Plates 2 and 3 A woman and a man from the island of Tanna . (Engraved by J . Bas ire from the crayon drawings by W . Hodges, in Cook 1970, pl . XLV and XXVI . )

2 7

Erromangans ' act o f ' t reache ry ' . Cook was not to know that the Erromangans believe d the small i s let exp lored by the crews of his boats for wood immediately be fore coming in to Polen ia Bay was inhabite d only by bad ghosts . The Erromangans were in a con fused panic about how to deal with the unwe lcome visitors : appeasement an d attack were both t rie d , with the loss of one man , Narom. 4

Next mornin g , at the east end of Tanna , in the in le t which was to become his Port Resolut ion , a more caut ious Cook observed vast numbers of ' In dian s ' collecting on the shore . A great many o f them were comin g off in canoes and some even swimming . The ' Indian s ' too were caut ious - keepin g their distance , their arms in constan t readiness . Insen sib ly growin g bolder and bolder , eventually they came under the stern where they exchan ge d coc onut s f o r p ieces of c lo th . The more daring trie d to make off with the anchor buoys ; undeterred by muske t fire and only temporarily put o f f by a four-pounder - which they gree ted with c ries o f ' Azur , Azur ' , their word for the volc ano - they final ly ret ire d when the swivel-guns were fired ove r them .

During a l l thi s, one ' frien d ly o l d man ' , Paowan g , in a small canoe made several t rips be tween the ship and shore , each t ime bringing two or three coconut s , a yam, or a fowl . On his f irst trip he was ob serve d to throw a coconut be fore him as he approache d the ship , pickin g it up himself when it remaine d uncollec ted , advanc in g a lit tle and repeatin g the ac tion . When one young man in a canoe was fired on for cheating on an exchange , ' an hour Afterwards the Abovement ioned old Man , was de spatche d o ff to us with Green boughs & other Ensigns of Peace , and a presen t of a large Bundle of Sugar Canes ' . 5 Then , when Cook decided to lan d , the re was Paowan g , with two o ther elders standing by , invi tin g the vi sitors on shore (Plate 4 ) . The peop le - thousands of them according to most of the accounts - were assemb led in two �roups on either side of the lan ding spot at the head of the harbour . In the c leared space be tween them was a line of four small reeds stuck in the sand , leading from the water to a few bunche s of plantain laid out with a yam and two root s of taro . Cook was unable to est ablish the signi ficance of the reeds - possibly they indicated that the food was tabu - but c learly the small quan t ity of food was some thing in the nature of a propi tiatory of fering , as at Malekula and Erroman go . Suspec t in g another trap , Cook had muskets fired over the heads of the crowd on his right - i . e . t o the west - but , i f anything , i t simply provoked them. He signalled the ship , lying in readine ss b roadside to the shore , to fire a few four-pounde rs ove r the crowd - which dispersed , enabling Cook to land and rope o f f a clear passage to the

4Cook 196 1 : 4 78-9 ; Robertson 1902 : 1 8 ; Chee sman 19 49 : 146-9 . 5wales 1961 : 852 ; c f . Cook 1961 : 4 82 -6 ; Sparrman 195 3 : 14 3-7 ; Anon . 1776 : 85 ; [Marra ] 1 7 75 : 2 6 9-72 ; Fo rster 17 7 7 : 2 6 3-81 .

Plate 4 The landing at Tanna . (Engraved by I . K . Sherwin from the painting by W. Hodges , in Cook 1970, pl . LIX . )

N 00

fre shwater pool twenty yards from the beach . The old man , Paowang , alone among the Tannese , s tood his ground . His name is not remembered today at Port Resolut ion , but his repeated pilgrimages out to the ship, and his sub sequent dealings with the Europeans , indic ate he was the only one among the Tanne se con fi­dent that he could control these gods from beyond the horizon .

For the fortnight that H .M . S . Reso lution lay at anchor in his bay , old Paowang played out the role of mediator . He led

2 9

the way with h i s gift-o fferings , t rying t o establish the most acceptable form of propit iation - he gave the European s the only pig they were offered at the is lan d , and once he . led a procession of twenty men each bearing a smal l gift o f frui t and roo ts ; he was the first to throw asi de his weapons and he tried to convince his countrymen to do the same ; he showed Cook which trees he might cut down and those he might not ; he introduced the Europeans to the local dignitaries ; above all , he reassured the Tanne se that he could control the visitors . For their part the Europeans searched him out for advice and assistance - none more so than Cook , who could reflect after a week :

Thus we found these people Civil and good Natured when not prompted by j ealousy t o a contrary conduc t , a conduct one cannot blame them for when one conside rs the light in which they must look upon us in , its impossib le for them to know our real design , we enter their Ports without their darin g to make opposition , we attempt to land in a peaceable manne r , i f this succee ds its well, if not we land nevertheless and mentain the foot ing we _thus got by the Superiority o f our fire arms , in what other light can they than at first look upon us b ut as invaders of their Country ; t ime and some acquaintance with us can only con­vince them o f the ir mistake . 6

Following Paowang ' s lead , the older men adopted a consist­ently deferential attitude towards their visitors and seemingly were connnit ted to controlling them through ritual means . But among the young - particularly those on the west s ide of the bay , the side Cook had fired on - there were some only too ready to test the ir mettle against the visitors with threats and expressions of deris ion . When the canoes firs t came o f f to the ship , it seems to have been the young men , waving their bows and arrows, who ' became very t roublesome having much inclination to attack the ship ' . When Cook had a muske t fired over the heads of the crowd assembled on the beach , it was a young warrior on the western shore who turned his backside and beat it like a monkey - for which he was rewarded with a shot from Lieutenant Edgecomb . The following day ' many of the younger sort were very daring an d insolent and obliged us to stand with our Arms

6cook 1961 : 49 3 .

30

in hand ' , and Edgecomb again foun d it nece ssary to f ire at one . A few days later two or three boys threw stones from behin d a thicket at a wooding party , ' for which they were f ired at by the petty officers present ' . But if Cook was ' much disp leased ' at that wanton abuse of f irearms , as he put it , he was ' outrage d ' an d ' astonished beyond measure ' when , on their last day a t the islan d , a sent ry shot dead a young warrior after he - or possibly anothe r - had presented his bow and arrow as i f to shoot . ' This was no more than was done hourly ' , Cook wrote , ' and I bel ieve with no other View than to le t ·us see they were Armed as well as us ' . Whatever the c ircumstances surrounding the event , the Tannese react ion was immediate . They were thrown into the utmost con­sternation , wrote Cook , and ' the few that were prevailed on to a stay ran down to the p lantations and brought Cocoa nut ts &c and laid down at our feet , so soon were those daring peop le humble d ' . Anders Sparrman and George Forster , returning from a botan ical excursion at the t ime o f the shooting , were ' avoide d . . • l ike bugbears ' by the Tannese they met running from the beach . The younger ones ran and hid behin d b ushe s , and ' none of the olde r men would s top and speak t o us , but with sorrow and disgust clearly depicted in the ir face s , which were half turned away , they s ignalled with the ir hands that we should go on our way , as they wished to have nothing more to do with us ' . A terri fied woman o f fe red the baske t of pears she was carrying , if only they would leave he r . 7

For the rest of the day the beach was virtually deserted : Paowan g , with promises to Cook o f fruit on the morrow, was one o f the few to appear. But there were to b e n o further offerings ; by the appoin ted time the ship had put to sea , t aking advan tage of a favourable breeze . What happened to old Paowan g , whose paci f ic policy had been unable to avoid at least one death , is a mystery .

Cook immediately had the sentry , Wedgebo rough , a marine , thrown into irons ; and he would have had him flogge d too if Edgecomb , the Lieutenant of Marines , had not intervene d (j us t as he had done five months earlier when Wedgeborough had been given a dozen lashes for easing himsel f be tween decks) . 8 But the damage had been done - according to Forster9 more or less del iber­ate ly at Edgecomb ' s behes t , to spite Cook ' s pacific pol icy - and Cook sailed from his Port Resolut ion b itter with the knowledge that his e f forts to es tablish amicable relat ions should have been undone by a s ingle shot . I t was his regret that a people

7Forster 1 7 7 7 : 2 8 3 , 330 , 351 ; Mitchel , Log , 6 August 1 7 74 ; Sparrman 195 3 : 1 45-51 ; Cook 196 1 : 484-500 .

8Mitchel , Log , 1 8-19 March 1 7 7 4 . 9 Fors ter 1 7 7 7 : 350-3 .

he had j udged j us t days before to be ' Civil and good Natured ' would look upon the British as ' invaders of their Coun try ' , determined to impose their will through the ir superior weapons .

31

As Cook had foreseen , it was the fatal shot which was remembered by the Tannese for generat ions to come - but not quite in the way he had feared . For the Tannese , the even t assumed significance in terms o f a different cultural framework ; as it turned out , in political terms , i t became an instance o f the ir cont rol over the European . Nearly seventy years after the event the miss ionary George Turner recorded the Tannese tradit ion of Cook ' s visi t :

They , ( the Tannese) were terrified for him, ( Cook) e spe­c ially when he fired upon them , and supposed that he was more than human . Seven , they say , were wounde d , two of whom died and five recovered • • • . They say that he went up to a marum and saw a chief very ill and surrounded by people wailing over him, an d on being told that certain persons were burning his rubb ish and causing all the sick­ne ss he sought them out and fired upon them! . • • They point to one or two places and say ' there Kuke stood and talked ' . They also point to a moun tain where he cut an ironwood tree . They also say that he left them two Kangaroos and show us where they lived for some t ime . Bye and bye they became annoyed by the howling of the animals -and then they killed them an d eat them. 1 0

The transformation of Tahitian dogs in to kangaroos provides some­thing o f an anecdotal aside on the process o f culture con tact (though it also carries a serious le sson on how oral tradit ion is not chrono-logic ) . The more profoun d e lement in the myth is the presumption that Cook sought out and killed the nahak sorcerers responsible for the chief ' s illness . It sums up , with an economy of words that comes from the ab sence of scept icism, the gap between what contact signified to the Tannese and what it signi­fied to the Europeans . We know from Cook ' s Journal that on Monday 15 August he visited a ' little Stragling Village ' on the east side of the bay , where the people , ' in whose neighbourhood l ived our friend Paowan g , be ing bet ter acquainted with us than those we had seen in the morning [ to the wes t ] , shewe d a readiness to obl ige us in every thing in the ir powe r ' . The villagers made signs that a man ' slip t or was dead ' in a small, fenced-off hut . Cook , curious as always t o see all he coul d , p revailed on an elderly man to go with him up to the hut , though the man would not suf fer Cook to remove the mats which covered the entrance . He was also unwilling for Cook to look into a baske t containing a p iece of roasted yam an d some leaves which hung at one end of the hut . Fastened to a string around the old man ' s neck were a

1 0Turner 1842-3 : 13 .

32

few locks of hair for which Cook o f fere d somethin g in exchange ; but he was given to understand ' this would not be done as they belonged to the person who laid in the hut t ' . From his knowledge of fl.Uleral ri tes in Tahiti an d New Zealan d , Cook concluded that the person in the hut was dead ; going by the oral tradit ion he was , rather , ' very i ll ' . I t would have been c lear t o the Tannese that Cook took an in terest in the matter ; and when , four days later , one of his men fired upon and killed a warrior - quite pos sibly from the west side of the bay - it would have seeme d that Cook , an ancestor , had sought out and pl.Ulished the o ffending sorcerer . Perhaps i t was the purpose of his visit for , the next day , after conferring with Paowang , Cook departed whence he c ame .

By the t ime Turner recorded the Tannese t radition o f Cook ' s visit , two more Royal Navy vessels had called a t Port Resolution . H .M . S . Favorite and Sul phur were not the first ships since Cook , however . That honour went to a Russian ship , Diana , which anchored in the bay for a few days in 1809 . Commander Golovnin ' s relations with the Tannese were excellen t : using the small dic tion­ary compile d by Cook he was able to obt ain all the water , firewood , c oconuts , yams , sugar cane , figs , p lantains and bread-fruit he could carry - though i t was less useful when Golovnin tried to explain to the Tannese that the Rus sian state was spacious and powerful . Golovnin was followed by the Irish adventurer , Peter Dillon , whos e ship , CaZdeP , lay in the bay for a fortnight in 1825 . The most notable occurrence of his visit was the shooting o f a young warrior who made off with the ship ' s washing : the Tannese brought him back on board , indicating to the visitors that if they could kill they could al so cure - an assumpt ion which con forme d perfec tly to their etiology of illness . Dillon was followed in his search for sandalwood by Samuel Henry whose two ships , So phia and Sna ppeP were at Port Resolution in April 1829 . Between 1828 and 1 8 34 an l.Ulknown whaler made ' seve ral ' stopovers , and the merchant vessel MaPgarae t Oak ley , made one brie f stop at the harbour . 1 1 The stay of the next known visitor , in November 18 39 , was also brief : L . M . S . missionary John Williams stayed j ust long enough to set down three Samoan teachers to p repare the way for European missionaries . The next day he was clubbed t o death at the neighbouring is land of Erromango , and when news o f his death reached Sydney Sir George Gipps , the New South Wales Gov­ernor , despatched Charles Croker in H .M . S . Favori te to recover the martyr ' s remains and to check on the safety of the three teachers on Tanna . The only references to Croker ' s visit are second-hand and indirect . He arrived at Port Resolution ort 26 February 1840 and spent no more t ime there than was neces sary t o pick up an interpreter for Erromango and to take delivery o f a

1 1Nozikov 1945 : 81-5 ; Sydney Gaze t te , 3 March 1825 ; Baxter 184 1 : 5 -6 ; Benne tt 18 32 : 128-31 ; Anon . 18 39 : 60 3-5 ; Jacobs 1844 : 2 35 -6 .

33

let ter from one o f the Samoans begging the mis sionaries at Samoa to relieve him of his post . Croker , who took a paternal interest in protestant missions , did all that he could for the Samoans -short of complying wi th Lalolangi ' s request to be repatriated -but came away from Port Resolution believing that the Tannese were not to be t rusted . 1 2

Croker ' s low opinion o f the Tannese was share d by S ir Edward Belcher , who called at Port Resolut ion in June 1840 after a four year voyage of discovery in H .M . S . Sulphur' . Belcher had the Tannese summed up even be fore he had made contact with them. He saw them coming off to his ship in ' some of the mos t miserable apologies for canoes that we have yet witnesse d ' , after which it was inevit able that he would con front only his own caricatures . The few hours he spent taking on wood and surveying the bay were enough for him to conclude that the Tannese were ' very low in the scale of human be ings • • • filthy , ill-looking , insolen t , and troub lesome as a peop le • • • monkey like ' with a yell ' half-serious , half-comic ' , who , like all savages , could be reduced from insolence to abj ect fear ' by even pretending determination ' . Although his first quest ion on landing was for ' permission to open trade ' , Belcher found the Tannese ' lit tle inclined t o t raffic ' , so he spent his t ime on shore st rut tin g about pretending determination , marking out tabu lines around the observation instrument s and ordering ' t remb lin g ' natives out of bounds . The Tannese , however , refuse d to p lay the lit tle charade : having discovered that they could annoy Belcher by vibrating the ground when readings were taken , they ' commenced simultaneous poundings with billets of wood, and threw stones high in the air , which fell near and risked the instrumen t s ·' . A landing party at the head o f the bay collec t­ing wood was also t rouble d by the Tannese throwing s tones . 1 3

Brie f as it was , Belcher ' s contac t with the Tannese - they might j us t as well have been nat ives anywhere - was s ignificant enough to warrant nine pages in his account of his six year voyage . It is unlikely that his visi t retained commensurate signi ficance for the Tannese as score s of commerc ial vesse ls made contac t with the island during the 1840s . When the next naval ship cal led at Port Resolution , in 1849 , more than fi fty trading vessels had been listed in the Sydney press as having stopped at Tanna . 1 4 Many more would not have been listed . Most were sandalwooders whose interest had turned to the southern New

1 2The Australian , 3 December 18 39 ; Heath 1840 ; Heath to L . M . S . , 30 March , 26 May 1840 , L . M . S . South Seas Letters ; Reso lutions and minutes of missionary meetin g held at Apia , 30 March 1840 , L . M . S . South Seas Le tters ; Sydney Hera ld, 2 7 July 1840 . 1 3Belche r 184 3 : 5 7-65 . 1 4Shipping lists in the Sydney Gazette, Sydney Herald and Sh . G. & S. G. T. L .

34

Hebrides with the dep le tion of the mo re accessib le I s le of P ines ' woo d in the early 1840s . L . M . S . mis s ionaries reporte d two ships tradin g at Tanna in July 1842 an d , according to the Samoan teachers , ' many ves sels ' had calle d at the harbour in the prece d­ing year . 1 5

Tanna provide d some sandalwoo d , 1 6 but it was the safe anchorage and avai lability of fre sh food and water which a t tracte d most visitors to Por t Re solution . 1 7 I n return f o r their p i g s and yams the Tannese rec eived tomahawks , axes , adzes , glass beads , sc issors , various types o f knive s , scarle t c loth , as sorted fish­hooks , saws and musket and pis tol flint s . Within a few years ,how­ever , tobacco had assumed pride o f pl ace among trade goods : Bishop Se lwyn wrote in 1 849 tha t he could not expec t to mat ch the popular­it y of the trading ve ssels at Port Re solution without the use o f tobacco . I n the same year the mi ssionary John Geddie noted that the Tanne se were ' mos t de sirous ' to ob tain beads , iron hoops , tortoise-she ll and files . The trader J . C . Lewis wrote in the following year that ' pipes Fish Hooks an d Tobacco ' were all that were neede d for trade . When James Paddon es tabl ishe d his san dal­wood s tat ion at Port Resolut ion in 1852 his Tanne se worke rs were paid in tobacco , though trinkets apparen tly re tained some of their appeal : in 185 3 Paddon sent a samp le o f she lls an d brace­le ts from Tanna to London to see if imitation s could be made in China . 1 8 Muske ts , however , were not common currency in the early ' fif ties and it was not 1.lll.t il about 1856 tha t they became a maj or tradin g item . In 1859 Andrew Henry wrote to Towns , ' You can only ge t Pigs on tanna with Muske ts she ll powder & goo d tomahawks ' . Henry specifie d good tomahawks because he had been compelle d to send back to Sydney a consignment of cheap ones which the Tanne se would no t even consider accep ting for their pigs . ' We must study the taste of the Native s ' , he wro te Stewart , ' and wi thout tor toishell & Muskets on Tanna we may [ as wel l ] give it up ' . Ingl is wrote in 185 7 that tobacco and firearms were virtual ly the only artic les sought by the Tannese . Some

1 5 Buzacott 1842 ; Nisbe t , Diary 30 Jl.lll.e , 1 July 184 2 ; McLean t o Murray , 2 7 December 184 3 , L . M . S . South Seas Le t ters . 1 6 Anon . 1839 : 60 3 ; Turner an d Nisbet 184 8 . 1 7cf . Sydney Gaze tte , 3 March 182 5 ; Benne tt 1832 : 12 8 ; Jacob s 1844 : 2 36 ; Shineberg 19 7lb : 89 ; Cheyne 1852 : 35-6 ; Henry to S tewart , 9 May 185 9 , Towns Papers , item 89 ; Unde rwood to Towns , 1 6 Jl.lll.e 186 4 , Towns Papers , item 9 1 ; Robertson 1902 : 38 . 1 8Towns to Brook s , 10 July 1842 , Towns Papers , item 6 7 ; Selwyn to his father , 6 December 1 84 9 , Selwyn Letters ; Geddie to Archibal d , n . d . , Missionary Regis tera 185 0 : 40 ; Lewis t o Towns , 1 9 August 185 0 , Towns Papers , item 91 ; Bowles , Diary , 31 October 185 3 ; Paddon to Magniac & Co . , 12 Augus t 185 3 .

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years late r Captain Has tings remarke d to the mis sionary Robertson tha t in the la te 1850s the trade i tems mos t in demand at Tanna were muske ts , powder , caps , t omahawks , kn ives , fish-hooks , re d ochre , p ipe s , tobacco , shot , and tortoise-she l l , an opinion c onfirmed by Paton . 1 9

With the passage of t ime an d the greate r availabi li ty o f European goods the Tanne se became more selec tive about what they would accept for the ir pro duce . In 1840 they had been prepared to swap almost anythin g for ' shreds of handkerchie fs , old clothes , & sails - in fac t rags • , 2 0 but by 185 9 they re fused even to c onsider exchan ging pigs for what they c laimed were in ferior tomahawks . It is also signi fic an t that after years of European contact the Tannese use d the trade rs ' de sire for p igs to obtain tradit ionally-valued items l ike tortoise-shell and red ochre . Thus by the t ime Paton arrived at Port Re solution in 1858 a European could not , as that missionary presuppose d , 2 1 easily buy favours with the cheap trinkets which had been prized years be fore .

I t might be assume d that , o f all the European addition s to Tanna ' s material cult ure , firearms must have had the mo st revolu­tionary and devastating effect . The evidence , however , would sugges t o therwise . Though the Tannese were aware o f the musket ' s value as early as 1843 they had not mastere d it s use at that t ime , and it was st ill a rare commodity in 1850 . In 185 1 , how­ever, a ship ' s master at Port Resolution was obl iged to pay a ran som of nine musket s and twelve potmds of powde r for the release of four of his c rew ; and by 185 3 the occas ional muske t was bein g traded on Tanna fo r pigs . As late as 1856 muske ts were reported to be newly in demand on Tanna - as on Erromango and even after that date there i s a suggest ion that they might have been collected as pres tige obj ects : in May 1856 the yani en dete Miaki smashed two of his muskets as a sign of his earnestne ss to receive mi ssionaries . By 186 2 Paton (hardly an unbiased wit­ne s s ) could report hundreds of muske ts in circulat ion around Por� Re solution 2 2 - but even if there were an influx of weapons at

1 9 Henry �o Towns , 27 November 185 9 , Town s Papers , it em 91 ; Henry to S tewart , 9 May 1859 , Towns Pape rs , item 89 ; Inglis to Graham, 16 Oc tobe r 185 7 , R. P. M. 1858 : 155 ; Robert son 1902 : 3 7 ; Paton , Note­books and Journals . 2 0 Heath 1840 . 2 1 cf . Paton , ' People in civilized christ ian lands ' , Notebooks and Journals . 2 2 Turne r 1842-3 : 2 7 ; Nisbe t , Diary , 2 5 November 1846 ; Turne r and Nisbet 184 8 ; Erskine 185 3 : 304 ; Murray and Stmderland 185 2 ; Bowle s , Diary , 5 November 185 3 ; Henry t o Towns , 2 8 September 1856 , Towns Papers , item 91 ; Geddie , Diary , 30 May 1856 ; Gordon , ' One year on Erromanga ' , Missionary Register 1859 : 39 ; Paton to Kay , 30 January 1862 , R. P.M. 1 862 : 2 4 4 .

36

the end of the 1850s , it is by no mean s clear that there was a corre sponding rise in mortal ity. After all , the firearms avail­able were notorious ly unrel iab le and inaccurate . 2 3 In the light of the evidence , claims such as Guiart ' s , that the in troduct ion o f firearms on a grand scale from the beginn in g (sic) o f the nine teen th cen tury made warfare mo re murderous , and en de d open , ritual battles on Tanna , must be viewe d in the same light as Golovnin ' s conc lus ion tha t the Tannese drove the ir pigs in land when he arrived in 1809 as ' the result of the vile behavio ur of the Spaniards , Portuguese , Dutch and Engl ish t 2 4

This is not to claim that firearms had no e f fec t . Un­doubte dly the re were shifts in the balance o f powe r be tween those coastal tribes which were able to ob tain European me rchandise , including musket s , and the tribes which were not . It is possible tha t the migration s around Port Reso lut ion commen te d on by missionary visitor s in the 1850 s 2 5 migh t point to the demise of the Numrikwen-Kauyamera mo ie ty and the emergence - in the area o f greatest European contact - of the super-t ribal coastal group in g Kwatahrenimin . This would have enabled the coastal Tannese to monopolize and explo it the European pre sence vis-a-vis the ir in land cousins . If some t hing like th is did occur , it poin ts not to passive islanders be in g man ipulat ed by t raders - the common miss ionary assumption 2 6 - but to the Tannese organiz ing creat ively and radically to cont rol their European vis ito rs .

In a sense , the ve ry ac t of exchanging goods and service s with the European was , from the Tannese point of view , a means of con tro lling him. For the European s the goods were e conomic commoditie s , the ac t of exchange a commercial transact ion ; but for the Tannese , whose soc ial relat ion s were charac te rized at eve ry level by rec iprocal exchange , they were what Levi-S trauss 2 7 would te rm vehic le s and in struments for realit ie s of anothe r o rder -such as power , influence , sympathy , status and emot ion . From this point of view , exchange on Tanna consisted o f a comp lex total ity of conscious and unconsc ious manoeuvre s which served to gain sec urity and to guard against the risks implie d by alliances an d rivalries . In exchanging c loth , tools , tobac co or muske ts for

2 3shineberg 1 9 7 la : 6 1-82 . 2 4 Guiart 1956 : 94 ; Nos ikov 194 5 : 82 . 2 5 ' Thi rteen th miss ionary voyage to We stern Polynesia an d Savage Island ' , Samoan Reporter 20 , January 1859 ; cf . Guiart 1956 : 66 , 71 . 2 6 cf . Geddie , Diary , 2 0 October 1849 , 6 August 1851 ; Ingl is 1 852 : 5 37-8 ; Paton and Copeland to Kay , 2 6 May 1859 , R. P. M. 1859 : 360 . 2 7 Levi-St raus s 1969 : 54 .

pigs , wood or women ' s favours , Europeans operated with in an existing Tannese ritual framework , in terms o f which the Tanne se were ideolo gically prepared for the influx of European traders from the 1840 s .

In o ther respec t s , European trader cont ac t profollll dly affec ted Tannese men tal horizon s . Before the 1840s , apart from possible acc idental voyages , Tanne se cont act with the other

3 7

is lands was confined t o the so uthern New Heb ride s . Re gular trader contact from the 1840s increased the volume , frequency and espe­c ially the ran ge of travel availab le . Be tween 1842 an d 1858 over 100 ves sels on the ir way to or from Aust ralia are known to have called at Tanna . 2 8 Un doubtedly many more vi sits were not recorded . There was also a regular inter-island movemen t of small vessels attache d to sandalwood stat ions - Geddie wro te from Ane ityum in 184 8 that he was able to communicate once a fortnight with the three Polyne sian teachers at Port Re solut ion by means of Captain Paddon ' s ve ssels . In addit ion , from 185 7 a small schooner belong­ing to the Presbyterian miss ion made several trips a year to the various islan ds of the southern New Hebr ide s . 2 9 But in terms o f Tanne se at titude s towards Europeans an d European soc ie ty the most important voyage s were to the Austral ian colonie s . I t i s impo ssible t o estimate how many Tannese were involve d . Twenty­s ix are known to have sailed to Sydney in the Ve locity in 184 7 to be employed as cheap colonial labour : they dispersed an d made the ir way b ack to the islands when they real ized that the obj ect of the voyage was not simp ly to look at Sydney . Two Tanne se (probab ly 0 from the Ve locity ) were listed as ' passen gers ' on the Henry when it le ft Sydney in November 184 7 and the Marian Watson carrie d eight Tanne se to Sydney in August 1 84 9 . 3 0 With their high reputation for seamanship , there were ce rtain ly many more Tannese amon g the 483 islanders listed in the Shi pping Gaze tte as having arrived in Sydney and the 520 l iste d as having departed thence between 1844 and 185 8 . Tanne se crewmen were also engage d on Hobart Town whalers , though again it is impossible to estab­lish the number involve d . In September 1 86 1 th irteen young Neraimene tribe smen were taken from Port Re solut ion by the whale r Southern Cross . They t urne d up in Tasman ia in April 1862 , and in the following month the people of Hobart , for the cost of one shill in g , were ab le to see ' the thirteen Ab origine s from

2 8Figures based on my reading of the var ious l it erary sources and the shipping l ist s pr inted in the Sydney Herald ( late r , S.M. H. ) , Sh . G. & S. G . T. L . and Sydney Mai l .

2 9Patterson 1882 : 1 18 ; In gl is to Graham, 2 3 July 185 7 , R. P.M. 1858 : 83 ; Inglis to Kay , 7 November 185 9 , R. P.M. 1 86 1 : 13 . 3 0Sh . G. & S. G. T. L . , 2 4 April , 1 3 Novembe r , 1 8 December 184 7 , 1 September 1849 ; Nisbet , Diary , 14 July 1848 ; Turner and Nisb et 1848 ; Ing lis to Bates , 14 Decembe r 185 4 , R. P. M. 1856 : 133 .

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Tanna I s land . • • perform the ir corrobborree , nat ive songs and dance s , at the Royal Polytechnic Bazaar By the kin d permiss ion of Capt ain Mansfield ' . At least two of the men were st ill in the Australian colonie s in 1865 . 3 1

Beside s serving aboard san dalwooders and whalers many Tannese were also shippe d to var ious islands to cut and clean san dalwood . As one trader later remarked, ' for hard-working and steady station han ds , the . Tannese . • . we always found good ' -though not on the ir own island . Captain Has tings ' opin ion was echoe d by a visitor to Port Re so lut ion in 185 3 , who remarked that e ight Loyalty I s lan ders could do more in a day at Paddon ' s stat ion than seven ty Tannese . 3 2 An un fo rtunate by-pro duc t o f the use of immigrant islan ders as crewmen and labourers was the clashes with ind igenous populat ions . Some times Tannese were involved. Like­wise , there were c lashes on Tanna , with reports o f immigrant islanders employe d at the san dalwood depot being kille d or wounde d . 3 3

There were al so Tanne se-European clashes , though they were neiti1er as frequen � nor as fatal as some of the an ti-trader l iter­ature would suggest . As Shineberg has argue d , 3 4 tho ugh the trade had its occas ional psychopath it wo ul d be wrong to assume that islanders never in it iate d quarre ls or that many clashe s did not re sult from innocent mis takes on both sides : the evidence o f Tannese-Europe an clashe s in the 1 8 40 s an d ' 50s con firms that neit her trader nor islan der monopol ized right or wron g . wben two crewmen of the whaler Munford were beaten up at Port Re solut ion in July 1842 , the Tannese told George Turner and Henry Nisbet , the two re s ident mis sionarie s , that they had tried to take some prope rty from the Europeans because they had stolen some thing. For the ir part , the c rew bel ieved that the miss ionaries had put the Tanne se up to it . The next mon th a shore party from an American whaler was forced to flee to the b oats after a scuffle

3 1 Paton to Kay , 11 October 186 1 , R.P .M. 1862 : 148 ; Hobart Toum

Advertise r , 2 3 Apr il 1 862 ; Mercury , 3 May 1862 ; Examiner , 18 September 1 862 ; Mrs Paton to a frien d , 17 October 1 865 , R. P. M. ,

1866 : 16 7 . 3 2captain Hastings , quoted in Robert son 1902 : 40 ; Bowles , Diary , 31 October , 1 Novembe r 185 3. For Tannese on other islands cf. Sh. G. & S. G. T . L . , 2 1 August 184 7 ; Lewis to Town s , 19 August 1 850 , Towns Papers , item 9 1 ; Mrs Henry to Town s , 25 December 186 3 , Towns Papers , item 91 . 3 3S'h . G. & S. G. T. L . , 2 1 August 184 7 , 1 1 March , 2 9 July 1 84 8 ; Erskine 185 3 : 32 8-30 , 344 ; Samoan Re porter 8 , September 1848 ; Geddie to Archibald , c. July 1 8 48 , Missionary Register 1850 : 40 . 34 shineberg 196 7 : 91-2 , 2 14 .

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with some Tannese . Turner assert ed that they had go t hol d o f some native women and had done ' wha t the natives themselves would be ashamed o f ' ; but Ni sbet wrote in his diary that the women were used as a ploy to get hold of the Europeans ' hatchets . The promise o f women was used again in 1846 t o decoy inland a boat ' s crew from the whaler High lander . While engaged with the women the men ' s guns were seized and one c rewman kill ed . When the survivors reached their ship the capt ain opened fire on the shore , with one Tanne se reported killed . Two years later three Europeans from the set tlement at Aneityum were kil led ' a few miles ' to the west of Port Resolut ion where they had gone to buy pigs and yams . The teachers report ed that the desire for European property was the cause . 3 5

Occas ionally there was a c lash which had a profound impact on Tannese-European relations , s uch as the murder on board the Deborah in 1851 of the Yanekahi dignitary Gaskin . The first report of Gaskin ' s death to reach Sydney c laimed that a quarrel with the ship ' s master followed Gaskin ' s re fusal to allow the ship ' s crew to land , and when the captain attempted to do so anyway Gaskin st ruck him . Though Gaskin had a reputation for standing up against overbearin g ships ' captains , 3 6 the newspaper report of his death had been gained second or third hand at Aneityum and was clearly inacc urate in some respects such as the name of the vessel . 3 7 The Deborah ' s capt ain was Captain Whit e , o f whom Erskine (citing the trader Rodd) wro te : ' Of a tyrannical and vindic tive disposit ion , he was the terror of the natives , and had frequen tly been known to watch for days in the bush , for an opport unity of shooting one with whom he had a di fference ' . 3 8 Four crewmen of the Hobart Town whaler Eliza who were asho re at Port Reso lution at the t ime of Gaskin ' s death were seized by the Tannese and ' condemne d to dea th two separate t imes ' , and would probably have been killed had not the Samoan teachers intervened and secured the ir release by the paymen t of nine muskets and twelve potm.ds of powder . A few days later the Rover 's Bride called at the harbour tm.aware of what had occurre d . The Tannese resolved to t ake the vessel to avenge Gaskin ' s death but the crew were warne d in t ime by the S amoans . 39 Gaskin ' s death is st il l today bit terly recalle d around Port Reso lution , and a

3 5Nisbet , Diary , 28 July , 25 August 1842 , 25 November 1846 ; Turner 1842-3 : 14 ; Gill and Nisbet 1846 ; Turner and Nisbet 1848 . 3Gcf . Selwyn , Let ters , 6 December 1849 ; Erskine 185 3 : 3 16- 1 7 . 3 7s . M. H. , 2 6 January 1852 . 3 8 Erskine 185 3 : 39 3 . 3 9Murray and Stm.derland 185 2 ; Geddie , Diary , 5 January 185 2 ; Home 185 3 : 516 .

4 0

local t radit ion maintain s that the desire to avenge h i s death was still st rong among sec tions o f the Yanekahi and Kaserwnene t ribes many years later .

No twithst anding the later c laims o f b it ter Tannese resen t­men t and a Sydney newspaper report at the time 4 0 that the Tannese had vowed to kil l the crew of the next ship to anchor at Port Resolut ion , the Europeans workin g on the sandalwood stations at the harbo ur seem to have con tinued in their friendly relat ion s wit h the Tanne se . Capt ain Richards had estab lished the first s tation in 1847 for Sydney merchan t John Ket tle , and it was reported in July 1848 that he and two other E uropeans were st ill there collec ting and cleaning sandalwood . Early in 1849 Sydney entrepreneur Robert Towns wrote of opposing Ket t le at Tanna , an d by Oc tober 1 8 5 0 he too had opened a station at the harbour . Arolfild this t ime , Richards ' sta tion c losed down . In 1852 Captain Paddon moved his sandalwood operat ions from Aneityum , formin g an ' extensive estab lishment ' in the southeast corner o f the bay . I t c losed down in 1855 . In 185 7 ano ther stat ion was operating on the east side wit h a European agen t trading in yams , copra an d s ulphur ; and from 185 9 to 186 3 Captain Winchester managed a station at the harbour for An drew Henry . 4 1 Men such as these who depended not only for their livelihood but for their very lives on maintaining friendly relat ions with the local inhab it ants , would have viewe d wit h alarm ac tions like White ' s killin g o f Gaskin . Leonard Cory , in charge of one of the sandalwood stations at Port Resolut ion in 184 9 , told Cap tain Erskine that in the ten mon ths he had resided at the harbour the Tannese had not stolen one article from his open sheds . When he was alone an d de lirious with fever the Tannese had ' ten ded him with b rotherly care , force d open his mouth to give him food when he was senseless , an d left all his property lfiltouche d ' . A few years later , anothe r i ll trader , who had come over from Erromango for treatment at the hot springs , was le ft lID.moleste d by the Tannese as he lay in a makeshi ft hut by the springs on the west side of the bay . Even after an outb reak of smallpox in 185 3 , which le d to the disbandment of the miss ion , a vis iting missionary was ab le to c onnnen t , ' The foreigners resi ding in thi s bay seeme d in no dan ger whateve r and have , eviden tly , a considerab le in fluence ove r the natives • . . ' 4 2

4 0s . M . H . , 2 1 January 1852 . 4 l se lwyn , Let ters , 6 December 184 9 ; Turner an d Nisbet 184 8 ; Towns to Lewis , 2 6 April 184 9 , Towns Pape rs , item 69 ; Town s to Collins , 20 Oc tober 185 0 , Towns Papers , item 68 ; Murray and Sunderland 1852 ; Sunder land and Murray 185 3-4 ; MacGillivray , Journal , 4 December 1854 ; Hardie 1854 ; Geddie , Journal entry for 1 3 June 185 7 , Missionary Registe r 1858 : 85 ; Paton to Kay , 14 Oc tober 1859 , 24 May 1860 , R. P. M. 1860 : 68-9 , 404 ; Shineberg 196 7 : 251 . 4 2selwyn , Le t ters , 6 December 1849 , 17 October 185 7 ; Erskine 185 3 : 30 3-5 ; Murray and Hardie 184 9 ; Hardie 1854 .

Captain Paddon exemplified the type o f relat ions which resident traders coul d enj oy with the Tannese . In many respe c ts sharing the trait s o f the typical beachcomber - from the time

4 1

h e set tled a t Port Resolution t o h i s death in 1 8 6 1 he lived with a native woman by whom he had four daughters - Pad don bel ieve d that one needed to be ' friendly but firm ' with the islanders , to treat them fair ly and expect fair treatment in return . He did not l ike to see the ' b lack fellows ' with firearms and it is tmlikely that he ever traded in muske ts whi le at Tanna . From the diary ent ries of Thomas Bowles , who spen t a fortnight with Paddon at Port Resolution in 185 3 , Paddon emerge s as a man wi th a rough affec tion for the is landers . He was not apprehensive in moving amon g the Tannese and he was familiar with many of their customs , which he neither der ided nor con demned . However , he was no sen timentalist about native supers tit ion s ( as he cal led them) and he looked forward to the enligh tenment which increase d com­mercial contac t would bring . He had lit tle sympathy for the ' civi lizing ' methods of the pro testant miss ionarie s an d he thought that the Polynes ian teachers p lace d by the L .M . S . at Port Re solu­tion were ' hardly removed at all in poin t of civilizat ion from the inhabitants o f the is land ' . On the othe r hand , he had hoped that Bishop Se lwyn would stay as a mis sionary at Port Re solut ion . 4 3

The re were other traders at Port Resolution who did not share Paddon ' s outlook or succes s . One station proprie tor had to sleep every night with a loaded muske t beside him to de ter the Tannese from s teal in g . I t may have been the same man who was killed at the station a year later . He was a Scot sman who had worke d on various sandalwood ve ssels and station s an d who had been forced to f lee Erromango after shootin g an islan der . Apparen tly he was in the habi t of firin g at the Tannese too , and he had been warned by his employer that his reckle ssness would provoke the Tanne se int o killin g him. He was killed by Nouka , an important yani en de te at Port Resolut ion , who de fie d his order t o leave the station p remises , whereupon the trader p ul le d down a musket and threatened to shoot him. The gtm mis-fired and No uka took up a p iece o f iron an d threw it at the trade r ' s head. He died a few hours later . 4 4

S uch incident s were seized upon by miss ionarie s a s typical of the san dalwood trade . Given the small proport ion of such clashe s relative to overall cont ac t , the missionary view was

4 3Bowles , Diary , 28 October-9 November 185 3 ; O ' Reilly 195 7 : 1 7 3-4 . 4 4Ingl is t o Graham, 2 3 July , 16 October 185 7 , R.P.M. 1858 : 8 7 , 155 ; Geddie to Board of Foreign Mis sion s , Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia , 2 8 September 185 7 , Missionarry RegisteP 1858 : 2 76 .

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c le arly distorted . However , it was share d by many naval of ficers , who assume d that the South Sea I s landers were usually provoke d into committing atrocities by European misconduc t . In re sponse to pressure from both humanitarian an d commerc ial interests for a greater naval presen ce in the southwest Pacific , Cap tain John Elphinstone Erskine , sen ior of ficer of the newly-created Australian Divis ion of the Royal Navy ' s East Indies S tation , inaugurated a plan for the regular perio dic in spect ion o f the region with his 1849 tour of Samoa , Tonga , Fij i , the New Heb rides , the Loyalties and New Cale'don ia . 4 5 I t was Erskine ' s prac tice to seek out the princ ipa l men at each islan d with whom to negot iate . He showed them over his ship , gave them food and other presen ts , inquired into any grievance s they migh t have an d explained t o them the obj ec t o f his visit . I n the few days he was on Tanna, Erskine establ ished cordial relation s with the Tannese at Black Beach an d Whitesands as wel l as Port Re solut ion . He distribute d food and exchange d axes , tobacco , beads and whales ' teeth for native produc ts - which would have signi fied frien dli­ness and peaceful inten tions to the Tanne se . At the trader Leonard Cory ' s request he removed from Port Reso lution an Eng lishman , Stephen s , who had invo lved himself in a local dispute . He interviewe d the leader o f the war party Stephens had j o ined and explained that the deportat ion of the Engl ishman was not designed to deprive him of an ally , but was to discourage othe r Engl ishmen from taking part in the islanders ' disputes . He obtained from both war chie fs assurance s that they would make peace . At B lack Beach , Erskine heard of an af fray which had taken place some mon ths be fore be tween a local tribe and the crew of a san dalwood ve ssel in which three nat ive crewmen , in­c luding one Tannese , were reported killed . Erskine be lieve d that he knew the ve ssel involved , but , he compl ained , such was the sec recy preserved on all such top ic s by the traders that he was unable to procure any p roo f . 4 6

Erskine took his authority t o intervene with Brit ish sub­j e c t s re sidin g or tradin g in the southwe s t Pacific from the 182 8 Admin istration of Jus tice Act . 4 7 But he foun d that Brit ish

4 5 ' Proceedin gs at the South Sea Island s ' 10 October 1849 , Adm. 1/5606 ; Erskine 185 3 : passim .

4 6Enc losure no . 4 , Erskine to Admiralty , 10 Oc tober 1849 , Adm. 1/5606 ; Er skine 185 3 : 308-1 4 ; Ingl is 188 7 : 30 3 . 4 7This had e st abl ished the New South Wales and Van Diemen ' s Land Supreme Court s , with j urisdiction of ' all Treasons , Piracie s , Fel onie s , Robberie s , Murders , Conspiracie s , and other Of fence s of what Nature or Kin d soever ' committed by any Brit ish s ubj ect or by the mas ter or crew of any B rit ish ve s sel in any ' I sland , Country , o r place situate in the Indian o r Pacific Oce ans , and not subject to His Maj e s ty or to any Euro pean State or Powe r ' . 9 Geo . IV Cap 83 [ 25 July 1 82 8 ] , The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire land, vol . 11 , 1 82 9 .

subj ects in the islan ds bel ieve d that they were answerable to no one , and accordingly he urge d Governor Fitz roy to is sue a proclamation affirming the j urisdict ion of the Supreme Court of

43

New South Wale s . He also inst ructed his subordinates that when inve st igat in g outrages committe d by ships ' crews against islanders , they should attemp t to procure evidence sufficient to b ring the of fende rs to trial in Sydney . 4 8 As early as 1813 Governor Macquarie of New South Wales had acknowledge d that the bad conduc t o f E uropean crews in the south Pac ific often provoke d the islanders into seeking reven�e , thus en dangering the life and property of Brit ish subj ects . 4 But ne ither the Admiralty nor the Foreign Of fice was prepare d to lay down guidelines for naval adj udicat ion in such case s . In 1832 the Admiralty declared that ships ' command­ers had no authority to interfere ' in a territory not belonging to His Maj esty and with the rulers of wh ich he has no treaty ' . Ten years later naval comman ders were ins tructed to strengthen the authority of island chie fs by leavin g the ' admin istration of j ustice ' in the ir hand s , rather than imposing , ' by peremptory menace , or a show of phys ical Force ' , Brit ish measures of j ustice . Such ' general forb earance ' , however , should not preclude naval of ficers from ' makin g firm and energe tick e f forts to ob tain redre ss in cases of real grievance ' . 5 0 But as to prec isely what constituted a case o f ' real grievance ' , or j us t how ' f irm an d energe t ic ' redress should be , were mat ters left to the discre t ion of individual o ff icers .

On his 1849 tour of duty, Erskine was guided 5 1 by a further Fo re ign Of fice pronouncemen t , ' Re dressing out rage s commit ted upon Brit ish Subj ec t s and Property , and protect ing Brit ish Comme rce ' , which authorized the cap tains of H . M . ship s to ' demand and exact redre ss from the rul in g and respon sible chie fs ' on isl an ds where Brit ish subj ects had sust aine d wrongs . If the Brit ish subj ect had commit ted the wron g , he shoul d be pe rsuaded to make ' adequate reparat ion ' ; if he re fused , ' the captain should te ll the Chiefs , that if they should chuse , in the exerc ise of the ir own aut hority , to expel such British Subj ec t , he ( the captain ) would rece ive him on board his Ship , and carry him away from the Island ' . 52 Again , this pronouncement did not specify whe ther Brit i sh legal norms or native laws and customs woul d have precedence . In authoriz in g the cap tain to demand and exac t re dress from the

4 8Erskine to Fitzroy , 24 November 1850 , Erskine to Adm. , 13 Decem­ber 1850 , enclosed in Adm. to C . O . , 2 9 April 1 851 , C . O . 2 0 1/ 445 ; Erskin e to Oliver , 14 March 1850 , first enclosure , Adm. 1 / 5606 . 4 9Shi pping Gaze tte and New South Wates Advertiser , 4 December 1 81 3 . 5 0Adm. t o C . O . , 2 4 March 18 32 , C . O . 2 01 /22 8 ; F . O . t o Adm. , 4 October 1842 , Adm. 1/552 5 ; Aberdeen to H . M . Con suls at Society and Sandwich Islands , c ited in F . O . to Adm. , 30 May 1 84 3 , Adm. 1 / 5534 . 5 1 As is clear from Erskine to Ol ive r , 14 March 1850 , Adm. 1 / 5606 .

44

' responsible chiefs ' , it embodie d the principle of collect ive re sponsibil ity , but it left unanswered the quest ion s o f tmder what c ircums tance s a captain c ould deman d redress , what was adequate redress , and the methods by which it could be exacted. Similarly , it did not spec ify what means o f persuas ion c ould be employed to exac t reparation from a recalcitrant Brit ish subj ec t , nor what was to be done with any such person shipped from the island . In all of the se areas o f potent ial con fl ic t the final decis ions were left to the. in dividual officers on the spot .

During the years foll owing Erskine ' s 1849 cruise , some Europeans did stand trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court for of fences c01mnitte d in the islands , which led to complaints that the Royal Navy was indi fferen t to isl an der outrages . 5 3 Perhaps in response to the se charges , S ir Everard Home , after his 1 852 c ruise in H . M . S . Callio pe , stresse d the need for frequen t naval vis it s to the southwest Pacific , ' for the protect ion of the nat ive inhabit ant s against the violent and tmprovoke d acts o f Europeans , and the at tacks no t uncommonly made by nat ive s upon white men • • . ' . St ephen Fremantle , who suc ceeded Home as Sen ior Of ficer in 185 4 , was inst ruc ted to ' give to the Nat ives an imp ress ion o f the power and o f the frien dly disposit ion o f the Brit ish Nat ion and whilst giving due weight to the representat ion s of the British Con sul s an d mis sionarie s an d to st ren gthen the ir han ds for good , • . • [ to ] repress any tendency to tm due interfer­ence or enc roachmen t on the right of Chiefs & Nat ive s ' . At the same time , the Admiral ty made it clear that Freman tle ' s primary role was to ' protect British in tere st s ' . 5 4 The problem of how to balance Brit ish intere st s against islanders ' rights was s ide­stepped by the Admiralty and again le ft to the personal d iscret ion of individual officers .

The devolution of respon s ib ility from the Admiralty to the o ff icer on the spot some t imes worke d to the ind ividual com­man der ' s advantage by leaving him free dom of act ion . But o ften it transferred the ult imate responsib ility o f de cidin g upon a complicate d issue to an of ficer who , in some wa�s ( particularly in legal aspects) , was not equipped for the task . 5 In re spon se to

5 2F . O . to Adm . , 2 4 February 1848 , Adm. 1/5592 . 5 3s . M. H. , 2 9 January 1850 , 8 July 1851 , 12 September 1 85 3 , 14 Augus t 1854 ; Sh . G. & S. G. T. L . , 10 , 1 7 May , 12 July 1 85 1 , 12 Septembe r 185 3 ; Errpire , 1 4 , 15 August 1854 ; Erskine 185 3 : 4 78-86 . 54Home to Adm. , ' Report in g proceedin gs amongst the South Sea Islan ds ' , 20 December 1852 , Adm. 1/561 7 ; Home 185 3 : 449-60 , 511-16 ; Adm. to Freman tle , 18 February 1854 , Adm. 2 /169 7 .

5 5Bach 1964 : 2 1 7 .

45

a pub l ic outcry over the massacre o f the Gaze lle ' s crew at Woo dlark I sland in September 185 5 , the Fo reign Office and Admiralty resolved that case s involvin g the safety of Brit ish subj ects j ust ified ' summary pllllishment ' , 5 6 but be fore Freman tle could ac t on the Gaze l le case , he was succeeded as Sen ior Officer by Cap tain Wil liam Lorin g , who informed the New South Wales Colon ial Secre tary that , as Woodlark I sland was outside the Aust ral ian Stat ion ' s j urisdic­tion and as H . M . S . Iris was the on ly man-o f-war at his disposal , he would not take any retribut ive ac t ion . He also commented ( in August 1 85 7 ) that he did not plan to sail to the South Seas lllltil May 1858 , when the hurricane season would have pas se d . 5 7 However , Lorin g ' s schedule was abrup tly changed when news reached Sydney of the murder of two British crewmen of the New Forest at Tanna in October 185 7 . Governor Denison direc ted him t o proceed direct ly to the New Hebride s and ' take such steps • • • necessary to discover and punish the �erpetrators ' . Loring sailed from Sydney on 2 7 November 185 7 . 5

Unt il the deaths of the New Forest crewmen , naval at tent ion ha d focused largely on European depredation s on Tanna , an d re la­tions between naval officers and Tannese - even at the place where the New Forest ' s crewmen were kil led - had been llll iformly amicable . 5 9 But the murder of t he New Forest men came at a t ime when the New South Wale s Government was part icularly sensit ive to publ ic charges of indifference to the fate o f the Woodlark Island victims . 6 0 In addit ion , parl iamentarian Robert Towns , who had a b igger stake in the So uth Sea I slands trade then any other individual at that t ime , put his considerable pol it ical weight behind the move for swift naval retaliat ion . Towns warned Governor Denison that if a ship-of-war were not imme diately

5 6Fremantle to Colonial Secre tary , 12 November 1856 ; Crown Law Officers to Col . Sect . , 2 2 November 1 856 , enc lose d in Fremantle to Adm. , 12 J\llle 185 7 , Adm. 1 / 5684 ; Adm. to Loring , 13 October 185 7 , enclosing F . O . to Adm . , 2 9 September 185 7 , Adm. 2 /1614 . 5 7Lor ing t o Adm. , 4 August 1 857 , enc losing E lyard to Loring , 31 July 185 7 , B ingham to Col . Sec t . , 2 4 July 185 7 , Lorin g to Col . Sect . , 1 Augus t 185 7 , Adm. 1 /5684 . 5 8Denison ' s comment s on Towns to Den ison , 12 Novemb er 185 7 , N . S . W . Col . Sect . , In-le tters , 5 7 / 4551 .

5 9 cf . Ol iver , Le tterbook extracts , 1 2 April-3 July 1850 ; Sh. G. & S. G. T . L . , 15 Jlllle 1850 ; Moore 1850 ; Vigo rs 1850 ; In gl is 1852 : passim ; Home to Adm. , 20 December 1852 , Adm. 1 / 5617 ; Home 185 3 : 5 1 1 -1 6; Denham 1855 : 35 5-9 ; Milne 1855 : 151-5 ; MacGil livray , Journal , 2 -6 December 1854 . 6 0 cf . ' Massacre at Woodlark Island ' , ordered to be printe d by N . S .W . Legislat ive Assembly , 2 7 February 185 7 . Copy in Freman tle to Adm. , 12 J\llle 1 85 7 , Adm. 1/5684 .

46

desp at ched to the islan ds , traders would be forced to take the matter in to the ir own hands , after the mann er of Captain Jame s Ro ss who had had a Lifuan boy hange d during a f ight with New Caledon ian s in 1854 . 6 1

The New Foraest episo de illustrates the mutual suspic ion an d ignorance which lay behin d s o many islander-trader clashe s . A year before , the ve ssel had sh ippe d seven Tannese from Black Beach . Af ter a voyage of four month s the men had j umped sh ip at Aneityum , whe re they remained for some mon ths working occasional ly for the New Forest ' s maste r . They then left Ane ityum on a whaler under the impress ion that they would be re turne d to the ir own island. But they never reached Tanna , and when the New Forae st cal led at Black Beach on 16 Octob er 1857 her boat ' s crew was attacke d to aven ge the presumed death of the seven Tanne se . Two of the crew ( Spence and Hill ) and one Tannese were kille d . Three Loyalty Islan ders serving on the New Foraest were sen t ashore to ret rieve the dead seamen ' s remains but they were fired on as soon as they reache d the beach . The accompanyin g b oats re turne d the fire and pulled back to the sh ip , six miles off . The ves sel continued trading alon g the coast the following day an d then saile d to Ane it yum , where it s wood was unloaded and trade it ems taken on , after wh ich it sailed again for Tanna . Before sail in g , however , its uppe r port ion was repainte d . 6 2 I t anchored in Port Reso lut ion for three day s and ( on 31 October) saile d again for Black Beach . There , accordin g to Chief Mate Cle rk ' s test imony :

They remaine d till next day without lowering their boat s . Two Canoes made the at temp t three time s to come o f f to the Ship , but put back , and the th ird t ime they haule d up the Canoes an d went away . There was l ittle wind at the time , they came halfway and then put back again .

The next morning [November l ] they lowered the ir Boat s , and put the ir trade in , an d wen t away to the right o r We stward - one boat to guard the othe r . They ob taine d a boatload of Yams an d two Pigs , and returne d to the ship at night - where they learned from the Cap tain that the Natives had been off in Canoe s an d had at temp ted to capture the ship but that he had go t rid of them by promising the Boat s should come an d trade with them, and that he had not found it ne ces sary to fire on them.

The next day the Boat s were lowere d again , an d went to the Westward , but not until 9 A . M . Clerk was in charge of one o f them .

6 1 Town s to Denison , 12 , 16 November 185 7 , N . S . W . Col . Sect . , In­le tters , 5 7 /4 5 51 , 4610 ; cf . Shineberg 1967 : 94-6 . 6 2Geddie , Diary , 11 December 185 7 .

4 7

About noon they heard shots fire d , an d immediately returned to the ship where they fotllld five Canoes , each con taining about four men clo se to , and alongside of her , and they saw several more Canoe s coming off from the shore .

When the se lat ter Canoes saw the Boats , they put back immediately - and the men in the canoes alongs ide j umped overboard .

The nat ive s on the Beach fired at the Boat s , and the Boats returned the fire . When Clerk got on board , the Natives continued the ir fire on the Ship , and he f ired a swivel , and some musketry was fire d , an d the Nat ives went away .

He thinks it probab le that one nat ive was kil le d , and he says that it was supposed to be the nat ive who kille d ' Hill ' .

' Nicholo ' , a Chief of the Island of Mare , se rving at the time in the ' New Fore s t ' , and j ust then sick bel ow , came on deck and j umped overboard after h im and probab ly f inished him.

Clerk pos it ively states that the Boats of the ' New Forest ' did not at any t ime after the day of the murder approach the Beach anywhere near whe re the murder had taken place .

The ship was ancho re d in from 9 to 1 1 fathoms water ab reast of the ' Black Beach ' .

The Tannese vers ion was quit e different . They told Commander Lo ring that four o f the ir canoes had gone off to the New Forest and that two boats from the ve ssel had gone on sho re with tobacco and othe r trade items . There was some con fus ion among the Tannese as to whether the ve ssel , which had been repainte d , was indeed the same which had been at Black Beach two weeks before -those who bel ieved it was, not daring to go to the beach to trade (which would explain the hesitancy o f the Tannese to come off to the ship noted by Clerk) . As soon as they were close to the ship , the Tannese claime d , they were fire d on and five o f their number were kille d . 6 3

The test imony of the two Tannese men concerning the re turn of the New Forest in November exp laine d for Loring why the trader Henry had been evas ive and anxious that Clerk should not accompany the Iris to Tanna . Certain ly Henry had known that the New Forest had returned to Tanna where it was involve d in some affray . 6 4 In his report to Denison , Loring implie d that Henry and the crewmen of the New Fore st had con spired to ambush the Tannese

6 3Lor ing to Denison , 15 December 1 85 7 , N . S . W . Co l . Sec t . , In­letters , 58/355 ; c f . Geddie , Diary , 11 December 1 85 7 ; Ingl is to Graham , 17 December 1 85 7 , R. P.M. 1858 :22 4 . 6 4Henry to Towns , 15 December 185 7 , Town s Papers , item 91 .

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and mi slead his inve st igation . While the Tannese interviewed by Loring would have been anxious to avo id ptmitive act ion by H . M . S . Iris , the re was suf fic ient inconsistency in the te st imon ie s of Captain Mair and Chief Mate Clerk for Loring to doub t that the New Forest crew had acted purely in se lf de fence . For instance , it must have struck Loring as odd that i f the Tannese were intent on capturing the ve ssel on 1 November they were p ut off by the cap tain ' s promise of t rade the next day . And if Mair did bel ieve that the Tannese had tried. to take his ship on that occasion why woul d he have de spatche d the boats the next day an d risked a repet it ion ? Al so , if Nicholo were too ill to go with the boats to the beach on 2 November , how was he able to j ump overboard and ' finish off ' one of the Tannese ( suppose dly the ve ry person who had killed Hill) ? Toge ther wi th the fac t o f the ship ' s repain t ing at Aneityum be tween it s two vis it s t o Bl ack Beach , there was good reason to suppose that the men on the New Fore st had set out to decoy the Tannese and avenge Hill and Spence ' s deaths .

As the traders apparently had already avenged the seamen ' s deaths , and unable to isolate the ac tual murderers , Loring did not feel j ustifie d ' in treating the two men who came on board the ship as murderers , nor did I think it right or advisable to fire , or to lan d , and commit in discriminate slaugh ter and de struct ion on the Natives , who were eage rly o f fering the ir Cocoanut s and Yams in a frien dly spirit of Barter ' . Lorin g surmi se d that Hill and Spence , or some other traders , had provoke d the Tanne se on a former occasion and ( given the warl ike reputat ion o f the Tannese) had been fool ish in venturing on to the beach at all . Accord­ingly , he le t the Tannese off with the warn ing that ' shoul d anything o f the kind occur again at the same place , they must expect serious consequences ' . Den ison supported Lorin g ' s course of act ion and agreed with him that the non-return o f the seven Tanne se was the original cause o f the attack on the British seamen . 6 5

Though perfec t ly j ust ified , Loring ' s pacific policy was comple tely discredited by news which reached Sydney in January 1858 that the mast er and two seamen of the t rading ve ssel Anne and Jane had been kil le d at Tanna within days o f the Iris ' s depar ture and at the very spot Loring had is sued his warn ing. Acco rding to John Geddie , the tmarmed men had gone ashore to purchase yams an d had given no provo cat ion . 6 6 Whatever the mot ive for the at tack , it len t c re dence to Mair and Cle rk ' s content ion that the Black Beach t ribesmen were cold-blooded mur derers , and gave Lorin g little option but to ret urn to Tanna

6 5Lorin g to Den ison , 1 5 December 1 85 7 , including Denison ' s comment s , 22 January 1858 , N . S . W . Col . Sect . , In-le t ters , 58/ 355 . 6 6Geddie to Bayne , 21 August 1 85 8 , Missionary Register 185 9 : 1 ; Sh. G. & S. G. T. L . , 2 5 January 185 8 .

49

and plID ish the tribe . Denison ordere d him back to the island and H . M. S . IPis accordingly departed Sydney on 2 8 May 1858. By that time Loring. coincident ally had rece ived Admiralty direct ions to ' take such measures as may be possib le for ascertaining & punishing the murderers ' of the Gaze l le ' s crew at Woodlark Island in 185 5 , which he int erpre ted as j ust ifying punit ive ac tion in other cases where the live s of British subj ec ts were threatene d . 6 7

En route t o the New Heb rides Loring called at the Isle of Pines , where the Anne and Jane had been lately wrecked on a ree f . There he heard at firs t-han d f rom the survivors how their master and two crewmen had been ' barb ariously and treacherously murdered by the tribe o f Wagus ' . He then sailed for Aneityum an d thence Tanna where he was ( in his words) ' very much as s ist e d ' by the men of the Terror, Hironde l le and New Forest. · The t raders seized Wau At taway , the pre sumed ch ie f o f the presume d offendin g tribe , and sen t him on board the IPis . As sisted by the crews o f the three trading ves sels Lorin g fired some shel l into the crowd which had as sembled on the beach and landed a hlnl.dred men who ' burn t the principal sett lement , c utt ing down the Cocoa Nut & Bread Fruit Trees & destroying the Bananas &c . in the imme diate neighbourhood of the Village of the Ch ie f ' . Be cause two marine s who had straye d from the main party were ambushe d and killed, troops were landed again the followin g day to commit further destruc tion . Wau Attaway was taken to Erromango and le ft the re as a prisoner in the charge o f the proprietor of a san dalwood depot . From Tanna Lor in g saile d north t o Woo dlark Island (which he had earl ie r cons idered to be out s ide his j ur isdic t ion ) , where he lande d troops to destroy huts and canoe s in retal iat ion for the massacre of the Gaze lle ' s crew. He then returned to Ane ityum where he was able to persuade Geddie to accompany him to Tanna to aid him in any way that he could . 6 8 Though Geddie argue d that Lorin g ' s purpose was 'now one o f me rcy and not of j udgment ' , it is l ikely that the Tannese assumed that Geddie was condoning the earl ier naval ac tion . The imp ression that the mission was somehow involved in the punitive ac tion s o f the IPis, Terror, New Forest and Hironde lle would have been stren gthened by the arrival at Port Re sol ut ion in October of the Rev. John G . Paton aboard the last-ment ione d ve sse l . 6 9

Ne ither Geddie nor his fel low missionary on Aneityum , John Ing lis , believed that Geddie ' s association with H . M . S . IPis , or Paton ' s with the Hironde lle , woul d adversely af fect Paton ' s reception at Port Resolution . They argue d that Loring ' s actions

6 7Adm . to Loring , 1 3 October 185 7 , enclos ing F . O . to Adm. , 2 9 September 1 85 7 , Adm . 2 /1 614 ; Loring to Adm . , 1 July 1 85 8 , Adm. 1/5696 . 6 8Loring to Adm. , 6 Sep tember 185 8 , ,Adm. 1/5696 ; Ge ddie to Bayne , 21 August 1 85 8 , Missionary Register 185 9 : 1 -2 . 6 9Paton and Cope land to Kay , 26 May 1 859 , R. P. M. 185 9 : 360 .

so

woul d have a salutary e ffe ct and would increase the se curity o f human life on Tanna ; and that the mission ' s character and obj ects were by then so we ll known , anyway , that individual deviat ions would not affect the prevailing native percept ion . 70 It remains to be establishe d , however , j us t what were the popular Tanne se percept ions of the mission and mis sionaries at the t ime of Paton ' s settlement .

7 0 rnglis to Kay , 7 November 1 859 , R. P. M. 1861 : 2 4 ; Geddie to Bayne , 21 August 185 8 , Missionary Register 185 9 : 1-2 .

Chap ter 3

The discovery of Tanna by men of Go d

' This is a memorable day ' , the celeb rated mis sionary John Will iams wrote in his diary on 1 8 November 1839 , ' a day wh ich will be transmit ted to po sterity , and the record of event s which have this day transpire d will be exist after those who have taken an ac tive part in them have ret ire d into the shades of obl ivion ' . 1 For his followers , the day became memorab le because it was their hero ' s last - he was clubbed to death the next morning on the neighbour in g island of Erromango . For Williams himsel f , it was memorable bec ause he had j ust placed three Samoan teache rs at Por t Re solut ion as the first step in the convers ion of the whole of Western Polyne sia , 2 or what i s now calle d Melanesia . More Samoans , an d Rarot ongans , were place d at the bay over the next two years ; and in July 1 8 42 two yollll g Sco ttish miss ionarie s , Geo rge Turner and Henry Nisbet , and the ir wives , were set tled there to ful fil Williams ' dream. But their miss ion was aban doned after only seven months , and no other European mis sionary live d on Tanna till John G . Pat on and J . W . Mathe son in 185 8 . For most of the int erven ing years it was left to Polynes ian an d , after 185 4 , Aneityume se teachers to keep up a string o f miss ion out­po st s , stre tchin g from Port Re solut ion down to Kwamera near Tanna ' s southern t ip . More than the occasional vis it s by the L . M . S . brethren from Samoa and Rarotonga and the Angl ican B ishop Selwyn from New Zealan d , or the mo re frequen t visits by the Pre sbyterian missionaries on Aneityum , it was the native teachers who determined the Tannese t.ll1 der standin g of Christianity. The other important element was Turner an d Nisbet , who provided the Kwamera-speakers with a corpus o f rel igious l iterature in their own language and a model against wh ich they could j udge later mi ssionaries : 3 but even when Turner and Nisbet were at Port Resolution it was the teachers who maintained the more in timate contact with the Tannes�, who took the Christ ian message in to the ir huts and vil lages . What th is Chapter will explore is how c lo sely the message preache d by t hose early missionar ie s , both

1 Quoted in Gutch 19 74 : 14 8 . 2Resolut ions and minutes of mee t ing he ld a t Ap ia , 30 March 1840 , L .M . S . South Seas Le tters . 3Which is what they did . Cf . Paton to Kay , 2 4 May 1860 , R. P.M. 1860 : 406 .

5 1

52

islan der and European , accorded with the message rece ived by the Tannese .

When Will iams calle d at Tanna , fewer than ten European vessels had touched at the island since Cook ' s landing in 1 7 74 . Williams ' dealings with the Tanne se passed without in c ident , apart from one episode when a large nat ive made s igns to Will iams ' companion Harris to open his mouth , at which ' the fellow immediately spat down his .throat ' . It woul d seem that the fellow took the unfort unate Harris to be a re turne d ancestor and was sp itting - as was the custom - to protect himself from the some times evil power of the spiri tual realm. 4 It was unpleasant , but it did not affect the mis sionar ies ' otherwise amicab le relations wi th the Tannese . 'fhey exchanged great quant ities o f scissor s , calico and f ish-hooks for yams and other pro duce - a practice Will iams had used with good e ffect elsewhere in th e Pac ific . 5

When he landed the Samoans , Williams was presented with the re turn gift of some pigs . He tried to explain to the Tannese that the three teachers were ' chie f s of Go d ' . It is impossible to know what the Tannese made of this . Perhaps they thought they were receiving magician s , possibly even demi-go ds . Cert ainly they would have appreciated that the Samoans were a source o f rare and valuable items : as we ll as leaving the teache rs with some axes as presents for the chiefs , Will iams in dicated that he would re turn in four moons with more gift s . 6

Thirty Samoan s had o ffere d themse lve s as t eache rs to accompany Wil liams on his voyage int o Melanesia - a display of missionary spirit , acco rding to Thomas Heath , which had melted the mis sionarie s ' heart s . 7 But miss ionary spirit was a poor sub st it ut e for adequate preparat ion and train in g . European miss ionaries had been in Samoa only since 18 36 , and most of the ir t ime in those early years was taken up wi th ac quiring the lan guage and establish­ing themselves in their ho st commun it ies . In st ruct ion o f teachers was generally low on the ir list of prio ritie s . ' P iety ' , rather than ' mental endowment s for the ir work ' , was con s idered the most important att ribute . 8 In later years , teachers were subj ected to time-consuming but largely irrelevant in st ructions , including a writ ten translation of the whole of Dr Boyes ' Divinity Lec tures ,

4 Baxte r 1841 : 3 ; Lindst rom 19 80 : 2 32 . Swil liams 1839 : 2 8 1-2 , 490-1 . 6Baxter 1841 : 3 ; Gut ch 1 9 74 : 14 8 ; Heath 1 840 ; c f . AustPalian 3 December 1839 . 7Heath to L .M . S . , 2 1 October 1839 , L . M . S . South Seas Le t ters . 8Tidman ( for Ell is) to Murray , 5 February 1840 , L . M . S . South Seas ( Outgo ing) Let ters .

5 3

a wri tten commentary on Isaiah and John ' s Gospel , an analysis o f the Pentateuch, a writ ten compendium o f Old Testament H istory and Church History, geography , arithmetic , composit ion of sermon s , and a course on the rise , progress , errors and evil s of popery . Even at Rarotonga ' s Takamoa In st itute , where the teacher s were inst ructe d in carpentry and furn iture making , much of the sen ior student s ' time was occupied in drawing maps of Palestine with the j ourneys of the children of I srae l . 9

The three Samoans place d on Tanna in 1839 were spared such inst ruct ion : the chie f qualification of Lalolangi, Mose and Salamea was piety - though Lalolangi was not a church member . All three were married men and at least one o f them , Mose , had children . All were probably t itlehol ders with some authority in Samoa , 1 0 though t radit ional rank counted for little once they were despatched to the isolated and virtually uncharted islands of Melanesia . The assumption being that they would readily adapt to Melane sian conditions , almost no thought was given to their needs and comfort s . They were denied the company of their wives and children at Port Resolut ion . They were even left without clothing or she lter adequate for the colder climate . When H . M . S . FavoPite called a t Tanna three months after their set tlement , Lalolangi sent a let ter with Captain Croker to Samoa , begging to be allowed to return home . However , when the Camden returned to Port Re solut ion in May 1 840 Thomas Heath decided that Lalolangi ' s ' going away woul d hurt the min ds o f his companions and therefore resolved to let him stay , at least for another year ' , 1 1 which suggests that the other t eachers too were not keen to remain on Tanna .

The teachers report ed t o Heath that the Tannese had behaved very wel l towards them , and that about thirty attended worship , inc luding three or four chie fs whom Heath rewarded with some cloth and fish-hooks . He told t hem that when they had cast off their gods and worshipped Jehovah , white mis s ionaries would come and live among them, at which the Tannese expressed ' great pleasure ' . Most of Heath ' s report of his three days at Port Resolut ion is t aken up wi th details of his bart er of fish-hooks and rags for yams and native curiosit ies . He wrote that when he t ried to leave for Aniwa he was urged ' st il l to delay and trade - and t rade - and t rade ! ' So preoccupie d was he with the trading success that he ignored the plight of the Samoans . No­where in his report , or his le tter to the L .M . S . Directors , is any mention made o f the reasons for Lalolangi ' s discouragement and desire t o return home .

9First Annual Report of the Samoan Missionary Seminary , 1845 , c ited in Chambers 1 9 79 : 9 2 ; Gill to L .M . S . , 6 July 184 7 , 1 September 184 9 , L . M . S . South Seas Let ters .

l Ochambers 1 9 79 : passim.

1 1 Heath 1840 ; Hea th t o L .M . S . , 2 6 May 1840 , L . M . S . South Seas Let ters .

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Lalolangi now at least had the company of his wife who , l ike Salamea ' s wife , had been brought from Samoa to j o in the mi ssion ban d . There were also two new teachers : Pomare and Vaio fanga , both from the is land o f Tutuila . Pomare had been a foundation member o f the church there , a deacon and preacher , and a key fi gure in the Tut ui la Revival which had erupted at the end of 18 39 . He enj oyed hi gh rank , being the son - po ssib ly the eldest son - of Maunga , hi gh chief of Pango Pango . He had represen ted his father at the mee tin g of the mi ss ionaries on Upolu in 18 36 and the mi s�ionary A .W . Murray had bel ieved that he would succeed to his father ' s t itle . But when his father died in May 18 39 Pomare was passed over , and within weeks he had offered hims elf for foreign miss ion work :

I have given my soul to Jes us t o be saved by him : - it I leave with him , - and I now place my body at the disposal of the miss ionary . I am wi lling to go t o any land of darkness to which he may send me . My desire is to die in the cause of Jesus who was cruc ified fo r me . I wish t o do the work of God and I am willing to go to any savage land or to remain in our land . I leave it with the mis sionary ; l et him choose . 1 2

Pomare stayed on at Tut uila for almost another year , preaching at the vi llage of Nuuul i and becomin g one of the first Samoans to be caught up in Murray ' s ' awakening ' . I t was with great rel uctance tha t the missionary agreed to part with his premier proselyte -' the first fruits of my miss ionary labors , over whom I had watched

with such in tense interest and t owards whom my bowels yearned ' 1 3 -and Pomare finally sailed with Heath to the New Hebrides in April 1840 .

A mon th after Heath ' s visit , H . M . S . Sul phur calle d at Port Resolution and f o t.m.d Salamea dead and the other Samoans all low with malaria . Captain Belcher painted a miserab le picture of their plight . They were lit erally imprisoned , he wrote , in their thatched hovel , being compel led to c lose the door immediately one en tered or depart ed , to preven t the in trusion o f the Tannese :

They appear to be very uneasy and unhappy , and painful ly anxious to ret urn to their native lan d . They enquired most an xious ly and eagerly if we were bound to the Navigators ; and al though their stock o f English was but scanty , we could p lainly understand that they were in great fear from the natives , and much dreaded our departure . • • . I cert ainly

1 2Murray (quoting Pomare) to L .M . S . , 10 Jt.m.e 1 8 39 , quoted in Chambers 19 79 : 5 6 ; c f . Gilson 19 70 : 112 . 1 3Quoted in Chambers 19 79 : 5 7 .

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felt a more than ordinary interest about these unfortunate beings , and the frequent repetit ion o f ' Samoa , Samoa ' , from the sick within the hut , s ounded like the cry of the condemned . 1 4

Belcher gave the Samoans a few t rade it ems , some food an d a bl anket apiece . But so depres sed and harassed were they that he thought the ir only c hance of recovery was the return o f the Camden and their removal to S amoa .

But the Camden did not ret urn for ano ther nine months , by which t ime Pomare too was dead . During the Samoans ' illness there had been no p ub lic services , an d by the t ime they were well enough to conduc t worship they had lost their former followers . The reason for the Tanne se desert ion is clear . In not disposin g of their food sc raps b y burying them o r casting them in to the sea , the Samoans were seen to have left themselves suscep t ib le to nahak sorcery . Their subsequent illness and deaths proved the ir powerlessnes s against the local sorcerers . As the survivors reported t o A .W . Murray in April 1841 , the Tannese thereupon claimed that Jehovah was less powerful than their own gods . 1 5 The Samoans had probab ly contrib uted t o this foolish fancy ( as Murray cal le d it ) by pres en ting Jehovah as a con testant against the local deit ies , which was , after all , entirely consisten t with their own view o f the Christ ian god as super>ioP to the principal traditional Samoan deity Tagaloa , 1 6 and only a sl ight extension of the typical evangelical percept ion o f a world-wide battle between Jehovah and Satan .

Not only had the Tanne se le ft off at tendin g the teachers ' service s ; they had also c ut off their s upply of foo d , which had forced them to devote most of the ir t ime to gardening . Only in March 1841 had a few Tannese again at tended on the Samoans . This signified to Murray that the teachers were making some headway , and he wrote to the L . M . S . Direc t ors tha t they had acquired some consi derab le in fluence among the Tannese and had even manage d t o reconc i le warring fac tions . Thi s opt imism was no t shared b y the Samoans who , even Murray had to admit , had become somewhat discourage d . However , what the S amoans fe lt counted fo r lit tle . After conferring with the s upposed princ ipal chiefs of the harbour , Murray concluded that there was no j ust cause for dis­couragement and left two more youn g men from Tut uila : Falease , a ' pious lad ' , and Apolo , ' one of the most e ffic ient of the teachers whom we have now brought with us ' . Lalolangi , ' owing to peculiar c ircumst ances ' (possib ly sleeping with Salamea ' s widow) , was t aken back to Samoa . 1 7

1"4Be lcher 184 3 : 5 8-9 . 1 5Murray 1841. 1 6 chambers 19 79 : 70 . 1 7Murray t o L . M . S . , 4 May 1841 , L . M . S . South Seas Letters .

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Murray returne d to Samoa with the news that the chiefs at Port Reso lut ion would be exceedingly glad t o receive a European missionary . He noted their promise to prohib it stealin g among their people , and their p lans t o build a house for a mis sionary and await his arrival . He urged the L .M . S . Direc tors to occupy the island at once with t hree or four men who had drtmk deeply int o the spiri t of their Lord . I f only men were sen t , he wrote , whose heart s and souls were filled wi th the one great and glorious obj ec t of c onver ting the heathen , to the exc lus ion o f lit tle trifles which merely affec ted their personal in terest s , Williams ' dream would b e realized and Tanna would become the hub for the conversion o f the whole group .

The grand scheme was launched the following year , with the set tlemen t of George Turner and Henry Nisbe t and their wive s at Port Reso lut ion . Both men had been destine d for India and a longer course of preparatory st udy . 1 8 But , on receipt of the news of Williams ' death the L .M . S . Directors c ut short the ir st udies at Cheshtmt College and hurried them off to the South Seas t o take up Williams ' work a s near as possib le t o the spot where he had been killed . For the sickly Nisbe t it was a choice between acceding to the Directors ' demands or being debarred from mission­ary labour anywhere , at any t ime . For the self-confiden t and assert ive Turner i t was a b low - he was sensitive to the soc ial barrie r between the godly mechanics of the South Seas and the more scholarly and gifte d men who were preserved for India and the Orien t . He argue d for one more session at Cheshtm t , but was overruled by the Direct ors who were anxious to prove to the benighted savages o f the New Hebrides that the Saviour ' s friends would not yie ld to Satan ' s opposit ion . 1 9

In the L . M . S . records , Turner and Nisbet are almost invariab ly presented as a pair - as a composite personality . An d , t o a large extent , to read the history of the one is t o know the history of the other . 2 0 Both were born in Scotland in 1818 Turner was sl ightly the elder - and both were bro ught up in the Re lie f Church , a broadly evangel ical Presbyterian Church which hel d , like the English Independen ts , that the civil magist rate had no c oncern with religion , and which readily admit ted to it s connntmion members o f any denomination . Both comple te d only

1 81 . M . S . Connni ttee of Examiners , Minute s , 8 Jtme 1840 ; Nisbet Diary , 2 8 March , 2 0 , 2 2 April 1840 . 1 9Nisbet to Artmdel , 19 March 1840 , Darling t o Arundel , 1 7 June 1840 , Conquest to Artmdel , n . d . (e . Jtme 1840) , Nisbet - L . M . S . Candida te s Papers ; L . M . S . Connnit tee o f Examiners , Minute s 2 4 February , 8 , 2 2 Jtme 1840 ; Nisbe t , Diary , 2 2 April , 4 Jtme 1840 ; Turner 186 1 : 3 . 2 0Nisbe t an d Turner , L . M . S . Can didate s Papers .

5 7

their primary e ducat ion - though they con tinued with Sabbath school - before becoming cle rks in Glas gow . Later , both were to marry ministers ' daughters o lder then themselves . The early part of their lives , they wrote wi th all the pious hinds ight of born­again seventeen year olds , had been wasted ' in carein g for nothing but the pastimes and follies of youth ' . Then , in the ir fourteenth year , when togethe r attending a Young Men ' s Soc iety for Religious Improvement , they became aware that they were destitute of spirit ual life . They be gan to feel anxious for their e ternal wel fare . No s ingle inc ident stood out in their conversion . Rather , they were brought gradually , though har dly gently , to the real ization that they were surely heading for e ternal damnation . Turner wro te that his conscience had previous ly been b linde d and perverte d , at no t ime burdened down with i ts load of transgres­sions . But once pricke d , it rose in all it s ac cus in g forms and he came to feel the full horror of his in dwelling sin . Nisbet went through a s imilar experience of self-revulsion , and was consume d ( as he put it) by the ardent de sire to rise out of the dust o f se lf-abasement - to have the o ld man crucified wi thin him an d to be taken over by the new.

The lan guage is suggest ive : Turner ' s perverted conscien ce which , once pricked, rises in all its acc us in g forms . Nisbet ' s ardent desire to rise out o f the dust of se lf-abase ment , to have the old man c ruc ifie d within him. Their desc rip tion of conversion would seem to be a t the same time confessions o f the p leasure and pain o f puberty .

More and more the two youths t urned their b acks on all they considered worldly . In each other ' s company and within the institut ional con fines of their church they began to experience more pleasure in the servic e of God than they had ever fe lt in the pursuit s of this world . Within this res tricted soc ial environ­men t , with its heady religious atmosphere , Turner and Nisbe t became in toxicated wi th the fate of the heathen an d , to compensate for the ir sins , to ge ther they p ledged to sacrifice themselves to the foreign missionary ' s life of labour and sufferin g . To prepare for their vocation they counnenced the study of Latin and Greek . Then when only seven teen years o ld , they were formally t aken on by the Lon don Mis sionary Soc ie ty . They studied the classics toge ther at Glasgow Un iversit y and divinity at the Re lie f Church Seminary . In October 1838 they be gan atten ding Che shunt Co llege , out side London , a finishing schoo l for miss ionary candidate s who had rece ived a good e ducation elsewhere . Latin , Greek an d Hebrew were taught at Cheshun t , but the cen tral feature of it s course was preachin g prac tice . I t was hardly part of the curriculum to broaden the mental horizon s , 2 1 so perhaps it did not really mat ter when the three year course o f study was cut short by a year for Turne r and Nisbe t to be shippe d off to the South Seas .

2 1 Gunson 19 78 : 74 .

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They got the nece ssary medical clearance s - though the sickly Nisbet had to be touted around to three doctors be fore one was prepare d to cert ify to his good heal th . Turner found an ac ceptab le bride at short notice - Nisbet was told that conj ugal obl igat ions would be too taxing for his del icate const it ut ion . As it turned out , the sea trip to Aus tral ia invigorated him and in Sydney he married Sarah Crook , daughter of one of the miss ion­arie s who had gone to Tahit i in 1796 . The party spent some months at Samo a , learn ing Samoan , buildin g the frame of a house and generally acquiring mis s ionary experience . During the time the two women had s till-b irths , and the more experience d b rethren pres sed Turne r and Nisbet to de lay a year or two wh ile the suit ab ility of Tanna cou ld be more care fully assesse d . Turner later wrot e that the caut ion was wel l advise d , but at the time they were anxious to carry out the ir inst ruc tion s to ' make all prac ticab le has te to commence a mission ' on Tanna . 2 2

After an unevent ful voyage , the Camden came in s ight o f Tanna o n Saturday 25 June 1842 . But gale-force winds kep t the vessel tacking off shore fo r some days , an d it was not unt il the fo llowing Thursday that it reache d Port Re so lut ion . Safe ly anchored in the still waters of one of the group ' s mo st beautiful harbours , prospec ts appeared rosy . The Tannese who paddle d off to the ship from all parts of the bay were not as wild looking as the miss ionaries had expecte d . The teachers reporte d that they had suffered no sho rtage of food, had been we ll t reate d , and had est abl ished a decen t cot tage on the land of Viavia , the lo cal Neraimene yani en de te . Though there were no converts , many Tanne se worsh ippe d with the teachers and refrained from cann ibalism and aggress ive war - due to the teachers ' in fluence , Aaron Buzacot t report ed to the L . M . S . Direc tors , though Thomas Heath wrote that the teachers had been to tally ineffec tive . 2 3

The local chie fs were assembled together on 1 July and closely quest ioned by the L . M . S . dep utat ion as to how they would receive Turner and Nisbet . They were asked whether they would treat Mrs Turner and Mrs Nisbet with re spect , pro tect the mission­aries and respec t the ir neutral ity in the event of war , give land for a hous e , as s ist in the build ing of the house , pro tec t miss ion property , at tend worship regularly , and provide the mis s ion with whatever food the island pro duce d . With the advan tage of hind­sigh t , Turner wro te that the as semb led chie fs ' seeme d willing to say Ye s or No to everything , j ust as they thought it wo uld please

2 2Turner 186 1 : 4 . 2 3Nisbet , Diary , 30 June 1842 ; B uzacott 1 842 ; Heath to L . M . S . , 6 July 1842 , L . M . S . South Seas Le tters ; S latyer 1842 ; Turner 1861 : 4 ; Crocombe an d Crocombe 1968 : 2 1 .

us ' . 24 But at the time no one expressed any reservation about the ir an swers . To the miss ionaries , who had decided beforehand on the precise questions to be p ut , the mee t ing was a formal con ference , which would be b in din g on the Tannese . But quit e apart from the language barrier - which must have been consider­able in the period be fore t rade p i dgin had had a chance to

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develop - there was the problem of j ust what the missionarie s ' carefully worked out questions s ign ified to the Tannese . What did treating a missionary ' s wife with re spect mean for an islander who came from a culture in which at titude s to women could hardly be deemed respec t ful in middle c lass British terms , and who had probably never even me t a European woman ? How co uld an individual give away the land of his ancestors? Or , belonging to a socie ty in whi ch any all iance expressed mut ual obl igat ion s , agree to pro tect a stranger in a llll ilateral fashion ?

At the conc lus ion of the mis sionar ie s ' fo rmal con ference , gifts were exchan ged . For the miss ionaries , the exchange sealed a cont ract with the Tannese who would hence forth be obl iged to honour to the le tter the affirmat ion o f intent they were presume d to have made . The gifts marked the detachmen t of the mis sion from Tanne se polit ics . But , from the Tannese pe rspective , the gifts sign if ied the incorporation of the mis s ionar ies into Tanne se social re lat ion s ; they initiate d , rather than conclude d , an alliance which p laced as many ob ligat ions and re sponsib ilit ie s on Turner and Nisbe t as i t did on themselves . What those obligat ions migh t be could not be prede termined and se t down on paper , but would arise in relation to specific c irc ums tance s .

The Tanne se wi th whom the miss ionarie s con ferre d and ex­changed gif t s were from the Ne pikinama me an d Neraimene tribes on the eastern side o f Port Re solution . At the time the Nerai mene followers of the yani en de te Viavia were at war with Yanekahi t ribe smen , from the we st side of the bay , grouped arolllld Lamias . In the few months preceding Turner and Nisbet ' s se tt lemen t , five men were reported to have been kille d , and anxious to avoid the impress ion of taking s ide s by settling llllder Viavia ' s protect ion , the miss ionaries sen t for the Yanekahi tribe smen in the hope of e ffec ting a reconc iliat ion . Lamias when fe t ched ' looked very shy and afraid ' . Late r the same day :

We met them again and the subdue d chie f (Lamiasi) an d tried to sof ten down the con querors and to le t the other know that we are the friends of all part ies ; but the poor fellow seemed very low spirited , and hardly to think that his assent was necessary to our measure s . 25

24Turner 1842-3 : 6 ; Buz acott 1842 ; Buzacot t to L . M. S . , 7 July 1 842 , L . M . S . South Seas Let ters . 2 5Heath t o L . M. S . Direc tors , 6 July 1 842 , L .M . S . South Seas Let ters ; Slatyer 1842 : 2 0 .

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The passage is suggest ive of the webs o f rivalry , alliance and in tri gue in to which the mis sionaries unwit t ingly had placed them­selves by their associat ion with Viavia and his fol lowe rs .

The imp ression that the mis s ionaries had j oine d forces with the t ribes to the east of the bay would have been c on firmed by their subsequent behaviour . Each Sunday they would t ravel from yim.uarem to yim.uarem in Neraimene and Nepikinamame territory , preachin g and dist ribut ing . small gi fts t o reward atten tiveness . In the next day or two some yams or o ther produce would t urn up at the mission house from the area visited on the Sabbath . 26 Thus the re was in operat ion a system of rec iprocal gift exchange , from the Tannese perspec tive express in g an alliance between the mission­aries an d the people they visite d . All that the miss ionaries perceived , however , was an unconnec ted series of kindly gest ures .

For the first three mon ths Turner and Ni sbet , assisted by Thomas Heath , were p reocc upied with erec ting their house and acquiring the lan guage . Durin g this t ime they lived in the teachers ' house - what happened t o the teachers is not spec ified . They chose a site high on the hill on the east side o f the bay for their wea ther-board c ot tage , but Viavia ' s brother objecte d and an even more prominen t loca tion (which Viavia claime d he owne d) was ac quired . Perhaps there was some dispute over its ownership as wel l , for the mi ssionarie s eventually set t led on a spot at the bo t tom of the hill j ust above high-water mark , apparently given to them by the yere'f11.J)anu Kuanuan . Their first ac t ion - almost an obligatory ritual of E uropean ownership - was t o cut down all the t rees , which un doub tedly infringed on the usufruc t ary right s of a number of people . By Satur day 2 4 September , the b uildin g , comprising two be drooms and a sit tin g-room , was complete ; and on the following Monday the missionaries moved their furnit ure in to the ' very snug and comfo rtab le ' cot tage , as whi te and well ordered as their own inten tions . One wonders what the Tannese made of it s pane lled doors and shut tere d windows , of the rigid geo­met ric symme try of both dwelling and garden . To mark its comp le­t ion , Kuanuan presente d the missionaries with a cooke d shoulder of pork , which he had received from someone ' from a di stance ' . Any polit ical s igni ficance attached to the gift was lost on the mis sionarie s who gave him some thing in ret urn but also , rather ungrac ious ly , in formed him that they wanted live pigs . 2 7

As well a s working on the house , the miss ionaries devo ted a good deal of t ime t o e ducat iona l and rel igious services . A school for adult s was started , though it never met with much success , and Heath began a day school for the s on s of chie fs -in order to ' make it more p rec ious ' he explained . Absen teeism was high and the clas s was s uspen ded when all the scholars left

26Nisb et , Diary , 2 4 September , 2 9 October , 12 , 14 November 1842 . 2 7Nisbet , Diary , 2 July-2 7 Sep tember 1842 .

6 1

in mid-August t o take p art in the war between Viavia and Lamias . A small group o f girls was taught dome stic skills by the mis sion­aries ' wives . But the mis sionar ies always held that preaching was their prime concern , and from the outset there had been one mid-week and two Stmday services at the mission house . The first Sabbath service , on 3 July , had been attended by some 200 Tannese -al l ' very st ill and at ten tive ' , wrote Nisbe t . Only 100 attended the following week , an d thereafter the numbers were much lower . On 18 July a short service was he ld at a local yirrRJJarem , marking the beginnin g of a standard Stmday practice , with the missionaries it ineratin g farther and farthe r a field in search of con gregations not only among the Neraimene but also the Yanekahi and Kaserumene . Init ially dependen t on the teachers to interpre t for them, by mid-Sep tember Turner , Nisbet and Heath were all ab le to write short addresses and prayers and to conduc t p ublic worship in Tannese . 28

I t was , however , extremely difficult - in some cases impos sible - for the mis sionaries to find Tannese words to convey their religious concepts . ' We are in want of a goo d name to express the Deity ' , Nisbe t wrote in December 1842 , and he thought that arehma , which he described as the term for spirits of de­parted chie fs , might do . 29 Event ually the missionaries retained arehma for dead people ' s spirit s . They told the Tannese tha t the ir ancestors ' arehmas did not hear the ir prayers and that those who prayed to them would ' live in the bad light forever ' . Jehovah , however , would ' pick up • • • the arehmas of men who worshippe d the truth ' and take them with him to ' live in the good life forever ' . Another Tannese word , nanumun , meanin g ghosts , was also used by Turner and Nisbe t to re fer to men ' s spirit s . There were ' many good nanumun in the sky and bad nanumun on earth ' the Tanne se were told . Ekenan , meaning sacred or tab u , was added to nanwnun to refer to the Holy Ghos t , the nanumun fei Iehova :

He is in the sky and on the earth . On ly we will look for it [ i . e . not see it ] . He i s like the win d . He did not make the bad things . He made all the good things inside our hearts . He will sit ins ide the middle o f peop le , where he makes the things . He will pour out the bad things and leave the good things t o grow . Who prays the truth ? Nanumun ekenan will stay forever . Who will ask about the word of Iehova ? Nanumun ekenan will stay forever . Who bel ieves in Ie su? Nanwnun ekenan wi ll stay forever . All o f us who try to call Iehova , and who pray the truth [mafuace parhain tukue ] , he will give his ghos t to us . All of us who t ry

2 8Nisbe t , Diary , 4 July-4 Oc tob er 1842 ; Heath to L .M . S . , 22 July 184 3 , L . M . S . South Seas Letters . 29Nisbe t , Diary , 2 4 December 1842 .

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t o call Iehova , and who pray the truth , he will give his ghost to us . 3 0

The use o f words like arehma, nanwnun, and Nanwnun ekenan would have s trengthene d the natural tendency on the part of the Tanne se to evaluate Christianity in terms of the ir customary magico­religious framework . The tendency would have been strengthened by the contexts in which the terms we re use d - which con forme d to the tradit ional pat te rns of spiritual in te rvent ion in human affairs . Thus , the n anwnwi fei Iehova , like the nanumun o f any deceased dign itary , was invis ible but always present . I t could take possess ion of peop le . And i t was ac t ive in the affairs of the world to the advan tage o f those who mafua ee parhi an tukue praye d to it in the manne r presc ribed for the propitiation of the spirit s .

The missionaries face d the same problem in their attempt to de scribe Iehova :

Iehova in arum anu, In arumanu asori, In arwnanu parhain .

( Jehova i s the yererrM anu, ) (He is the chie f yererrM anu; ) (He is the true yererrManu. )

The yerem.uanu (arwnanu) was , of co urse , the de signat ion for the fairly common Tannese dignitary who had the ritual privilege of wearing the kayoo , a large feathere d head-dress , on ceremonial occas ions . So , in us ing the term to describe Jehovah , the mission­aries were drawing direc t ly from the Tannese vocab ulary of rank and stat us :

Who is Iehova ? He is our chie f yererrManu. He has no body , only his spirit , and we cannot see his body . He made all the things above and below . He made the sun , the moon , and all the s tars . There is no thing which grows by itse l f . Iehova made the sky , the sea , the fish an d a l l the b irds . Who shows us the way ? Iehova shows us the way - he will do everything. He first made our bodies and after he made our spirit s . He tells us in the good word that we will sweat for . him . Le t us make it s traight , Iehova love s all of us , then we will live again . I f we will no t make it straight , he will ge t angry wi th us . All of us will die . We will pray to Iehova . He lis tens to us . Iehova is truth . He made all the good thin gs , so we will wait for Iehova .

As for this yererrManu ' s powers : ' He looks at every one of u s . • .

He listen s to everything that eve ryone says • • . He knows every­thing in our hearts ' . An d where did the arumanu asori o f the Chris tians , this ghost which knew al l that was said and thought ,

3 0 Turner 1845b ; cf . Turner 1845a .

6 3

come from? Ia neai (aneai) , which the missionary Paton later found to be ' the highes t . • • situated village on the islan d ' . 3 1

If the Tannese worshippe d in the manner pre scribed by the missionarie s , Jehovah would pick up the ir spir its after death and take them to neai , where there was only heal th and happines s . But if they con t inued t o wo rship the ir ance stral spirit s Jehovah would be an gry and throw them down below , where ' the fire burns them wh ile they are still alive and they hear the cries of pain and bad th ings which Tiapolo has made ' . The miss ionary pre senta­t ion o f an un derground Hades would have been immediate ly mean in g­ful to the Tannese at Port Re solut ion who lived almo st in the sha dow of an ac tive volcano which was , and still is , a potent sacred symbo l . Indee d , the Yanekahi peop le bel ieve d that the volcano ' s vent was the ent ranc e to the subterranean world of Ipay . 32

' Since miss ionaries have t o l d them of the "lake that burneth" ' , Agnes Wat t was to wri te in 1870 , the Tannese ' have taken up the idea that the ir spirit s are cast into the volcano ' . 3 3

The perpe tual fire , the miss ionarie s told the Tannese , was t he home of Tiapolo , the nanwnun Ze laha or ' bad ghost ' . Like Jehovah he had no body (savani nupuran Ziuan) and was to be fo und on all the islands (In ramara pam e turhe tana pam) :

What doe s he do ? He make s bad ins ide man ' s heart . He makes all the bad things . He live s in our hearts every day , he doe sn ' t forge t us , an d on the road of the bad light many people will fol low him . . • All day he points to us [be ckons to us ] but his words are not good .

The Tannese already bel ieve d that they were in con st an t contac t with the spirit world , that good an d bad spiri ts dete rmined the course of even ts on all the is lands and that gho sts walke d amon g them. I t woul d not have been difficult for them to integrate a figure l ike Tiapolo into their exis t ing conceptual structure . And that is exactly what they did as , over the next few years , Tiapolo became firmly iden t i fie d by the Tannese in that re gion with the t radit ional he ro Karapanamun . 3 4

In the same way Jesus was able to fit in to exist ing Tannese conceptual c ategories . He was :

3 1 Paton 1965 : 74 . 3 2Humphreys 1926 : 91 ; c f . Paton to Kay , 1 1 October 186 1 , R. P. M. 1862 : 14 8 ; Ne ilson to Kay , 2 6 August 1868 , R. P. M. 1869 : 69 . 3 3wat t 1896 : 110 . 3 4cf . Paton to Kay , 2 4 May 186 0 , R. P.M. 1860 : 405 ; Mrs Matheson to her mo ther , 2 3 July 1860 , H. F. R. 1861 : 1 31 .

6 4

Iehova and man • • • He had a body l ike a man ' s • . • There was one woman with a baby inside her , the sacred ghost wen t inside the woman and she had Iesu . . . Iesu t aught the peop le about Iehova ' s word , he took s ickness from the hearts o f people and they got better . • • Bad people killed Iesu by hanging his body on a t ree . . . After Iesu die d , the pe op le put his body in a cave . . . Ie su' s body in the cave for three days . Af ter three days Iesu came alive and went an d spoke to the peop le . . . He was dead like any man and then one day he be came nothing and wen t up above . . • whe re the re was light - a good place .

For each o f the element s of this missionary presentat ion of Jesus the re were exist in g Tannese parallels . There were mythical prece­dents for half-person , half-spirit creatures , for women bein g impregnated b y ghosts . 3 5 The Tannese wo uld have grasped the significance of Je sus teaching the people ab out Jehovah ' s word , for the y themselves ' cherished many legends re garding tho se whom they had neve r seen , and handed these down to the ir ch il dren ' . 3 6 The ir own magic ians interceded with spirit s to take sickness from the he arts of people . They knew already that dead people ' s ghosts walked ab out and spoke to the l iving . 3 7 As for Jesus ' s re surrec tion in the cave , the people of Whitesands , a l it tle north of Por t Re solution , bel ieve d that the entrance to the sp iritual world o f Ipay was in a cave at the north end of Tanna . 3 8 In de sc rib ing Iesu , or Iehova , or Tiapo lo , Turner an d Nisbet were unable to escape the prob lem - at least it was prob lematic from the ir point of view - of conveyin g meaning and s ign ificance in terms o f exist in g Tannese beliefs .

The mis sionarie s trie d to avo id the re duc t ion of some of their key re ligious con cepts to the dimension s of local tradit ions by usin g Hebrew an d Greek terms . Thus Go d was Iehova , Christ was Iesu, Satan Tiapolo , the angels agge lo. B ut as the Tanne se did not have the missionar ies ' grounding in class ical language s , this solution really begged the quest ion . The Tannese ( and the teach­ers) had st ill to establ ish the mean ing of the se fore ign words ac cording to the ir exis t ing knowle dge and experience .

This is not to say that Tanne se knowledge and experience were not chan ge d by the in troduct ion of Christ ian ity - s imply that they were not overt urne d as the miss ionaries tende d to bel ieve . Just six weeks after landin g at Port Re solut ion , Heath ,

3 5Guiart 1956 : passim. 36 Paton 1965 : 7 0 . 3 7Turner 1842 -3 : 12 , 33 . 3 8Gray 189 3 : 6 50 .

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in one o f his walks heard two praye rs t o Jehovah offere d b y two chie fs a t different maraes [yimwarem ] before eatin g . One a t Lahi ' s the other at Pagisa ' s . They said that 3 or 4 dis tric t s praye d re gul arly t o Jehovah - had given up praying t o their fo rmer aitus . 3 9

The change signified t o Heath that ' several intel ligen t chiefs and others began to \.lll derstand pret ty well the leadin g doc trine s and fac ts o f Christ ianity ' . S imilarly , when the Tannese displayed cons iderable in terest in b ibl ical storie s such as Shadrack in the furnace and the crucifixion , Turne r concluded they were beginn ing to emb race the tenets of Christ ian ity at the expen se of the ir pagan bel iefs . 4 0 But the Tanne se magico-re ligious framework was quite able to acconnnodate the additional myths and characters presented by the miss ionarie s - a point missed by the mis sionarie s , who would not allow that ' mere heathen superstitions ' provided answers to the ult imate question s of existence as much as b iblical myths did for Chris t ian s . A s a coro llary t o this process o f acconnnodat ion the Tannese would have perce ive d the miss ionaries as magic ian s , or sorcerers , interceding with the spiritual realm for good or for bad.

In th is context , even the most innocent miss ionary act ion could assume a b izarre and profound sign if icance for the Tannese . When the Camde.n called at Tanna in October 1842 to p ick up Heath , a party of mis sionaries twice went a couple of mile s to the west of Port Reso lution to visit the volcano - an interesting phenom­enon to European s but a potent sacred site to the Tannese . On the first visit , Turner , Aaron Buzaco t t an d Capt ain Morgan marve lled at the awful sight and drew a re ligious lesson about the Make r ' s power. The next day they re-ma de the p ilgrimage accompanied by the wives and children . This t ime , ' cont rary to the remonstrances o f the nat ive s not one o f whom wo uld follow' , they descende d on ropes into one o f the volcano ' s chimneys , the bet ter to inspe c t the bubbl ing lava . The terrifie d Tannese saw them disappear in to the cavernous depths and reappear only seconds be fore an erupt ion from a neighbouring chimney spewed lava over the int ruders ' track s . Thankful for their del iverance , they ' sat down on the edge of the crater sang a hymn and bowed in an ac t of so lemn worsh ip ' . They concluded what must have appeare d to the Tannese as some diabolical rite by filling . the ir basket s wi th specimens of sulphur and sol idified lava . 4 1

3 9Nisbet , Diary , 13 August 1842 ; c f . Turner 1842-3 : 12 . 4 0Heath t o L . M. S . , 2 2 July 184 3 , L . M. S . South Seas Let ters ; Nisbet , Diary , 2 2 August , 2 1 November 1842 ; Turner 1842-3 : 12 . 4 1Buzacott 184 3 ; Buzacot t to L . M . S . , 4 January 184 3 , L . M . S . South Seas Le t ters.

6 6

The Tanne se would have grasped that the benedict ion on the volcano ' s rim was a rit ual drama ; for , like the miss ionar ies , their live s were governe d by ritual , by ac t s o f prop it iat ion , expiat ion and thanksgiving . Like the miss ionaries , they too invested the volcano , Yasur, with a sacre d signif icance : a place of spirit s and demons , the way in to the afterwo rld. Be cause they shared a religious orientation to the world , both the Tannese and the mis sionarie s interpre ted all that the other said and did as expres­sions o f a sacre d real ity . To the miss ionaries , the Tannese were de graded heathen , un der the sway of the devil . To the Tanne se , the mi ssionarie s were magicians an d sorcerers , in constant contact with Jehovah , the yereTrO;Janu asori o f the Christ ian s . Though they inhab ited di fferen t mental worlds , each with it s own assumption s , value s and bel iefs accep ted as self-evident an d exclus ive truths , paradoxically b oth sides , by their reaction s , acknowledged and sus tained the integrity of the other ' s world view. The result was some thing l ike dialogue by accident .

In this situat ion of cult ural double mean in g even tual con­flict was inevitable . It surfaced late in October 1842 when what the mis sionarie s de scribed as dysen tery broke out amon g the Kaserumene and Yanekahi tribe s . Even before the outb reak Nerairrene tribe smen had que st ioned Turner and Nisb et about the prevalence of disease since their se ttlement , which the missionaries had dismissed as all non sense . 4 2 Aft er the dysent ery appeared they were again cl osely quest ione d , this t ime by Kaserwnene tribesmen , about the cause s of disease . The missionarie s blamed the ' moral maladies ' o f the Tannese which , given the Tanne se etiology of disease , was in effect an admiss ion o f re spon s ib il ity . The mis sionaries ' at temp t s to rel ieve the sufferin gs o f the sick with medic ine s on ly serve d to he ighten the suspic ion and ho st ility o f the Tanne se who believe d that the sorcerer re spon sible f o r the mal ady was the one best ab le to cure it . What were for Turner an d Nisbet acts o f compas sion were for the Tannese admis sion s o f responsib ility ; and throughout November i t was customary for the sick to send for the missionarie s ' medic ine at the same time as they had couche s blown to sign ify their readines s to propit iate the respon s ible sorcerer . Durin g th is time an unknown Kaserwnene man trie d to club Turne r , an d ano ther Kaserumene tribe sman , Ieteka , st ruck down and se riously wounde d the teacher Jamie in Yanekahi territ ory . A Yanekahi dignitary later told Nisbe t that Ie teka thought that c lubb ing the teacher would force the mis s ionaries to return to Britain . At the time Neraimene and Nepikinamame , followers o f Viavia , who had renewed the ir war with Lamias in mid- Oct ober, gave othe r re asons fo r the att ack :

One would say - They [ the Kaserwnene ] are a bad set of people don ' t have anything more to do with them - an d then one woul d say - That party are con federated with Lamias ' -

4 2Nisbe t , Diary , 20 August 1 842 .

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and a s we belon g t o the opposite party - they wish t o kill us as a grievance to them - And then we were again tol d that since our coming coughs had been very abun dant . - And that as we were con s idered the c ause they would nasi us - &c . 4 3

The se statement s suggest various facto rs in the opposit ion to the mis sion : Turner and Nisbe t ' s apparen t involvement in the Viavia­Lamias dispute , an at temp t by the Neraimene an d Nepikinammre to turn the missionaries against the Kaserumene , and an attempt to rid Tanna of disease by forcing the p resumed sorcerers t o quit the island. Nisbe t ' s repor t in g of the statement s also suggests that he and Turner had at least a vague awareness that they had become enmeshed in a complex web of local all iance s and rivalries .

Cut t ing ac ross this awareness was the mi ss ionaries ' disposi­tion to pe rce ive the wor ld as a bat tle-ground for the st ruggle between goo d and evil . In particular , they sin gled out the Kaserumene nahak magic ians as the ringleaders of a carefully orchest rated conspiracy :

These wily fellows begin to see that if X ' ian ity prevails , it will be an e ternal death-blow to the ir craft , and seem de termined if possib le to exterminate us . They have made desperate attemp t s twice a t our l ives , but providentially were arres ted . • . • Wherever we go we have to be on our guard against these fellows . The people all around [ the harb our ] are eagerly hop ing that what we say is done , and that they may yet be free d from the shackles of these disease makers. 4 4

In a repor t h e commenced on 19 De cember Turner wro te of the s truggle between the priestcraft and the mis s ion party . When he fle d the island a month later he wrote that the ' monst rous ' Kaserumene priest craft saw that if Christ ian ity prevaile d ,

they should b e sunk t o the level o f common men - should no longer be called ' sacre d ' and be propit iated as disease make rs - should never again see mul titudes daily approaching them laiden with of ferings to propitiate their favour and avert threatened evil s . Th is they co uld not b rook , and doubt le ss the attempt upon our lives at Iarof i was the first blow towards our exterminat ion and the de fence of the craf t . 4 5

4 3Nisbet , Diary , 3 December 1842 ; c f . Turner 1842-3 : 2 9- 30 .

4 4Turner and Nisbe t to L . M . S . , 1 0 December 1 842 , L . M . S . South Seas Let ters ; c f . Turner and Nisbe t to L .M . S . , 1 March 184 3 , L . M . S . South Seas Le t ters ; Nisbet , Diary , 1 8 January 184 3 .

4 5Turner 1 842-3 : 30 .

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By the end o f December the epidemic was affecting the harbour tribe s , and the missionaries could count on support only in tho se few harbour sett lement s which had escaped disease . On 11 January Viavia approached Turner and Nisbe t with a p ig which he o ffered as a prop itiatory gift to en d the disease . He explained that be fore they had se ttled on the isl and there had been a s imilar outbreak of disease amon g his people , a prop it iatory gift o f a pig was accepted by the teache rs and the disease had dis­appeare d . Turner and Nisbe t quest ione d the Samoan s who said that they had thought the pig a gift to mark the complet ion of their house . Shocked at be in g identified with ' he athen cust oms ' , Turne r and Nisbe t re fused to accept the pig and foo lishly tol d the Tannese that ' they must look to God as inflicting it [ the disease ] , and regard their sins as the cause of their suf ferin gs ' . 4 6 The fact that they were the sel f-pro claimed servant s o f this same God would not have been lost on the Tannese .

Just three days after the re fusal of Viavia ' s gift , four Kaserwnene men who had been lo itering ab out the miss ion house suddenly died . 4 7 This fur ther st ren gthened the impre ss ion that the missionaries had power ove r l ife and death an d were us ing their sorcery against the Kaserumene trib e . In the c ircumst ance s , with Turne r and Nisbet perce ive d a s sorcerers an d ye t refusing t o accept any propit iatory g i f t t o end the di sease , the Tannese had l i t tle alternat ive but to ge t rid of them - e ither by expuls ion o r death .

The missionarie s ' pos it ion had become even le ss tenable in mi d-December when Viavia ' s men ambushed and kil led three women who were Kaserwnene by b irth and Yanekahi by marriage . This con sol idat ed tho se two t ribes aro und Lamias in his fight against Viavia . Be ing closely iden t if ied wit h Viavia , Turner and Nisb et hence forth were unable to venture in to Kaserumene te rritory . Viavia ' s followers t rie d to enlist mi ss ion support by claiming that they were fighting ' Misi ' s war ' . On one occas ion , an exc ite d Neraimene tribesman rushed in to the mis sion house af ter a bat tle and declared that he had been fight in g for the miss ionarie s that day and woul d do so again the next . At the same t ime the Yanekahi-Kaserwrene side came to perceive the ir struggle directed as much against the miss ion as against Viavia . When Kuanuan suffered the indignity of losing his club in bat tle , Lamias ' s men boas ted that they had secure d ' Misi ' s club ' . Turner and Nisbet cont ributed to the con fus ion by promising the mission ' s supporters that they woul d use guns if the mi ss ion house were attacke d . 4 8

4 6Nisbe t , Diary , 4 , 5 , 1 3 , 1 7 January 184 3 ; Nisbet to L . M . S . , March 1 84 3 , L . M . S . South Seas Le t ters . 4 7Nisbe t , Diary , 14 January 1 84 3 . 4 8 Turner 1842-3 : 32 ; Nisbet , Diary , 1 7 December 1842 , 7 , 1 7 , 1 8 , 31 January 1 84 3 .

They afterwards modified their promise , but before they were put to the test a whaler , the High la:ndEr , saile d in to the bay and removed them to Samoa.

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When it became cle ar that the miss ionarie s would quit the is lan d , their former supporters ' began to cry out against Jehovah and in the mo st revol t ing terms t o talk o f the ir aremhas as invest ed with supe rior powe r and wisdom ' . But at the same t ime they were fearful o f Jehovah ' s wrath : ' I f it is all t rue , if it is all true ' , they cried to Turner an d Nisbe t , ' don ' t blame us -don ' t cause any calamity to grow among us on ac count o f the se bad people ' . The statement s conf irm that the missionaries were re garded as magic ians , propit iat in g Jehovah as o ther magicians propit iated the ir gods . But for Turner an d Nisbet they sign if ied that the fai th of some Tanne se in their ol d superst it ions was shaking :

They began to see that there was a great dif ference be tween the precept s of Christ ianity and the ir heathen practices . . . They saw that there is , in many re spect s , a broad line of demarcat ion between the Christ ian mi ss ionary and the general­ity of Europeans wh o visit this port . 4 9

While the Tannese might have viewe d the mis sionary and the t rader di fferently , it is by no means clear that they pre ferred the forme r . Skirmishe s with t rade rs were rare , and even when they did occur the re is no reason to assume that the Tanne se would not have dist inguished between individual t raders . In addit ion , most o f the recorde d disput es in the e arly 1840s cen t red on women , a t raditional cause o f conflict and as such at least comprehensible . In comparison , the mi ss ionar ies ' ac tions de fie d rat ional explana­t ion . They settled among the Tann ese , en tered in to exchan ge rela­t ion ships with them , displ ayed the e fficacy of th eir ritual s an d the power of Jehovah with perhap s the wo rst o ub reak of disease in Tanne se history to that time , and then re fused to accept a propitiatory gift from their vict ims .

Aft er the mi ss ion party fle d Tanna , disease con t inue d to rage among the Yanekahi and Kaserwrene to the exten t that , accord­ing to one report , they coul d not keep up with dispos ing of the ir dead . Possibly this discredited the miss ion ' s opponent s , who ' began to dread the name of Jehovah , determined to give up war , and live in peace with the Christ ian party ' . A small group o f Tannese kept the Sabbath and a stric t tabu was placed on the mission hou se and garden s - it being bel ieve d that anyone who broke the tabu and stole mission property , or who mocked tho se

4 9Turner and Nisbe t t o L . M. S . , 1 March 184 3 , L . M . S . South Seas Letters ; Turn.e r 1842-3 : 38 , 44 .

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who ob served Christian rituals , wo ul d die . 5 0

The Tanna mis sion was re commenced at the b eginn ing o f 1 84 5 when Adamu and Iona fled Aniwa . Murray and Turner , who calle d at Po rt Re solution in April , reported that they were con s idered sacred and held in the highest respect by the Tannese . They were replace d by seven new te achers who were allocated to Ya:nekahi and Kaserwnene terri tory as well as to the bay , to demonst rate that the mission was above tribal dif feren ce s . Four o f the new teache rs - Ioane , Petelu , Pita and Tagifo - were Samoan s ( three from Tutuila) and accompanied by the ir wives . None had rece ive d any formal t rainin g t hough Pita , a tal l impressive man , had been a teacher on Tut uila since 18 38 , and a foundat ion member o f the church there when it was const ituted in 1839 . The o ther three teachers - Marugat anga , Upokumanu and Rangia - were Cook Islanders , pious young men who had been enrolled at the Rarotongan In st itut e a t Takamoa wit hout distinguishing themselves academically . One was place d at each of the th ree stat ions , po ssibly t o oversee the work o f the ' unt rained ' Samoans . According to Murray and Turne r , the Tanne se rece ive d the teachers ' wit h open arms and every expre ssion of j oy and grat itude ' . 5 1

The expre s s ions turned sour with outbreaks of the disease in the se cond hal f of 1 845 , January 1 846 and mid-1 84 6 . By the later date , the teachers on Tanna had been j oine d by two more Samoans , Le fau and Vasa . from Aniwa . The teachers who did not themselve s die during the epidemic s were accused of sorcery , and eventually Vasa - ' a plain man with no marked strength o f character • • . [but ] t o all appearance a s incere devoted Xt ian ' 5 2 was clubbe d t o death by two Neraimene tribesmen . It is l ikely that some of the survivors would have shared the s ame fate had not a whaler fortui tously cal le d and remove d them to Ane ityum . Only Upokumanu , who had main taine d the support o f h i s prote ctor , the Yanekahi yeremwa:nu Kapahai , showe d any re luctan ce to leave his post . 5 3

In Feb ruary 1847 Kapahai sent his s on to Ane ityum to fe tch b ack Upokumanu . Anothe r Cook Islande r , Tumataiab u , accompanied him; and they were j oine d at the village o f Yune se fa by two more Cook Islanders , Kaui and his wife , when the John Wi lliams called

5 0 Information from the teache rs Adamu and Iona to Murray and Turner - Murray an d Turner 1 845 ; Samoan Reporter , 1845 ; Turner 1861 : 3 73 . 5 1Murray and Turn�r 1 845 ; Stow to L . M . S . , 2 7 De cember 1845 , L . M . S . South Seas Le t ters ; c f . Chambers 19 79 : 1 30-2 . 5 2Murray quo te d in Chambers 19 79 : 2 44 . 5 3s tow to L . M. S . , 2 7 De cember 1 845 , L . M. S . South Seas Le t ters ; Murray ( quoting let ters from Pit a , Pe telu and Ioane) to L . M . S . , 11 March 1 846 , L . M . S . South Seas Le t ters ; Gill and Nisbet 1 84 6 ; Nisbe t , Diary , 2 5 November 1 846 .

7 1

in July 184 8 . By then , all sixty village rs at Yune se fa were reporte d to be attending Chris t ian worsh ip ; and sixteen children , ten boys and six girls , were attending school where they had made ' some little progress ' learning to read from Turner ' s 1842 catech ism and les son b ook . 5 4 Attendance fell off ab out May 1849 , when a yo\lllg woman was kidnappe d as she was re turning home from evening wo rship at the teachers ' house . But the Sabb ath services continue d not only at Yunesefa b ut also at Umpitoka , anothe r Ya:nekahi village , where be tween s ixty and e ighty people atten de d . As well , services among the Kaserumene and Neraimene at tracted be tween s ix and ten people . A visiting L . M . S . deput ation in Sep tember 1 849 reporte d that many Tannese around Port Re solut ion re frained from work on the Sabbath - possibly they were following t he pattern of Europeans at the recently established sandalwoo d station near the head of the b ay . Murray and Hardie al so reported that Kuanuan , the old Neraimene yere'fl'U.J)a:nu who had be friende d Turner and Nisbe t in 1 842 , conducted regular family worship and a Sabbath service among his tribe smen . On the death of a relative , i t was reporte d , instead of b l ackening his face in the cust omary manner , he ' took h is book ' and p rayed to God .

Murray and Hardie left two Raro tongan teachers , Mareko and Obadia , in the care of Kuanuan an d the Neraimene yani en dete Viavia ; Tumataiabu an d Kaui stayed with Kapahai at Yunesefa ; and Upokumanu returned to Rarotonga to marry . Though they wrote a glowing report of the mission ' s prospe cts on Tanna , the bre thren were une asy about its being left in the hands of native teachers :

These are cons cious o f thei r own de ficiencies , they know the great risk to which themselves and the ir famil ies are exposed in being locate d alone in strange lands , amid savage tribes , and exposed to unhealthy climate , with lit tle medicine and less ab ility to use i t : - and no wonder that they be come dis courage d when thus le ft year after year 5 5

The words were prophe t i c . Another L . M . S . deputat ion did not visit the island for more than two and a half years , by which t ime two of the teachers were dead from disease and another , severely ill , had remove d to Anei tyum. The association of disease and death w ith Christianity had taken such a hold on the Tannese . min d , Murray wrote in July 1 85 2 , that they were eve r ready to take alarm :

They do not now as formerly directly charge the teachers with caus ing the disease and death , but they stumb le at the fact the Zotu does no t preserve from these . Thus when

54Nisbe t , Diary , 14 July 1 84 8 ; Powell to L . M . S . , 2 8 October 1848 , L . M . S . South Seas Let ters . 5 5Murray and Hardie 1 849 .

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the teachers are taken ill , and e s�e cially when they die , they are greatly dis courage d . 6

Undaunte d , Murray placed Upokumanu and his new wife at Port Resolution wi th Pita, who had come over from Aneityum in April 185 0 . Peleasaro , who had accompan ied Pita from Ane i tyum , and Obadia were place d at Yune sefa , in Yane kahi territory .

An epidemic among the Yanekahi in late 1852 or e arly 1 85 3 l e d t o accusations of sorcery against Ob adia and Peleasaro . After the ir p igs were kille d the two teachers fle d by night to Upokumanu ' s house , near the san dalwood stat ion belonging to Cap tain Paddon on the east s ide of the b ay . Mis s ionary work at Yunesefa was sus­pen de d following the death of a lo cal digni tary ' s chil d , which the Tannese interpre te d as a sign that the spirits we re displease d with the teachers ' clearing of ground for buil ding a chapel . Friendless among the Tannese - the pro-miss ion Kuanuan had by this t ime f le d ' some mile s inl an d ' - the teachers were employed at Paddon ' s stat ion . They were thus engage d when the Ediuard , a New Brunswick barque en route from Cal i fornia to Sydney , put into Por t Re solut ion for supp lies in Ap ril 185 3 . During it s three weeks stay some of its 100 pas sengers were daily guests at Upokumanu ' s house . Along with the ir t rinke ts and kn ick-knacks , they also gave the teachers smal lpox . Ob adia , Pe leasaro and Upokumanu and his wife all die d , re surre cting the ol d spe ctre of the mission ' s as so ciation with disease and death . As well , according to Murray , ab out fifteen Tannese around Port Re solut ion died . Some Tannese proposed to b urn Upokumanu' s house to propitiate the spirits but , fearful of Jehovah ' s wrath , they p revaile d on Pita - who had move d inland with Kuanuan - to set i t alight . When the smallpox con tinued ( in fact , it con tinue d unt il at least Novembe r) , some blamed P ita ' s incen diary act , and others pointe d the finger at Kuanuan . Finally , following the amb ush and killing of five of Kuanuan ' s women , Pita fle d to Anei tyum in a boat bo rrowe d from one of the Europeans at the b ay . 5 7

By the 1 850s all of the European mis s ionaries who had contact with Tanna were convince d that the miss ion would not advan ce unless European missionaries were se ttle d . After qui t t ing the island in 184 3 , N isbe t had complained that some of the teachers were morally unfit and others lacked sufficient training and knowledge to be of any use . In the last perilous days on Tanna, he allege d , they had vied wi th each othe r ' in finding out what they co uld ask us to give them - T ill at last i t be came out­rageous ' . Murray and Hardie reported that the Polyne s ians were

5 6Murray and Sunde rland 1 85 2 ; Ge ddie , Diary , 2 4 April 1 850 . 5 7Geddie , Diary , 26 May , 10 Sep tember , 2 7 October 1 85 3 ; Ingl is to Bates , 12 Augus t 185 3 , Scottish Presbyterian 1 854 : 61 4 ; Murray 186 3 : 154 .

7 3

' cons cious o f their own deficien cie s ' and were too eas ily dis­courage d by savage t ribe s and the unhe al thy climate . After seeing work on Tanna in August 1 849 the Anglican Bishop Selwyn wrote that it lowe re d the whole character of mission work to con fide the p reliminary operat ions , whi ch involve d greater dangers and demanded more self-denial , to a native agency . ' Men o f their class ' , he wro te , would not make much impress ion on ' heathen minds ' . John Ingl is , the Presbyterian mis sionary on Aneityum, believe d that Melane s ia ' s fore ign climate and languages , and the p resen ce of t raders pre senting ' so many temp tat ions for trading and other se culari zing pursuits ' , woul d always render Polynesian teachers ' comparatively ine ff icient ' in the New Hebrides . 5 8 By 185 2 the L . M . S . b rethren in Samoa had re solved to aban don their work in the New Heb ride s if European missionaries could not be found to supervise the work of the teachers . 5 9

Most of the European commentators ignore d the dep lorab le lack of s upport given to the teachers which often force d them to resort to ' trading and o ther secularizing p ursui ts ' . Frequently it was a case of the Polynesians , face d wi th shortages of food and clothing and lacking any effec tive ne twork of s ocial s upport , s urviving however they could . The infrequency of vis its by L . M . S . deputations made them cas taways , dependent on the charity of others . Compared wi th the deprivation and self-denial of teachers like Pita, who laboured for- fourteen years away from his native Samoa , the self-proclaimed sacri fices of some of the European missionaries take on a ring of s ace rdotal cant .

The problems ass ociated with teachers exis t ing in an alien environment were overcome in 185 4 when Aneityumese , traine d by John Geddie , became avai lab le for work on the surrounding is lands . Many sent forth were tradi tional dignitaries on Ane ityum , who could expec t to command respect on the surrounding is lands . Even the heathen provided them with food , Harbutt and Drummond note d i n 185 7 . ' They feed them a s Anei teum chiefs n o t a s teachers of religion ' . 6 0 The Aneityumese teachers were never far from their own island, which was culturally and c lima tically similar to Tanna . The exchange networks b inding the two is lands meant that many of the teache rs going to Tanna were known , i f not pers onally at leas t by reputation , which the missionaries on Aneityum were ab le to us e in their selec tion of teachers . When the Tannese requested three additional teache rs in 185 7 , they asked for two by name and ,

5 8Nisbet to L . M . S . , March 184 3 , L . M . S . South Seas Let ters ; Murray and Hardie 1849 ; Selwyn , Le t te rs , 6 December 1849 ; Inglis to Bates , 14 June 1856 , R. P.M. 185 7 : 10 7 . 5 9Meeting a t Samoa , 31 March 185 2 , cited by Chambers 19 79 : 1 7 7 . 6 0Harb ut t and Drummond 185 7 .

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in the cas e of the third , specified the dis t ri ct from which he was to come . 6 1

The firs t Anei tyumese teache rs were p laced a t Anakuraka , some kilome tres to the south of Port Resolution , in October 185 4 . As church members on Anei tyum they had been required to affirm the following formula :

1 . You affirm to be true this word , Jehovah is the true God , and there is n� o ther , do you not ? 2 . You affirm to be true this word , These three are dis tinct , the Fa ther , the Son , and the Holy Spiri t , b ut they are one in heart , do you not ? 3 . You affirm t o b e true , that they are the words o f Jehovah which his servants wrote in the holy b ook , do you not ? 4 . You affirm t o be true your s infulness before Jehovah , and your inab ili ty to save yourselves , do you no t ? 5 . You affirm t o b e true this word , Jesus Christ came down into this world and died , a sacrifice for our s ins , do you no t ? 6 . You affirm t o be true this word , the Holy Spirit only can give you a new heart , do you no t ? 7 . You desire to give up a l l heathenism and wickedness , to trus t in Chris t , to keep the connnandments of God , and to lead a holy life , do you no t ?

In addi tion , they were assume d t o unders tand such concep ts as the Unity and Trinity of God , the s infulness and help lessness of man , j us t ification by the atonement of Chris t alone , sanctification by the Spirit of God , and the ne ces s i ty of repentance , fai th , and holiness . 6 2 But given that Ge ddie and Inglis had not found suitable native equivalents for key Chris tian con cepts like pardon , repentance , regenera tion , j udgement and salvation , it is doub tful that the Aneityumese view of Chris tianity corresponded wi th that of the missionaries . Indeed , later events were t o demonstrate that the Anei tyumese h a d sele ctively integra te d Christian ri tuals and belie fs into their heathen framework . Inglis virtually acknowledged this when he commented that the teachers , with ' s o li ttle S criptural knowledge and so li t t le faith ' , could no t be expec ted t o ' convey much religious inst ruction ' . Ge ddie agreed that they were ' wanting in knowledge , dis crimination of character , prudence and energy , essential to the s uccess ful prosecut ion of Chris tian Missions in new and arduous fields of

6 1 Inglis to Bates , 7 November 1855 , R. P.M. 1855 : 411 ; Inglis to Graham , 14 November 1 85 7 , R . P .M. 185 8 : 15 8 . 6 2Inglis to Bates , 3 Octobe r 185 4 , R . P . M. 1855 : 2 45 .

labour • . 6 3 In view o f thei r pess imistic assessmen t of the teachers ' worth , it is of little s urp rise that the missionaries kep t them unde r close surveillan ce .

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The people of Anakuraka qui ckly adop te d some o f the Christian rituals : such as ob serving the Sabbath as a day of rest , asking a bles s ing on their food and p raying morning and evening . But contrary to the teache rs ' claim that they had ' renounce d he athenism ' the Tannese s imply incorporate d these rituals in to their t raditional belie f s truc ture . The chie f Wlder whose pro te cti on the teachers lived had b een to Aneityum in 185 2 and had gained the imp ression that Christ ianity had replaced disease and war wi th ma terial wel l-be ing and happines s . And as Geddie wrote in July 1855 :

The teache rs informed our natives that many of the people persist in taking food intended for the s i ck to the house of worship , and they affirm tha t , when i t is eaten , the s ick recove r . They have heard of the good e f fe cts of medicine on this is land [Aneityum] , whi ch , be ing adminis tered by miss ionaries , they identify with Chris tian­ity .

As Geddie himself re cognized , the Tannese re garde d the Christ ian religion ' as a sove reign reme dy for temporal as well as sp iri tual maladie s ' • 6 4

The same view o f Chris tiani ty le d t o the reset tlement o f teachers a t Port Resolution in November 1855 . In cont ras t to Anakuraka , where there was an abundance o f foo d , a drought at the b ay in 185 4 had destroyed the co conut and b read-fruit crops . As wel l , severe volcanic activity had des troye d huts and gardens and claimed two l ives , from whi ch the Tannese concluded that Jehovah was punishing them, as Ge ddie p ut it , ' for their s ins in rej e ct­ing his word and driving away his servants ' . 6 5 That con clusion was made all the more credible by the missionaries ' claim that ' the vol canic e rup tion and the scarcity of food on Tanna . • • at that particular j uncture were no doub t of God ' s appointing ' • 6 6 Nowar , an important digni tary a t Port Resolution , s en t his son to Aneityum to ' le arn the • . . new re ligion ' , j us t as an apprent ice

6 3Geddie to Bayne , 2 7 July 1 855 , Missionary Register 185 6 : 2 31 ; Inglis to Graham, 29 July 185 8 , R. P.M. 185 9 : 14 7 , cf . Copeland to Kay , 25 July 1 86 1 , R. P.M. 186 2 : 4 2 ; Ge ddie to Bayne , 26 Augus t 186 1 , H. F. R. 186 2 : 40 ; Inglis to Kay , 1 Octobe r 1874 , R. P. M . . 1875 : 7 2 . 6 4Ge ddie to Bayne , 2 7 July 1855 , Missionary Register 1856 : 229 . 6 5Geddie , Diary , 1 3 December 1 85 4 , 1 Octobe r 1855 . 6 6 Inglis to Bates , 7 November 1855 , R. P.M. 1856 : 410 .

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might le arn magical te chniques . The boy spen t some months tmder Geddie ' s supervis ion and took his knowle dge of the Chris t ian ritual s b ack to Tanna whe re they were s crupulously observed . 6 7

The people of Port Re solution s topped attending Chris t ian services after an outb reak of influen za in De cember 1 85 6 claime d a t leas t ten lives . There was talk of killing the teache rs for having cause d the disease . Their house was b urn t down b ut the teache rs themselves were �e f t alone ; and , tmlike the ir Polynes ian pre de cessors , they did not feel ob lige d to quit the island . One dif ference may have been the smalle r death toll . Also , the teache rs were Anei tyumese of cus tomary rank who coul d always cotmt on some support on Tanna , and they were mate rially we ll supported by frequent visi ts from the miss ion s chooner John Knox. 6 8

In addition , the fantas tic tales of the e ffe cts of Chris tianity on Ane i tyum continued to pour in . For ins tance , when Namaka , a yeremwanu from Anakuraka , re turne d from Aneityum, he de clare d that taro was so p lentiful s ince the adven t of Chris tiani ty that the Ane ityumese were forced to fee d it to the ir pigs . Ane i tyumese re turning from Tanna reporte d to Ge ddie and Inglis tha t Namaka ' s revelations had ' shaken the whole land ' . 6 9 For these various reasons , the Ane ityumese teache rs we re able to weather the s torm over the influenza and , when the John Wi lliams vis ite d the island in July 185 8 , the Tannese at Port Re solution and Anakuraka declared that they would accep t Europe an miss ionaries . 7 0 Two months la ter John G . Paton and his wi fe were se t t le d at the harbour an d J . W . Matheson and his wife at Umairarekar , near Anakuraka .

The se tt lement o f the new missionaries took p lace j us t weeks after H . M . S . Iris ' s b ombardment of Black Beach , dealt with in the preceding Chapter . Geddie , it will -be recalled , had sailed back wi th the gunboat to as se s s the re s ults of the naval as sault ; and Pat on arrived at Port Re solut ion aboard one of the trading ve s sel s which had ass is te d in the at tack . The connections were not los t on the Tannese , who conclude d that Paton had only to signify his wis h , ' and the roar of Bri tish cannon would be heard at Port Resolution , as i t was heard • . . at Black Beach ' . 7 1 It was a

6 7Ibid. ; Inglis to Bates , 14 De cember 185 4 , R. P .M. 185 6 : 1 34 ; Geddie , Diary , 24 November , 13 De cember 185 4 , 21 July 1 855 ; Ge ddie to Bayne , 2 7 July 1 855 , Missionary Register 185 6 : 22 9 .

6 8Geddie , Journal entry for 1 3 De cember 185 4 , Missionary Register 185 6 : 3 72 ; Ingl is to Graham , 16 October 185 7 , R. P .M. 185 8 : 155 , 29 July 185 8 , R. P. M. 1 859 : 14 7 .

6 9 Inglis t o Graham , 1 6 O ctober , 1 4 November 185 7 , R. P . M. 1 85 8 : 155 , 15 8 .

70 Gill and S tallwor thy 1 85 8 .

7 l rnglis t o Kay , 7 Novembe r 1 859 , R. P .M. 1861 : 2 4 .

threat which Paton was to hold over the Tannese and , eventually , p ut into effe c t . In the short term , perhaps it did ( as Inglis argue d) enhance his s afe ty and influen ce at the harb our b ut , ult ima tely , i t was to ensure the failure o f his miss ion .

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Chap te r 4

The making of a mi ss ionary - John G . Paton

When Paton sailed in to Por t Resolution , at the end of Sep tember 185 8 aboard the HirondE lle , he brought wi th him a grand piano , a silve r cutle ry service and a bound se t of the Penny Cyclop aedia . He also brough t a view of the world as a vas t battle-groun d , with the followers of Jehovah and Satan locke d in deadly combat . I t was a me taphor so pervas ive and encompassing that Paton was ab le to inve s t his every experien ce with a trans cendent s ignifican ce , to attach a sacre d meaning to eve ry action and even t , to j udge every individual as friend or foe . Like the Covenan ters from Sco tland ' s ' killing t ime ' - from whom he claime d des cent - Paton ' s bat tle against evi l was s imultan­eously symbolic and actual . It was a bat tle which had its genesis in the earlie s t years of his psychoso cial deve lopment , and i t i s t o h i s childhood that we mus t g o if we are t o comprehend the dep th and the strength with which the battle me taphor ordere d his relations with the Tannese after 1 85 8 .

John Gib son Paton was born in a cottage on the farm of Braehe ad in the parish of Kirkmahoe , in the south of Sco tland , on 2 4 May 182 4 . He was the eldest child of James Paton and Jane t Jardine Roge rson and they name d the ir first born after a great­grandfather , John Paton , who had been trie d and acqui t te d at the High Court of Jus ticiary in Edinb urgh in 1759 , ' for the crime s o f rio t and tumult a t Dumfries , with a view to ob s truct the elect ion of magistrates and councillors las t Michaelmas Day , and to quash the authority of the magistrate s then chosen ' . 1 Something of the old man ' s s ingleness o f purpose and se l f-righteous disregard of convention came out in his namesake , who was to stop at no thing - not even naval bomb ardment - to smash heathenism among the Tanne se .

The name Gibson came from the owner of Braehe ad, one of the las t Sco t tish lairds to maintain the traditional semi-feudal association with his five or six cottars who worke d for hal f the week at the ir handlooms and the remainde r at peasant agriculture -

lMcDowall 1906 : 60 8-19 .

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cul tivat ing the land in common , sharing the barley and oats , and paying the laird ' s rent in one annual lump s um . This form of primitive mass tenure had disappeare d almost en tirely in Sco tland in the sixteenth an d seventeenth cen turies , and it was j us t after Paton ' s b irth that the cap i talization of agriculture finally caught up with Braehead , with the building of farm labourers ' quarters at the nearby hamle t o f Quarrelwood in 182 8 . 2 Rather than sell his labour for wages , James Paton remove d his family to the village of Torthorwald .

An ancient village , seven o r e ight miles from Braehead and four mile s from Dumfrie s on the road to Lockerb ie , Torthorwald was remembere d by Paton as a thriving , pop ulous centre , wi th its co ttars and crofters , large farme rs and small farme rs , weavers and shoemakers , clogge rs and coope rs , blacksmiths and tailors . The family l ive d in an ancient thatche d co ttage , 42 by 1 7 fee t , probably almo st identical with their former home for which they would have paid about £ 2 annual rent . For Paton it was a marvellously cosy cottage , wi th a large fireplace and chimney in each gable , sol id s tone walls and th ick thatche d roof . One end serve d all the purposes of dining-room , kitchen , parlour and children ' s sleep ing quarters . The other end comprise d the weaving workshop . In be tween was a small closet where the parents slep t . The traditional familiarity o f the cot tage would have cushioned the effect of the move from Braehead, an d probably it was no t tmtil much later that Paton re sen ted the e conomic changes wrought by the ' Tory lairds and their b ig farms ' . 3

The p arish of Torthorwald had no l ib rary , friendly society or savings b ank , though anyone with t ime and money to spare could choose be tween five whisky shop s . There was n o chapel to cater for the s ix ' poor Irish Roman Catholic ' famil ies , or mee ting house for the twenty-eigh t families of Dissente rs - which include d the Patons who belonge d to the Re forme d Pre sbyterian Church . When the Patons moved to Torthorwald the parish popula­tion was around 1300 - doub le what it had been forty years be fore . Nearly hal f that number l ive d in and around Collin , a vil lage which had not exis ted in 1791 . In contrast , the vil lage of Tor thorwal d l agge d in i ts population growth - from 1 35 in 1791 to 185 in 1831 . 4 Perhaps it was the stab ility and con tinuity of

2Informa tion on Braehead from Mr Walter Duncan , pre sent-day laird at Quarrelwo o d ; cf . New Statisticai Account of Scotland IV : 66 ( the Kirkmahoe entry was written in 1 833-4) ; Smout 19 72 : 1 1 1 -1 8 . Much o f the b iographical information which follows is taken from Paton 1 965 . 3Paton 1965 : 4- 7 ; New Statis tical Account IV : 33 ; Bar tholomew 1950-1 : 17 3-6 . 4statistical Account of Scotland II : 7 , 9 ; New Statistical Account IV : 35- 7 ; Census re turns for 1 801 , 1811 , 1821 , 1831 , Parliamentary Papers 1831 , XVI II ; 1 84 1 Cens us , Parliamentary Papers 184 3 , XXII and XXIII .

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Torthorwald village which had appeale d to the old-fash ione d James Paton .

Of the 2 7 3 families living in the p arish in 1831 , for ty­eight were employe d chiefly in agricul ture and eighty-two in trade and handicraft - including a cons ide rable number of co ttage weave rs l ike James Paton . Some produce d for the local marke t , b ut mos t did pie ce-work for the larger manufacturers o f Carlisle and othe r places . In 1 791,, when there had been only twelve weave rs in the parish , handloom weaving was among the most respec­ted and best paid trades in S cotl an d . But weavers , espe cially following the post-war depress ion after 1 815 , had fallen in­creasingly beh ind other artisans , unt il by the 1 820s they were the lowes t paid of all . At the same t ime as their income de clined their numbers increased , so that by 1 830 the number of weave rs in Torthorwald was many t imes what it had been forty years be fo re . The ir incomes varie d cons iderab ly , and when very low were ' attende d with great wan t and misery ' . 5 It was in this depressed and impove rished craft that James Paton attemp te d to make his living in the 1 830 s and ' 40s .

James Paton was not , howeve r , as badly off as some weavers . He produce d the be tte r-paying hosie ry for the merchants of Hawick and Dumfries , and he live d in a re gion where he could at least grow his own potatoe s . In addi tion , the family owne d a cow. All the same , ' hard workers they had to be , e lse they would s tarve ' . Work at the looms commen ce d at 6 a . m . and con tinued through t ill 10 p . m . , wi th an hour off for dinne r , an d half an hour each for b reakfas t and supper . 6 The workshop comprise d f ive or six frames which mean t that five or s ix people could be employe d weaving . Jame s Paton was probab ly as sis te d by his wife Jane t and some of his eleven children . He may even have taken on an apprentice or rente d out one of his looms - though this would have b rought in only an addi tional 6 d . per week . 7 New clothing for even the first child was out of the question and failure of the po tato crop almos t spelt disaster . But in spite of his re duced material circumstan ce s , James Paton s t ill enj oye d a certain s tatus , belonging to the older class o f weavers whose hardship cons isted less in the s cant iness of the ir means than in the b i tterness of their memories . Desp ite the ir de scen t in to the common sewer of all tmemploye d labour , they re taine d , wro te Ass istant Handloom Weavers ' Commis sione r Symons , ' no inconsider­able portion of that high mental and moral me rit whi ch so long an d signally distinguished them among the artisans of the Empire ' ,

5PaPliamentary PapePs 1839 , XLI I : 2 , 4 , 6 , 3 8-49 ; Statistical Account I I : 9 ; New Statistical Account IV : 34 ; Smout 19 72 : 2 3 7 . 6 Paton 19 65 : 5-2 7 ; PaPli01mntaPy PapePs 1839 , XL II : passim.

7 PaPliamentary PapePS 1 834 , X : l46 .

and in re ligious and bib li cal knowledge they were st ill at leas t equal to every othe r class o f Scottish workmen . 8

James Paton was a perfect examp le o f Symons ' s older class

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of weavers . In his seventeenth year he had been through a ' crisis of religious expe rience ' , and from that time had ' openly and ve ry de cide dly followe d the Lord Jes us ' . Unable to achieve his goal of be coming a minis ter , he vowed unre serve dly to consecrate all his sons to the minis try . That three of them did don cle rical garb is te s timony to the efficacy of his program of rigorous and cons tant re ligious indoctrination - in cluding daily s crip t ural reading , morning and evening p rayer , commi tting the entire Shorter Catechism to memory , an d a full day of devotional exercises on the Sabbath . I n the eyes of h i s children James Paton was a ' high Priest ' o ffering up himse lf and his family to God , a ' patriarch ' who commanded the -' apostolic affection ' of the local Re formed Presbyte rian minis te r , a divine emissary whose ptmishment spoke to their conscience ' as a mes sage from God ' :

A white-souled Peasan t o f the olden time , God-fre ighte d , Ange l-guarde d ,

Here lived and made a poor man ' s life sub lime Luminous with Chris t-li gh t from the spirit- clime ,

By flesh-veils s carce re tarde d • • •

His eyes spoke Gospels ; and his cotm tenance With soul -light beamed benignly ;

His happy face did God ' s dear love enhance , And trembling s ouls-rap t into holy tran ce

Rose on Faith ' s wings divine ly . 9

For John G . Paton , the heavenly fathe r was to remain an extens ion of the ear thly father - ' the Lo rd God of my fathe r ' - whom he so loved an d fe are d . Reading his late r correspondence from t:he mission f ield , one is st ruck by his anthropomorphic image of God , as a figure lookin g down on men , wi tnes s ing their actions and tmders tanding the ir innermost though ts .

In marked contras t , the mother appears to have exerted little dire ct influence on the b oy ' s developmen t . She was the fathe r ' s ' Wee Jen ' , an ' al toge ther he roic little woman ' with a ' holy respe ct ' for he r apos tolic husban d . Whe reas her husband ' s consuming pass ion was his religion , she took her j oy from flowers , garden plots and natty curtains . She rare ly attended church , be cause of the dis tance and be cause of her ' many l iving "encum­bran ces" ' - eleven children over twenty years - and she ass ume d a se condary , passive role in the househol d ' s rel igious routine .

8Parlicmentary Papers 1839 , XLI I : 44 , 6 3-4 . 9James Paton , ' A whi te-soule d pe asan t ' , Appendix A , Paton 1965 : 44 7-9 .

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The reade r of the Autobiography is le ft with the impress ion that Jane t Paton exis ted s imply to p rovide a warm and cosy background to nurture Paten ' s intimacy with his father and his fathe r ' s God . Like he r children , this loving , childlike woman was rule d by Jame s Paton :

The Mo ther and the Children , one and all , However torn and sunde re d ,

He bore right in wh� re seraph footsteps fall , And with the Everlas ting Arms did them en thral! -

While Angels peere d and won dere d .

Every Sunday the children woul d accompany the ir fathe r the four mile s to the Re forme d Presbyte rian Chur ch in Dumfries . I t was a ' holy , happy , entirely human day , f o r a Chris tian father , mo ther , and children to spend ' . On their re turn from church , the father woul d parade across and across the flag-floor , telling over the sub s tance o f the day ' s se rmons to the mother , enticing the children to help him re call some idea or othe r , prais ing them when they got to the length of taking notes , reading them over on the ir re turn . He would turn the talk , ' ever so naturally ' , to a Bible s tory , or Martyr reminis cen ce , or The Pi lg'Pim 's Progress . ' And then i t was quite a conte s t , which of us would ge t reading aloud , while al l the rest lis tene d , and father adde d here and there a happy thought , or illus t ration , or ane cdote ' .

Paton adop te d wi tho ut question his father ' s view o f rel igion a s a fixe d , exte rnal set of rules , provi ding authorita­tive j udgement on the morality or immorality o f every thought , word and dee d . By a constant and rigorous program o f rel igious indoc trination , marked by daily s crip tural reading , morning and evening family praye r , and a full day o f devo tional exercises on the Sabbath , he was traine d to fear the Lor d . Every day the Bib le was p resented to him as a literal statement about the nature of re ality . Every night he woul d work his way through the Shorter Catechism of the We s tminster As sembly_, answe ring quest ions from his father , ' till the whole had been exp lained , and i ts founda­t ion in Scrip ture shown by proof-texts adduce d ' . This cate chizing , Paton late r wro te , laid the ' solid-ro ck founda tion ' of his rel igious life . His childhood die t of Bib le stories and the Shorter Catechism was sp i ce d with The Pi lg'Pim 's Progress and tales o f the Scottish martyrs - whe re Christ ian was invariab ly the bes ieged soldier cons tantly on guard against Satan ' s attacks . The resul t was a view of the worl d as a vas t battle-grotm d with the forces of l ight and darkness locked in deadly comb at .

Pa ten ' s black and white wo rldview imb ibe d from his fathe r was con firme d in his studies at the local parish s chool . The schoolmas ter at To rthorwald , William S teward Smi th - ' a learned man of more than lo cal fame 1 1 0 - o ffere d reading , wri ting ,

l OPaton 1965 : 19-20 ; cf . New Statis tical Account IV : 35 .

ari thme tic , Latin , Greek and mathematics . But the bas i c school text was the Bible . and students had to commit the ShoPteP Cateahism to memory .11

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At the age of eleven Paton stormed out of school after allege dly being brutally kicked and flogge d by Smith . In his answers to a questionnaire from the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education in Scotland ,1 2 Smith claimed that punishment in his s chool was confine.cl to a rare strap on the hand - not tha t he would have been l ikely to admit brutali ty to such a body . What­ever the truth ab out the allege d assault , Paton fle d to the sanctity o f his house where he was followe d by Smith entreating him to re turn to s chool . ' But all in vain , - nothing would induce me to resume my s tudies there ' , Paton wrote , and instead he re treated into the se curity o f his infancy , choosing to labour at his father ' s s tocking looms from 6 a . m. to 10 p . m. I t was during this time , under the watchful eye of a father who daily poured out his whole soul with tears for the convers ion of the Heathen World to the service o f Jesus , that the impressionab le Paton resolved to be come a missionary .1 3 With this end in mind he s aved enough money from weaving to spend one term at the Dumfrie s Academy where he probab ly s tudied Latin and Greek under one Robert McMillan .1 4 After six weeks at the academy he se cured a clerical position in Dumfries in connection with the Ordnance Survey of Scotland - employment more 'helpful to the prosecution of his educat ion ' than weaving . However , the bad language of his work-peers and superiors (who were ' mostly Roman Catholics ' ) was more than he could endure and he woul d avoid them every lunchtime by retreating to a quie t spot on the banks of the Nith , while they playe d football . I t was probably with some rel ie f that he soon af ter lost his j ob by re fus ing to engage himsel f for seven years with the Sappers and Miners . Late r , at the Lockerb ie Lamb Fair , he would again withdraw from the company of rough and boisterous fellow worke rs and take re fuge in a God-fearing house­hold .1 5 In thus e s chewing opportunities for exp loring so cial relations uncharted by family or church , the young Paton displayed a disposition which was to figure prominen tly in his later life -a refusal or inab ility to accommodate to values and behaviour dif ferent from his own . The e f fe ct was to preserve intact his chil dhood concep tion of reality as a vast battle be tween the forces of good and evil .

l l stow 1 845 : 8 . 1 2PaPtiamentarv PapePs 1841 , XIX : ll4 .

1 3Paton 1965 : 21 . 1 4PaPtiamentarv PapePs 1841 , XIX : 24 7 .

1 5Paton 1965 : 2 4 .

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There was another reason why Paton ' s childhood view of the world pers iste d into adulthood : within the Re forme d Pre sbyterian Church , surrounde d by a commun ity o f like-minde d adul ts , he found an inst i tutional structure and a con ceptual framework which not only confirmed his Manichean wo rl dview b ut transformed it in to a mature ideology . In the 1880s , he wro te of the honour he fe lt to have been born in to and b rough t up in the church wh ich had re s iste d pope ry , prelacy and eras tian ism with the b lood o f so many o f S cotland ' s nob lest sons and daughters . 1 6 As a Re forme d Presbyterian , Paton was b rough t up to view Go d as the creator , preserve r and governor of al l things - ' a most pure spirit , invisible , almighty , omni s cien t, omnipre sent , mos t wise , most holy , most free , most j ust , mos t gracio us an d merciful ' - who had se cre tly ordained all the even ts of time , and un changeab ly de ter­mine d the final states of al l His creatures . He was taught that men were naturally deprave d and oppose d to what is good , ' in the facul ties of their souls , sin re igning even in the membe rs of t he ir bo dies ' , wi th only a p re des t ine d ele c t be ing regene rate d by the Holy Spirit . But , as nearly eve ry Re forme d Presbyte rian tract emphasize d , even the ele c t were in constant dange r of being le d as t ray by the ir own lusts , of being ent i ced by the wiles o f Satan , the al luring blandishments of this world , and the workings o f inward co rrup tion . To give way was , invariab ly , to s uf fe r Go d ' s wrath . Paton came to know that every person , whe the r o f the elect or no t , was bound to acknowledge and obey God ' s will when i t be came known to him . T o rebel was t o suffer divine re trib ution . Thus , the depres sion of the late 1 8 30s was inte rpre ted by Re forme d Presbyterians as God ' s punishment for the national s ins of the Eras tian s upremacy o f the Crown ove r the church , the continuation of ep is copacy in the Church of England , the corrupt ion of party pol itics , widespread Sabb ath pro fanation , and family mismanagement ( as exempl ifie d in filial disobe dien ce ) . 1 7 In all of these things -the system of moral ab so lutes , the crushing sense of sin and the concep tion of a wrathful God - Re formed Pre sbyte rians were not notab ly different from the evangelical par ty in the Estab l ishe d Chur ch , or the Re lie f Church of Turner and Nisbe t .

What did distinguish Re forme d Presbyte rians from other Calvinis t s - particularly from Rel ief Presbyterians - was the ir attitude to civil authority . They tenaciously , at t imes frantic­ally , cl ung to the ancient Presbyterian goal o f a covenanting nation wi th ministry and magistracy unite d in yie lding obedience to God . Until 186 3 they re fuse d to acknowle dge the j urisdiction o f the Brit ish Constitution ; to vo te for Parl iamen t , to take an oath o f o ffice , even to use a postage stamp or b uy a rail ticke t,

1 6 Paton , No tebooks . 1 7Re formed Presbyterian Church o f Scotland 1 842 : 259-94 ; Fe rguson 185 9 ; W. Symington 1 8 31 : 2 7 ; Bates 1 84 3 .

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were he ld to be inconsis tent wi th church membership . 1 8 This position was spelt out in the updated Testimony of 18 39 and reit erated and expanded in a series of lec tures by prominent Re formed Presby terians to mark the bi centenary of the Second Reforma tion ( 16 38-48) . Civi l society , declared a leading church light , ' should acknowledge Divine Revelation , bow at the footstool of Jesus ' throne , and erect its constitution , enact its laws , and conduc t it s adminis tration , in subserviency to the interes ts of the Kingdom of Chris t ' . I t was the s tate ' s bounden duty to regulate for the external support and welfare of the church , for the education of the young in its princip les , and for the active support of missionary activity . The men entrus ted with civil adminis tra tion mus t ' pers onally p rofess and exemp li fy Christianity ' , and protect and extend the church in their official , corporate capacity . Magis trates , as agents of God ' s will , were duty bound to repress ac tivities whi ch were ' s candalizing to re li gion ' and ' hurt ful to the peace and good order of s ociety ' - such evils as :

the neglec t of the pub lic o rdinances of religion ; profane swearing in i ts various degrees and forms ; performing by vocal or instrumental mus i c , for p ub li c entertainment , passages of the Holy S cript ures , as is done in oratorios ; or ac ting the mos t solemn s cenes recorded in the Bib le : ­Profanation o f the holy S abbath , b y idleness ; p leasure walking ; visiting friends ; convivial p arties ; reading news­papers ; a ttending coffee-rooms or other reading-rooms ; rec eiving and answering le t ters o f civi l b us iness : ­Drunkenness , tippling ; gamb ling ; playing cards and dice ; priva te or pub li c lotteries ; horse-racing ; brawling and fighting ; duelling , cruelty to fellow-creatures , or to the inferior animals ; resentful and imp lacab le spirit or conduc t : - Unchas te conversation ; immodest appare l ; promis­c uous dancing ; theatrical exhibitions : - Idleness ; all dis­hones ty between man and man : - Lying , equivocation , deceit , back-biting , evi l-speaking , envious and malicious conduct . 1 9

The social goal for Reformed Presbyterians was a Chris tian nation , where church and s tate were based on a covenant wi th Chr is t . In such a nation , God would fulfil his promise of Grace and the church and state , with ministry and magis tracy uni te d , would yield ob edience to him .

The his torical model for the ideal church-s tate - the ' Second Reformation ' of 1&382 Q

- had been a short-lived experiment ,

1 8Hut chison 189 3 : passim.

1 9 Re forme d P resbyterian Church o f S cotland 1842 : 30 7 , cf . 3 31-2 ; Thornburn 1 7 7 3 : 55 ; A . Symington 1 84lb : 1 4 , 4 1 .

2 0 smout 19 72 : 6 1-4 .

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and throughout the seventeenth and eigh teenth centuries the Covenanters had at tempted to rep lace ' corrupt ' secular ins titutions with their own all-emb racing socie ty . They would no t admit to their fe llowship anyone who accepted a government bond , paid cess duties , locality or mili tia monies to the civi l authorities , or stipends to the Es tablishe d clergy , voluntari ly appeared before a court of law, supplied any commodities to the King ' s forces , or who in any way recognized the minis try of the ' indulged ' Presby­terians . There had been q b rief period of indecis ion following the accession of William and Mary , but then the Covenanters returned to their former separatist posi tion by re fus ing even taci t recogni tion of government or cons titution and by resolving to remain entirely divorced from the Es tab lished Church . 2 1 This degree of separatism had been made possib le in prac tice only by the semi- connnunal sys tem of land tenure which prevai led in Scotland un til well in to the eigh teenth century . But the deve lop­ment of capitalist modes of material produc tion , which was vir tually comp le te by the nine teenth century , made such social detachmen t vir tually impossib le . An expanding and integra tive sys tem of s ecular social and economic re lationships made i t increasingly di fficult for any dissente rs t o form themselves into s tric tly Chris tian communi ties living apart from the world and exercising comple te civil and religious free dom . The profound religious and s ocial imp lications of the changes were mute d for Re formed Presby terians by their re ten tion and ce lebra tion of the old s ec tarian ideology : as late as 185 8 - the year Paton sailed for the New Heb rides - the church synod unanimous ly reaffirme d that voti ng , or taking an oath of allegiance , were inconsistent wi th church members hip . But , in prac tical terms , separa tism was dead - with church members paying taxes wi thout protes t , using pos tage s t amps , appearing in civil courts , sit ting on j uries , and even petitioning Parliamen t . 2 2

Frus trated i n the at tempt t o realize their the ocratic i deal at home , the Reformed Presbyterian imagination came to focus on the other s i de of the world . Among the 'heathen tribes ' of the Wes t Indies , South Africa or the Pacific , i t was envisage d that mis s ionaries would c reate godly connnunities const ituted and adminis tered according to s crip ture . 2 3 Andrew Symington , Pro fessor of Theology to the denomination , drew attention to the possibility of estab lishing theocracies in isolated pagan communities :

2 1Hutchison 189 3 : passim.

2 2Reformed Presbyterian Synod , Minutes , 185 8 : Hutchison 189 3 : 280 .

2 3Re formed Presbyterian Synod , Minutes , 23 Ap ril 1830 ; Bates 1831 ; Re formed Presby terian Foreign Miss ions Commi t tee , Report , 1839-40 .

S uppose the population of a heathen is land or kingdom to be converte d to Chr is tiani ty , and the inhab i tants to become generally the sub j e cts of i ts saving influence , and it is not an impossib le or improbab le case , what would be the results . They would erect themselves into a church to walk in the fellowship of divine ordinances according to

8 7

the will of Chris t . Besides this , would they no t regulate their civil as sociat ion and laws by the word of God , and in sub serviency to the true rel igion ? The idolatry embodie d in i t they would cas t out . The theft , the murder , the impurity , the falsehood , the polygamy , and other evils formerly sanctioned or connived at , would now be interdicte d in terms o f the divine law , and offi cers fearing G o d would be appointed . They would do homage to God and to Chris t , in enac ting laws according to the will o f God and in the spiri t of the gospel . • . Would a Christian mis sionary be warranted to interpose and s ay , Have nothing to do with the trib e in your c ivil affairs , you have nothing to do with God and with Christ here , and have nothing to do with Chris tian charac ter , or s criptural princip les in the appoint­men t of your rulers . No • • . The Church would acknowle dge the commonweal th , and require of i ts members sub j e ction to it in al l lawful commands . In like manner the state would acknowledge the church , and provide that i ts rulers be her members , and that he r cons t it ution be acknowledge d , and he r members and fellowship be protecte d in their Christian liberty in the worship of God from all hindrance and con­temp t , if such things should at any time arise . . • Both departments would co-operate in promotin g , each in its own sphere , the glory of God and of Chris t . And to se cure co­operation and p reven t all collision , you can suppose an inst rument drawn up acknowledging God and Christ , and defining the different departments of church and common­wealth , according to the word of God , upon the footing of which they pledge themselve s to God and to one another . 24

The attemp t to estab lish a theocracy in some far corner of the globe - James Duncan was despatched to New Zealand in 1842 2 5 -quickened the zeal and activi ty o f church members at home . But i t coul d no t reso lve the contradiction be tween the s tate d aim of li fe and the reali ty of s ocial exis tence for mos t Re forme d Presbyterians . I t could only direct at tention away from it . How­eve r , for the small proportion of Re formed Presbyterians who , like Paton , actually went in to all the world t o preach the gospel to every creature , foreign mission work rep resented a pers onal attemp t to resolve the contradic tion in a way which was faithful to the Covenanting tradit ion .

24A . Symington 1 84la : 4 4-6 . 25Reformed Presbyterian Foreign Mis s ions Commit tee Report , 184 2 : 3 ; cf . ' Quarterly circ ular ' I I .

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To qualify as a missionary , Paton nee de d to furthe r his e ducation which , apart from the s ix weeks at the Dumfries Academy , had cone to an ab rup t end when he qui t s chool at the age o f eleven . In 184 7 , after twelve years chiefly at his father ' s looms , he applied for the posit ion of dis trict visi tor and colporteur with the West Campbell Stree t Re forme d Presbyterian Church in Glas gow . The posi tion carried wi th i t a year ' s teacher training at the Free Chur ch Normal Seminary , cons i dered to be as much a path to the ministry as to teaching . 26 I t was a God-sent oppor ttmity for Paton , already twen ty-three years old wi th no othe r p rospe cts for s tudy . Candi dates had to wri te an es say on any sub j e c t and he submi tte d two poems on the S cott ish Covenanters . He was s uccess­ful and , with b linding tears (he re lates in his Autobiography ) , he finally lef t the in timate security of Torthorwald .

The training at the Normal Seminary tmderpinne d the values and beliefs Paton had imbibed from family and chur ch . Over-riding emphasis was placed on the nee d to ove rcome man ' s natural dep rav­i ty through pains taking control . The aim of the founde r and secretary , David Stow , was to regulate the whole of the chi l d , to guid e its intellec tual , physical , re ligious and moral devel opment . The tmquestionable end of all e ducation , he wrote , was the forma­tion of moral hab i ts according to scrip ture . Ac cording to Stow ' s sys tem, s chools were nurseries for the Church : i t was the teacher ' s duty to suppress evil propensitie s and hab its such as rudeness , decei t , indecency , dis order and lack of courtesy , and to cul tivate

1 the Chris tian virt ues of obedience to parents and all in lawful authori ty , gentleness , docility and fidelity , by a ' repe ti tion of doing ' . ' Obedience - ins tant obe dience ' , he wro te , ' ough t to be the daily and hourly prac tical le sson in every depar tment ' . Be fore every lesson the children should be made to s i t erect , wi th heels drawn in , toes angle d outwards and hands folde d on knees . 2 7 This anxious supervi sion of the child, s o reminiscent of Paton ' s own chi ldhood experience - ' the very dis cip line through which our father passed us was a kind of rel igion in itself ' -re fle cte d a lack of fai th in the strength of characte r of the children themselves and perhaps even a contradictory attitude towards God ' s guidance of their l ives . But so overbearing was the Calvinis t percep tion of the power of sin and the weakness of human na ture tha t no risk could be taken .

The sane s ort of discip line was ins tilled into the seminary s tudents , who several times e ach week were given military exer­cise s by the j anitor , ' an old soldi er ' . The re s t of their time was divided be tween ins tructions in the theory and art of the t raining sys tem , obse rving the operation o f the system in mode l

26Scottish Guardian , 1 May 1846 . 2 7Stow 1 845 : 12-2 3 , 202 , 239 , 35 3 . Stow believed that it was ' simply ridiculous ' to ' speak of the teacher giving moral ins truc­tion without the Bible ' . Frase r 186 8 : 209 .

s chools attached to the seminary , and practising the various face ts of the sys tem unde r the supervision of mas ters . After three months each s tudent was require d to give a le sson in the p resence of all his fel low s tudents , the mas ters of the several departments , the seminary rector and the se cre tary ( David Stow) who af terwards publicly dis secte d his performan ce . 28 These exac ting demands were made all the more onerous for Paton by his sense of intelle ctual infe riority vis-a-vis the other seminary s tudents . Though he ' ground away in cessantly ' at his s tudies , his heal th b roke down and he was force d to give up the course and the Wes t Campbell S tree t posi tion .

After a sho rt res t at Tor thorwald Paton taught at the Free Church School in Girvan - until the s umme r of 1849 , when he returne d to Glasgow . He enrolle d in Arts at the Univers ity , eventually completing four sessions though not taking out a degree , 2 9 and taught brie fly at the Maryhill Free Chur ch S chool . I t had al ready lost three masters s in ce it opene d in November

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1848 be cause o f the ro ugh antics o f the pupils and Paton approached the j ob as one might a mili tary operation : ' to conque r , no t to be conquered , and to se cure orde r and silence , whatever it might cos t ' . He thrashe d with his cane one young man in the night class ' till at length he crouche d down at his desk , exhaus ted an d beaten , and I ordere d him to turn to his book , which he did in sulky silence ' , an d threatene d day s chool re calcitrants wi th s imilar treatment . From that time , he wrote , perfe ct orde r was e s tab lishe d , though the minis ter was oblige d to wait on him af ter some parents had complained that their children were too terri fied to attend classes . In a sense , Paton was s imply applying S tew ' s maxim of ' Obe dien ce - ins tant obe dience ' , though the fe rvour of his applicat ion would seem to re fle ct a personal authoritarianism and even viciousness . The school committee dismisse d him in March 1850 . 3 0

Be fore the Maryhill appointment Paton had app lie d to be taken on as an agent of the Glasgow City Mis sion - or ' Socie ty for promo ting the religious intere s ts of the poor of Glasgow and its vic inity ' - and when it came to the miss ion superintenden t ' s notice that he was t o le ave Maryhill , he summone d Paton to tm de r­take the us ual trials . Paton had to submit a written s tatement out lining what mo tivate d his inte re st in the work , his experience , and his views on the fundamental do ctrines of the Ch ris tian

2 8stow 1845 : 35 7-6 2 . 2 9The de gree i tsel f was considere d less important than the class ticke ts , in whi ch the professor ce rtifie d the st udent ' s at tend­ance and diligence . These ti cke ts were the accepte d evidence of advan ce d s tudy . Cf . Saunders 1950 : 30 8 . 3 0Anon . [ c . 19 48 ] : 1 8 ; Paton 1965 : 2 9- 31 .

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faith . Af ter that he had to visit houses o f the p oor in company with the superintendent , who assessed his ab ility ' to show men the way to s alvat ion ' . His final tes t was addre ssing a gathering of the poor in one of the miss ion halls in the presence of the superintendent and some o f the mis s ion dire ctors . Paton wrote that he passed the trials and was taken on by the City Mis s ion on 2 7 March 1850 at £40 p . a . 3 1

As a City Miss ionary , Paton was require d to spend not less than four hours a day - except for Saturday which he was allowe d for s tudy - visi ting the poor . In dividual vis i ts were to be kep t to fif teen minutes and ' se cular conversat ion ' was to be avoide d . In those fifteen minutes he was to tell Glaswe gians ' of the ir original and actual sin in the s ight of Go d ' , imp re ss upon them ' their danger , and the ce rtainty of de ath and j udgemen t ' , de clare to them ' the punishmen t that follows transgression , both in this wo rld and the next ' , inculcate upon them ' the duty of reading the Scrip ture s daily , as a revelation of the mind and will of Go d to mankind , and as the standard b y which they will be j udge d at the last day ' . 32 For six and a half years Paton conveye d such tidings to the ' ignorant and de s t i tute ' of Glasgow .

And de s ti tute they were , in the 1 850s , a s Glas gow exper­ience d severe social dis location as the re sult of mass ive e conomic and demographic changes . In the for ty years to 185 1 the city ' s populat ion more than trip le d as immigran ts s treame d in from the Highlands , the rural Lowlands an d , e specially , I relan d . After the fail ure of the 184 7-4 8 po tato crop nearly 4 3 , 000 Irish had paid the 6 d . s teerage passage to Glas gow , where mos t o f them se t tle d . Ab out 100, 000 Glaswegians live d in one-room house s - with up to fif teen occupants in e ach . Anothe r 100 , 000 live d in two­room dwellings , mo st with lit tle vent ilation be cause o f the ·

re tention o f the Window Tax to 1 85 1 . The maj ority o f the muni cip­al ity ' s inhab itants were crowde d into two square miles whi ch made Glasgow - with 5000 peop le to the acre - the most dense ly popula­ted area in the Unite d Kingdom . As Cap tain Millar of the Glas gow Police reported to the Bri tish Associa tion for the Advancement o f Science :

In the very centre of the c ity there is an accumulate d mass of squalid wre tche dness , which is prob ab ly unequalle d in any othe r town in the Brit ish dominions . • . There is concent rated everything tha t is wre t che d , dissolute , loath­some and pes tilent ial . These p laces are f ille d by a populat ion o f many thousands o f mise rable creat ures . The houses are unfit even for stye s , an d every appartment is fille d with a promis cuous crowd o f men , women and

3 l coup er 1919 : 81 . 3 2 ' Ins tructions to agents ' , include d with Annual Reports .

children , all in the mos t revolting state of filth an d squalor . In many of the houses there is s carcely any ven tilation , and from the extremely de fe ctive sewerage , filth of every kind accumulates . 3 3

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The comments were made in 1 840 , b ut it was not until the late 1 850s that any provis ion was made for improvemen ts in hous ing , heal th , drainage , or removal of re fuse . Human excremen t was simply tippe d from the tenements and allowe d to accumulate in great heaps in the closes be low . Mos t o f it eventually found its way to the Clyde which also suppl ied the city ' s water until 1 859 . I t offers no surprise that zymo tic diseases like typho id , s carle t feve r and smallpox , followed by respi ratory diseases , were the main causes of death . In 1845-4 8 there were 39 . 7 deaths per 1000 people , 32 . 7 for 1 849-5 2 , and 35 . 2 for 1 85 3-56 . It was e s t imate d that 4 346 people were carrie d off by an epidemic in 1 84 7 , nearly 4000 in an 1848-49 outb re ak , and a further 4000 in 1 85 3-54 . The poor , particularly those weak from malnutrition , were the mos t af fec te d : in the 1843 epidemic two-thirds of the vi ctims were \Dlemployed . Even without epidemics , the mortality rate in factory areas was much highe r than the city ' s average . Working class chil dren were the worst affe cte d . In 185 1 one in every twenty children ( unde r fifteen years) die d annually from feve r alone , and in 1861 children under ten counte d for 42 per cent of the ci ty ' s tot al deaths . 3 4

No part of Glasgow was wo rse than Cal ton where Paton lab oured as the City Miss ion ' s firs t agen t . A former suburban weaving village , where the we avers had abandone d all traces of agri cult ural work and had be come full time servants of the loom , Cal ton had been sore ly affe cted by the con tinuing de cl ine in the re t urn from weaving . 3 5 The situation was exacerbated by the influx of Irish immigrants , who made up 22 per cent of the population by 1851 , compare d wi th the city average of 11 per cent . Typi cal o f Calton living condit ions was the s ituat ion a t Deacon ' s Close , King Stree t , where the occupants of the e ighty-e ight houses shared not a s ingle privy or ash-p i t . 36 Spirit shops prolifera te d : a t leas t ten o f the twenty-six traders in Green S tree t , thirteen of the th ir ty-four in King Stree t , two of the s ix in Milroad Stree t and e ight of the th irty in Kirk Stree t , were spirit dealers . The se figure s represent only the four main stree ts in Paton ' s miss ion area , and take no account of ille gal

3 3Millar 1840 : 1 70 ; cf . Parliamentary Papers 1 831 , XVIII , 1843 , XXI I , 1 852-5 3 , LXXXVIII , Pt . II ; St rang 1 85 1 : 20 ; Handley 1964 : 106 ; McLachland 196 7 : 2 2 . 34Engl ish (n . d . ) : 2 1 ; Handley 196 4 : 105 ; McLachland 19 6 7 : 37-44 . 3 5smout 19 72 : 39 4 . 36 strang 1 85 2 : 18 , 31-2 ; McLachland 19 6 7 : 30 .

9 2

dealers or of the many lis te d ' gro cers ' and ' victuallers ' who may have sold l iquor . 3 7 For Paton , alcohol was the main cause , rather than the resul t , of Calton ' s ' pove rty , suf fering , misery and vice ' . I t was the poor ' s immorality an d indifference to the gospel which accounted for their degrade d condi tion : ' avowed inf idels , Romanis ts , and drunkards ' were congregate d in Calton -' living toge ther , and associated for evil • • • In many of its closes and cour ts s in and vice walked about openly - naked and not ashame d ' . 3 8

Paton ' s asso ciation of s in fulness and mate rial deprivation re fle cted the prevailing social philosophy that material success or failure issue d dire ctly from a person ' s character , that unemploymen t re sul ted from idlenes s and moral fail ings . The idea had a long history in parochial S cotland , and had been taken ove r in capitalist times by rel igious-b ased philan thropic bo dies l ike the Glasgow City Mission which attemp te d to grapple with the ' growing moral and so cial degeneracy ' by reviving

the friendly oversight , the paternal care , the endearing intimacie s , the moral and re ligious supervis ion , of the olden time . The lanes and wynds should be explore d . Every inma te of these re cep tacles of misery and vice shoul d be required to give an account of himsel f , to stand forth in the l igh t , and lead an hones t life be fore al l man . E ither this , or submit to the strong han d . 3 9

Some individual agents spent up to seventeen hours each day dis trib uting medicine during chole ra epidemics and the City· Mis s ion distributed leafle ts on personal hygiene , b ut the re was no questioning of the social structure wh ich pe rmitte d the epidemi cs to re cur among the ci ty ' s poor every couple of years . The pre­vailing atti tude was expressed by one City Mission supporter who wrote , ' To Christianise a man is to st rike his name from the lists of paupe rism as well as of crime ; while , on the o the r hand , in fidelity , athe ism , and s uperstit ion [ i . e . Roman Cathol icism ] are generally asso ciate d with these evils ' . 4 0

All the miseries of l ife we re ultimate ly the re sult of original sin . Paton ' s ' constant text book ' for his Calton Communicants ' Class - Paterson on the Shorter Catechism - explaine d that all mankind by their fall had lost communion wi th God an d were unde r his wrath and curse . S in was ' the source o f every woe and the sp ring o f every sorrow ' :

3 7Glasgow Post Office Directory , 1 85 0-1 ; cf . S trang 1 85 1 , whe re one public house is l iste d for eve ry 164 pe rsons . 3 8Paton 1965 : 33-4 , 4 3 . 39Glasgow Constitutional , August 1 850 . 4 0 smith 1 846 : 10 7 ; cf . Anon . 1926 : 37 ; Glasgow City Miss ion , 1 84 8-49 Report : l9 .

Man is subje c t to all the miseries of this life , which concern the body . Such are these : p ublic j udgement s and calamit ies of every kind ; the troub le s , afflictions , and diseases to whi ch the human frame is expose d ; the losses , cros ses , and disappointment s , and acts of inj us t ice , to which men are cont inually l iable ; an d all the poverty ,

9 3

and strait s , and difficulties , and want s , wh ich fall t o the lot of many in the present state o f existence . • .

Man is s ub j ect to all the miseries of this life , which concern the soul . Such are these : b l indne ss of mind a reprobate mind • • • strong delusions . • • hardne s s of he art • • • horror of cons cience . • . and vile affe c tions . 4 1

The concep tion of human misery and suffering as basical ly a moral and re ligious issue , with a wrath ful and vindictive God ptmish ing man for his naturally s in ful state , de termined Paton ' s re sponse to Calton ' s poor . As we ll as his daily visitations and two Sabbath services , he organi ze d a Bib le class , singing clas s , Communicants ' class , To tal Ab s t inence Socie ty , praye r mee tings for the Cal ton police and open-air evangelistic services in summe r . He met with ' cons iderab le oppos ition ' from ' pub li cans , pap ists and infidels ' , though it would appear from his Autobiography that the greater the ir opposition , the more fixe d his determinat ion to smash their ob structions . In the face of the ' fanat ical pas s ions of the Irish Papi sts ' - who se church he had been brought up to view as ' the Mo ther of harl ots and ab ominations of the earth ' , the corrup te r of everything good , the ' synagogue of Satan ' - Paton ' s response was to ' take them by the nose , and they will crouch l ike whelps beneath your feet ' . 4 2 For Paton , Cal ton offere d real-life confirmat ion o f the battle be tween the powe rs of light and the powers of darknes s : he was the vigilant Christ ian in a hos t ile socie ty .

This Manichean view o f the world was furthe r confirmed for Pat on when he was e le cted an elde r of the Great Hamilton S tree t Re formed Presbyterian Chur ch in October 1 85 3 . As an elde r , it was his duty to inves tigate rumours o f improper conduct among chur ch members , conferring with suspe cte d s inners and re commending punishmen t to the session . Accor ding to the session minutes , t he most frequently invest igate d failings were fornication , drunkennes s , trading on the Sabb ath , non-attendance at Sabb ath service s , irregular performance of family worship and abus ive language . 4 3 The le sson woul d not have been lost on Paton that

4 1 Paterson 1856 : 65 , 74 . 4 2Anon . 1 81 7 ; Goold [ 184 7 ] ; Mason 1 82 7 ; W . Symington 1 82 9 ; Paton 1965 : 5 0 . 4 3Great Hamilton Street Re formed Pre sby terian Church , Se ss ion Minutes , 1 847-5 7 .

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sin would try to reign even in the b o dies of the God-fearing ; that , but for divine grace , man was ' utte rly without moral ab ility to serve or enj oy God ' ; and that every person had to be on constant guard against his natural propensity for evil . 4 4

Soon after be coming a church elde r , Paton began the five year course at the Re formed Pre sb yterian Divinity Hall to qualify as a minister . 4 5 The study was a ' painful struggle ' , and being considerably older than the other nine s tudents - twenty-nine compare d wi th the average age of twenty-two4 6 - may have height­ene d his sense o f disability . After the first session of fifty­six lectures his health again faile d , and de spairing that he wo uld eve r complete the course he offered himsel f as a foreign missionary , on the condition that he be sent out ordaine d . 4 7

For some time the chur ch had been advertising , without success , for additional missionarie s to j oin John Inglis in the New Heb rides . Paton , who had been attending classes in chemistry , midwifery and the pract ice o f me dicine at Glasgow ' s Anderson ian College to equip himself for foreign mission work , 4 8 was mentioned as a possib le candidate at a mee t ing of the Fore ign Missions Committee in October 1 85 5 . At an interview with the committee on 12 March 1856 he made it known that another �enomina­tion was pres sing him to be its miss ionary to Jamaica . The implied threat worke d only to the extent that the committee offered to send him out to the New Hebrides as a lay assistant . Paton made it ' very clear , that it was not his duty to go t.o the heathen , until he could be sen t as an ordained Minister ' . The committee unanimously de cide d to re commend that Paton ' prose cute his studies [ ' to a conclus ion ' crossed out ] and exercise h is gi fts in the home fiel d • • • and wait for the leadings of divine provi­dence at some future t ime ' . During the next six months the church t rie d various approaches to attract a qualified minister or licentiate , again without s ucce ss . Once more Paton offered himsel f . Anxious to secure ' one or two additional labourers with the least possible delay ' , and by now convinced that it would not ob tain a qualified person , the committee reluctantly agreed to accep t the services of Paton and another se cond-year Divinity s tudent , Joseph Copeland . On 28 October 1856 , the two prospe ctive

4 4Re fo rme d Presbyterian Church of Scotland 1842 : 2 72 . 4 5saottish Presbyterian 1 854 : 604 ; R. P. M. 1855 : 183-5 ; Glasgow Presbytery , Minutes , 5 June , 19 July 1 855 , 8 January 1 856 . 4 6Reformed Presbyterian Divinity Hall , Matriculation Book ; Paton 1965 : 5 1 .

4 7Foreign Missions Committee , Minute s , 1 2 March 1 85 6 ; cf . R. P. M. 1 855 : 306 , 36 9 ; Glasgow Pre sbyte ry , Minutes , January , April 185 6 . 4 8c f . Andersonian College Rolls ; : Andersonian Univers ity 1 85 8 ; McVail 1879 ; Duncan 1 89 6 : 2 89 , 49 8 ; Paton 1965 : 5 2 .

missionaries officially me t with the committee an d agreed to be fully guided by it in preparing for the ir depar ture to the New Heb ride s . 4 9

95

Both men resigne d as City Miss ionarie s and spent the next twelve months acquiring me dical and trade skill s , and comple ting their th ird ye ar in Divinity . The final two ye ars were waive d and they were l icensed on 1 De cember 185 7 an d ordained on 2 3 March 1 85 8 . 5 0 In the intervenin g mon ths they preached t o Reforme d Pre sbyterian congregations throughout Scotland , an d Paton found and courte d a suitab le b ride , Mary Ann Rob son , the e ighteen year old daughte r of ' a we ll-known and highly es teeme d gentleman ' from Coldstream, Berwickshire . On 1 6 April 185 8 the three se t sail from Greenock to j oin John Inglis in the New Heb rides . 5 1

Ingl is had been l abouring on the island of Ane ityum, in the southern New Heb ride s , for f ive years . He had been sen t by the Re formed Presbyterian Church to New Zealand in 1844 b ut in 1 85 2 he j oine d John Geddie on Ane i tyum. Throughout the 1 850s there was s carcely an issue o f the RefoPme d Presbyterian Magazine which did not carry a le tter from Inglis , de tailing the irre s ist­ible sp read of Christ ' s kingdom in the South Seas . His portrayal of the Anei tyume se as under the sway of the Devil , b ut at the s ame t ime childlike and pass ive , be came the re ce ived view of all islanders . In the same year as Paton offere d himself as a mis sionary , the Foreign Mission s Committee confidently de clare d that the New Hebride ans were by nature at a lower leve l o f igno rance and b arbarism than the nat ive s o f New Zealand or of East Polynesia . Being a rude and ignorant people , the ir language was very l imited in i ts range . Their mythology , like their domestic economy , was rude and childish , with the ir pantheon a variety o f shapele ss stones . I f the ir wars were les s de structive t han those of the Malay races , i t was only be cause of the ir want o f skill in fab ricat in g more deadly weapons . The vi ces and crimes of the savage state had ful l sway among them ; polygamy was prevalent , the marriage b on d was lightly re gar de d , the widow was strangle d on her husban d ' s death , in fanticide was common , parents would sell their daughters into p ros titution . To all of these crime s they added cannibal ism , ' that foul enormity by wh ich the human savage sinks below the common monsters of the fore st ' . 5 2 Without any apparent sense of contradiction , the commit tee also h eld the islanders to be t ractab le and docile . On Anei tyum,

4 9Foreign Missions Commi ttee , Minutes , 12 March , 23 April , 20 May , 22-2 8 October 1 85 6 ; R. P. M. 1 856 : 19 2 , 206 ; Paton 1965 : 5 3 . 5 ° Foreign Miss ions Commit tee , Minutes , 3 O ctober , 4 November 185 7 ; Glasgow Pre sbytery , Minutes , 4 November , 1 De cember 185 7 , 2 3 March 185 8 . 5 1 Foreign Missions Committee , Minutes , 2 7 January 1 85 8 ; R. P .M. 185 8 : 1 83-6 ; Paton 1965 : 62 , 79 . 52 Foreign Mis sions Committee , 185 6 Report , R. P .M. 1 856 : 18 3-4 .

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nearly all had renounce d heathenism , war had given way to settle d peace , there was increas ing re spe ct for the divine ordinan ce o f marriage , polygamy was condenm.ed , churches and s chools were built with great zeal and perseve rance , and the pandanus leaf was rap idly being exchange d for ' proper ' cloth in g . Inglis and Ge ddie were able to convene meetings of ' al l the mo st influent ial chi efs • . • to consider what s teps should be taken to estab l ish a code of laws , framed on Christian principles , over the island ' . They were able to gain the chiefs ' ' cordial and unanimous ' backing for their propose d enactments . They were ab le to ensure that the ' most God-fearing men ' were electe d as district chiefs . By such means , Ingl is wrote , he an d Ge ddie had succee de d ' in deve loping the germ of a s criptural magistracy ' - the ancient Re forme d Pre sbyterian ideal . 5 3

I t was ant icipated that on Tanna - ' where the de sire for miss ionarie s has become st ronge r every year ' - the spe ctacular succe ss story woul d be repeate d . According to the Fo reign Missions Commit tee , prospe cts for new miss ionaries coul d not have been ros ier . ' There is no pe culiar difficul ty or danger in the enterprise ' its 1 856 Report de cl ared :

Facil ities for intercourse with the South Seas are mul t i­plied from year to year . The climate of the New Heb ride s is remarkab ly equable , and is now prove d to be heal thy . The utmost range of the the rmome te r s carce ly amounts to 30 degrees over the whole year . Either in re gard to climate , or to the character and condition o f the peoples a more desirab le field for miss ionary exert ion cannot eas ily. be named . 5 4

I t was after listening t o this roman tic addre ss to Synod that Paton for the second t ime offered his service s to the Foreign Mis sions Committee . The prospe ct of working in such a healthy and rewarding sphere would have been al luring to Paton , after his re curren t ill-health in cholera-infested Glasgow , an d face d with the possib ility of pe rhap s never comple t ing the five year Divinity course . Given his success in one o f Glasgow ' s worst areas , in the face of the ' comb ine d oppos ition ' of publicans , infide ls and Romanists , he would have ente rtaine d few doub t s as to his ab il ity to make headway among the ' tractab le and docile ' New Heb rideans .

Caught up in the excitement o f the ir impending depar ture , Paton and Copeland never tire d of tel ling enth usiastic

5 3Ing lis to Bates , 4 Ap ril 185 4 , R. P. M. 1 85 4 : 769 , 11 July 1 854 , R. P.M. 1 855 : 1 33 ; Ingl is to Kay , 9 Sep tember 185 6 , R. P. M. 185 7 : 1 33 . 5 4R. P.M. 1 856 : 1 87 .

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congre gat ions throughout S cotland o f what awaite d them in the South Seas . The New Heb ridean , they asserte d , was ' susp icious and revenge ful , not to be depende d upon , volatile , de ceitful , given to lying , steal ing , an d cruelty ' . His de grade d st ate coul d b e trace d partly to h i s natural ignorance , partly t o his religion and partly to the conduct of the E uropean traders . He was ignorant be cause he had not been b rought up to obey God :

After be ing b orn , he was not b ap t i ze d : he might be de dicate d to the service o f some ido l , but not into the name o f the b lessed Trinity . When his l i t tle lips had begun to give forth language , he was not t aught to repeat the chil d ' s psalm, nor to bow down upon his knees and to say in his own tongue , ' Our Father which ar t in heaven ' . When a little older he was not sent to s chool to learn to read , wri te , and work accounts , to fit him for the discharge o f the dut ies of l ife . When the first day of the week came round , he was neve r sunnnoned by the Sabbath bells to go up to the house o f God . No minister ever preached a child ' s sermon for him, or repeate d in his he aring that text of Scripture applicable to his years , ' Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth , ' and ' I love them that love me , an d they that seek me early shall fin d me ' . He was not calle d on to coroo to his parents and repeat his psalms and questions , to rece ive rel igious instruct ion , or be traine d up in the fear and knowle dge of God . He had not even the advan tage of the Sabbath school as a substitute for parental and domestic instruction , and h is young eyes never beame d with ple asure as he j oined in s inging , ' O that will be j oyful , j oy ful , j oyful , ' or of ' The happy , happy lan d far far away ' . 5 5

The almost childish level o f de s crip tion corre sponde d exactly to the mis s ionarie s ' expectations . By conce iving of the islander negatively - as pas sive , childl ike or unchrist ian - people like Paton were confirme d in the ir myth that the heathen were somewhere ' out there ' , s imply waiting to be converte d . Ane ityum was the proof that , on some remote Sou th Seas island , a theocratic Utopia coul d be e recte d :

The en tire islan d was covere d wi th s chools , a complete sys tem o f national e ducation had been established : the Bib le is the p rincipal s chool b ook ; the schools • • • were opene d and close d with prayer ; a teacher s ' Inst itution had been comp leted • • • • Of 4 , 000 inhab itants , all are now p rofe s s ing Christianity ; i do ls have been ab olishe d , and the whole islan d is Christian ; war , whi ch had known little interrup tion , has given p lace to settled peace ; 60 per

5 5R. P. M. 1 85 8 : 242-3 .

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cent are at tending church ; and the whole population attending s chool ; family worship is ob serve d in every Ch rist ian family ; the Sabb ath is rigidly kep t ; life and property have be come se cure ; sl ave ry has been abolishe d ; the weeping daughter i s n o longer bound an d cas t into the hol d of the sandal-wood ve sse l ; the shrieks of doome d widows , and the wail o f helple ss infancy have been hushe d , and the cannib al no longer eats the fle sh and drinks the b lood of his fellows . 5 6

5 6R. P. M. 185 8 : 2 4 7 .

Chap ter 5

Towards a scriptural magistracy

Paton and his young , by now pregnant , wife reached Ane ityum on 2 8 Aug us t 185 8 and a month later move d over to Port Re solution . The post should have gone to John William Mathe son and his wife Mary , newly arrived from Nova S cotia; but as Nova Scotians already occupied two harbours in the group , they were appointed instead to Umairarekar , on Tanna ' s southern tip . 1 Two years later , in Sep tember 1 860 , another Nova Sco tian couple , Samue l and Bessie Johnston , were appointed to B lack Beach on the nor thwest coast . It was the high point of mission influence on the island and for a while it seemed , at least in the imagination of men like Paton , that John Williams ' dream of making Tanna the hub o f missionary enterprise in the western Pacific was about to be realize d .

The Mathesons were an unlikely couple : he shy and withdrawn , she vivacious and ' always fond of so cie ty ' . Matheson was noted for his pie ty and quiet de termination , b ut little else . Un­accompl ished as student or preacher , he seems to have turned to fore ign mission work only after failing to obtain a call at home . His physical frail ty - he was consumptive - was mat che d by what h is biographer terme d ' a modest ret iring demeanour , and the appearance of a sl ight tendency to melan choly ' . Whereas Matheson was apprehens ive about los ing his ' dear friends and loving kindre d ' as he undertook his lonely pilgrimage to the ' dark place s of the earth ' , his wife , a nie ce of John Ge ddie , embrace d the prospe ct of a life among the heathen with a masochist ic pas s ion . Under the influence o f he r ' p ious ' mother and ' excellent ' grandmother , she had early come t o fear and hate her own body with its ' evil passions ' . The year before she le ft for the New Heb rides she had prayed to God to de tach her heart from the things of this world , t o make her feel her own weakness and depravi ty more and more . Later , with the nake d appearance o f the Tannese daily mocking he r own ' evil lus ts ' , she was to write of how swee t it was to be thus af f licte d , how deligh tful to feel the full rod of the Lord

l patterson [ 1 86 4 ] : 35 4 .

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in th is way . 2 Isolate d from E uropean so ciety at Umairarekar , 3 but at the same time exposed in a t iny three-roome d co ttage to heathen depre dation , Mary Matheson soon began to experience the punishment she crave d . 4

At Port Resolution the Patons occup ie d a s imilar three­roome d cot tage , of wattle and plas te r cons truction , s ituate d on Turne r and Nisbe t ' s old s ite at the head of the harb our , j us t above high water level (Plate 5 ) . I t was a pre tty s p o t b ut not high enough to benefit from the cool evening b ree ze s which offer the only respite from the s ul try we t season heat . Paton event­ually realized the mi stake and re lo cate d his house on a small hill innnediately behind the original site . The house might have been a repl ica of the Paton co ttage in Torthorwald , with its thatche d roo f , white verandale ss walls an d small shut tere d windows . A st raight and narrow p ath of crushed coral cut through the front garden , partly ornament al and partly utili tarian with its few banana palms , surrotmded by a low woven fence . Inside was furnishe d comfor tab ly . A grand p iano , china dinner an d silve r cutlery services , and a se lect l ibrary mean t that the Patons could s till sing , take tea and read as if they were at home . 5 Ins ide th is outpost of civilizat ion they were able to maintain a physical and, more impor tantly , cul tural distan ce , from the ir he athen hos ts .

During the week much o f Paton ' s time was spent in b uilding , gardening and s tudying the Tannese language . Every Stmday at 7 a . m. he conduc te d wors hip at the mission station , and at 8 a . m. he wo uld set out on an inland tour in search of congre gations . He itinerate d for six to e ight hours in the first ye ar after his settlemen t visi ting seven to twelve villages . By the end o f h is second year on the island his dis trict , according to his own estimate , covere d about e ighty square miles , an d he conducte d worship ' at nearly all the villages or district s of nine tribes ' , s tre tching we ll in to the he art o f Kase'PU17/ene terri tory to the no rth . 6

2Patterson [ 1 86 4 ] : 2 95-316 . 3 cf . Matheson to Bayne , 2 January 1 86 1 , H. F.R. 1 86 1 : 30 , that it was ' j ust about as easy to ge t le tters from Nova S cotia as be tween s tations on this islan d ' . 4Patterson [ 1864 ] : 442 . 5Paton to Kay , 14 October 1 85 9 , 2 4 May 1 860 , R . P . M. 1 860 : 6 7 , 405 , 30 January 1 862 , R . P. M. 1 862 : 25 1 ; Paton , Notebooks ; Turner 1 861 : illust ration facing 1 32 . 6Paton to Kay , 14 October 185 9 , 2 4 May 1 860 , R . P . M. 1860 : 6 7 , 70 , 405 , 1 November 1 860 , R . P . M. 186 1 : 16 3-5 .

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'··

Plate 5 Paten ' s cot tage at Port Re solut ion . Grave of Mrs Paton and her infant son can be seen on left side of cot t age . (From Turner 1 86 1 : 1 3 2 . )

Paton began his miss ion to the Tanne se with three as sump­t ion s . The firs t was that the Tanne se we re enemies not only to the E urop ean but also to each o ther , tha t they we re among those that ' de light in war ' , and if le ft to themselve s would never be otherwise . His se cond assumpt ion was that the Tanne se were 'wai ting an d thirs t ing for the law of Jehovah ' , wh ich would ' soon cause bloodshe d and cruelty to cease from one en d of the is land to the othe r ' . Finally , Paton as sume d that he was the divinely chosen ins trument that woul d ' civilize , e leva te , and save ' the Tannese , that ere lon g he would make them as indus­trious , co urte ous , faithful and ob liging as John Ge ddie ' s Ane ityume se . 7

The ass tnnpt ion that the Tannese delighte d in war , with its impl ication of so cial and politi cal anarchy , was con firme d for Paton soon after he lande d when fighting broke out be tween the ' harbour tribes ' and ' some of those living in the inte rior ' .

7Paton and Cope land to Kay , 2 3 Octobe r , 2 8 Augus t 185 8 , R . P . M. 185 9 : 64 , 6 3 ; Paton to Kay , 24 May 1 86 0 , R. P. M. 1 86 0 : 408 .

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Paton and Inglis reported that one day 100 arme d Ya:nekahi warriors , half of them carrying muske ts , marche d off to the battle-ground ' about two miles ' from the head o f the harbour . With the assist­ance of ' cons iderable numbers ' o f allies from other lo cali ties , the harbour people de feated their enemy , five of whom were reported kille d . The harbour side suffered two casual ties , in cl ud­ing Wanwak - a follower of the Neraimene yani en dete Miaki . On 11 October 1 85 8 Inglis wro te that the war was at an end . However , during the following months the re was st ill intermi ttent figh t ing , and in May 1 85 9 Paton wro te that there had been many battle s , b o th inland and at the harbour - including one fought around his house . No lives were lost in that b attle , but another - ' at a very short distance ' - claime d seven or eight . Over the next few weeks , Paton reporte d , the inland people killed seventeen harbour dwe l lers, usually in ambushes . 8 It is unlikely that such numbers were killed; as Paton later wro te , when the Tannese reporte d someone ' dead ' they may have mean t that he was ' nearly dead ' . 9 But at the time he ac cepte d the mortality figure s as accurate and , in an at tempt t o e f fe ct a re conciliation be tween the two sides , de cided to visit the inland tribe .

Until this visit inland , Paton believe d that the harbour people were the innocent victims of aggression , which is not surprising given that he had no contact with their enemy . From the people living around the mis sion station he had learn t that the fight ing was over their reinstatement of a chie f to whom the inland people were oppose d . 1 0 Howeve r , from the inland people Paton he ard that many of the pre sen t inhab itants of the harbour were exile s from other parts of the island . The se exile s had ' unite dly destroyed and expelle d many of the original inhabitants , who are their present enemies , and only seeking to be allowe d to re turn to the ir own land ' . 1 1 Paton ' s informant was Kuanuan who had been a leading inhab itan t of Port Resolution until j us t be fore Paton ' s se ttlemen t , and a s taunch supporter of the mission for more than fifteen years . He was a yererro.Janu and magi cian from Yuanawefa and , according to local tradit ions , it was on Kuanuan ' s land that Turne r and Nisbe t ' s and later Paton ' s houses were built . After convers ing with Paton for an hour , Kuanuan and his followers agree d to give up the war . Paton then

8 Inglis , Journal entries for 1 , 11 October 185 8 , R. P. M. 1860 : 19-20 ; Inglis to Geddie , quoted in Ge ddie to Bayne , 5 October 185 8 , Missionary Register 1859 : 49-50 ; Paton to Kay , 26 May , 22 June 185 9 , R. P. M. 1859 : 361 , 39 6 .

9Paton to Kay , 1 3 February 1 861 , R. P. M. 1 861 : 30 3 . l OPaton and Copeland to Kay , 2 3 Oc tobe r 185 8 , R. P. M. 1859 : 64 ; c f . Inglis to Ge ddie , quote d in Ge ddie to Bayne , 5 October 185 8 , Missionary Register 1 85 8 : 49-50 . l l Paton to Kay , 2 4 May 1860 , R. P. M. 1 860 : 404 .

conducted worship followe d by an e xchange of gifts . Then they

10 3

all shook hands and Paton was invite d to vis i t them often , ' for after this they wo uld harm no person be longing to the mission ' . The exchange of goods would have s ignifie d to the Tannese that they had gained an ally in Paton . For his par t , Paton considered himself above the disp ute though , when he re turne d to the harbour , he trie d to show the people there that the ir fight ing was ' exceed­ingly unj us t ' .

When the L . M . S . miss ionarie s Harb ut t and Drummon d had vis ite d Port Re solution in June 1 85 7 , Kuanuan was s t ill at the b ay , though the two bre thren re fe rred to the land on which Paton was to se ttle as be longing to Miaki , and it was from Miaki - among others - that Paton had made his ' purchase ' . 1 2 As important Nerairrene tribesmen , b o th Miaki and Kuanuan woul d have had some connec tion with the land and , as yani en de te and yeremwanu respectively , each woul d have had some claim to speaking on behalf of the group on the quest ion of land ownersh ip . As it turne d out , the peop le with whom Paton had nego tiate d for the land re fuse d to give h im even hal f of what he believe d he had paid fo r , and prohibited his use of any b read-frui t or co conut trees until he made an addi tional p ayment . 1 3 Paton put the extra demands down to Tannese avarice and de ce it fulne ss though , given that ownership of the land seems to have been dispute d , the making of payment s to different claiman ts was a way of ens uring the missionary ' s neut ral ity .

After his mee t ing with Kuanuan Paton assume d a dire ct inter­mediary role in an attemp t to se cure peace . Beyond his imme diate obj e ct of ending the fighting he anti cip ate d uniting b o th side s un der h i s minis try in the worship of God . H e he lpe d arrange a feast at which the harb our people and Kuanuan ' s followers b oth expressed to Paton their readine ss to live in peace . However , following the shoo t ing of a harb our dwelle r , figh t ing re commence d o n 1 January 1 860 and las te d f o r three months durin g which t ime many warriors were reporte d killed and much property de stroye d . Paton wrote that he did h i s utmost to s top the war , ' and a t last s ucceede d , by g iving a present t o two chiefs , who se cre tly promise d to f ight no more , and to influence the ir re spe ctive dis tri c ts ' . 1 4 The two sides resumed mee ting and feast ing toge the r . A t the end o f April 1860 Paton was again ab le t o visit an d conduc t worship with Kuanuan ' s peop le who pre sen te d h im with three baske t s of foo d . They requeste d him to vis it them of ten and to ob tain an Ane ityume se teacher to re side with them. Kuanuan

1 2Harb utt and Drummond 185 7 ; cf . Samoan Reporter 185 7 : 3 ; Paton 1965 : 18 7 . 1 3Paton and Copelan d to Kay , 2 6 May 1859 , R . P . M. 1859 : 361 ; cf . Paton 1965 : 87 . 1 4Paton to Kay , 2 4 May 1860 , R. P . M. 1860 : 404 .

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de cl ared to Pa ton , ' Me se , I hate d the war , and I love you be cause you broke it . We all love you now ' . At a mee tin g of the disput­ing partie s on 23 July 1 860 , whi ch Paton was reque ste d to at ten d , fourteen harbour chiefs de clare d that they had done with fighting ; that no more were to be killed for sor ce ry as it was a sys tem of lie s ; that they coul d not make rain , and wind , and foo d , as they professe d , b ut that God made eve rything ; that they had adop ted the ' mouth of Missi and the Anei teume se ' ; and that if the banished tribes would re turn they would al l become worshippers o f God and hence forth live in peace . There were prob ab ly various motive s ope rating in the display which the Tannese provide d for Paton . The harbour people might have been earne st in wan ting peace with those whom they appear to have dispossessed - so l ong as they could remain on the land. The denial of the e fficacy o f the ir cus toms and the ir affirmation of God ' s power , as we ll as being a typical display of Melanesian good manners , were perhaps also an attemp t to win over Paton an d force Kuanuan ' s pe ople to accep t that they would all worship God and live in peace - wh ich in effe ct meant to acknowledge the right o f their banishers to stay at Port Resolut ion - or , in the event of Kuanuan ' s re fusal , to drive a wedge be tween him and Paton .

The re fe rence by the harb our chiefs to the ' mouth o f Miss i ' i s significant , ' mouthpiece ' being the b ichelamar de signation for ya:ni en ik te . Possibly it was inten de d to do no more than flatter Paton and thus gain his support . Howeve r , there are indications that aro\llld this t ime Paton did fulfil a ne go tiating role compar­able with that of a ya:ni en de te : on 24 July he wrote , ' of late , I am sent for to atten d the most o f the ir [ i . e . the harbour people ' s ] war councils and p ublic mee tings , an d , through the Divine b lessing , my advice is generally followe d ' - a claim he repe ated in November . 1 5 From the end of July 1 860 there was almos t daily feasting an d gift exchange be tween the two sides . I t would seem that Paton facil itate d many of these encounters by acting as intermediary, re ceiving messages from one p arty and passing them on to the other . The harbour pe ople - perhap s fearing amb ushe s - refused to attend inland feas ts and exchan ge s \lllle ss accompanied by Paton . At one imp re ssive fe ast hosted by Kuanuan ' s followers at the end of October , Paton wen t at the head of a large and noisy procession of harb our dwellers loade d with e ighteen large pigs and other presents for the inland people :

The day was spen t making and hearing spee ches all of a peaceful , friendly character . I was invited to addre ss the meeting , after wh ich the chie fs un ite dly de clare d that this day had put an end to all the ir figh t ing and bad con duct , and that now they would live in peace and learn to

1 5Paton to Kay , 2 4 July 1 860 , R . P . M. 1860 : 410 , 1 Novembe r 1860 , R. P. M. 1 861 : 16 3 .

worship Jehovah . Our leadin g chie f sai d , ' We all , who follow missi , are his friends , and obey h is word , and you see we are many ; and we wan t all the inland people to re turn in peace , and worship Jehovah . Le t us have one

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talk , and one conduct , and one heart . Before we be gan to f ight we were many like the san d , b ut now we are few , ye t hating and killing each o ther in the service o f Karipanumun (Satan) . Will we all l ive in peace now , and hear an d obey the word of Jehovah , or what will we do ? ' A gre at inland ch ief answere d for all , say ing , ' Your word is goo d . We have done with war and bad con duct . Miss i ' s friends are many . Let us al l be his people and learn to wo rship Jehovah . You have fought with us and we have fought with you till our people are nearly all kille d . We who are le ft are old men . Le t us live in peace , an d every one go to his own lan d without fighting . Mis s i , this day is the fin ish to our b ad conduct • . 1 6

From the repor te d statements of the Tannese i t woul d appear that Kuanuan ' s people were militarily infe rior , possibly b o th numeric­ally and in terms of the muskets they possesse d . I t was a pol i t­i cal advantage emphas ize d by the harbour ' s leading chie f when he de clare d : ' We all , who follow miss i , are his friends , and obey his word , and you see we are many ' . But it was an advant age whi ch , by itsel f , counted for little in t radit ional Tannese terms : it was still importan t for the harb o ur people to gain the acquie scence o f the people they had displace d - or , at least , general approval from most people l iving in the vicinity of the harbour . Without that they woul d be regarde d , and (perhaps more importan tly) would regard themselves , as inte rlopers with no le gi t imate right to the land.

The long term obj ectives of the two side s we re , howeve r , opposed . Whereas the harbour dwellers wanted Kuanuan ' s people ' to re turn in pe ace , and worship Jehovah ' , to ' have one talk , and one conduct , an d one heart ' - that is , accept that both parties had rights to occupy the land at Por t Re solut ion - the inland people respon de d with ' Le t us l ive in peace , and every one go to his own land wi thout fighting ' , which s uggest s that they wan te d the interlopers to re turn t o their own terri tory . Paton was the me dium by which both side s hoped to accomp lish the ir re spe ctive goals . The talk of wo rshipping Jehovah was the idiom in which the dis cus s ions took place , an i s sue s uf ficient ly remove d from the land que st ion for that issue to be b roache d dispass ionate ly . I t was also a shrewd move which ensure d that Paton maintaine d his interes t in the negotiat ions . At the same t ime , it re fle cte d the Tannese view of Paton as a powerful pe rs on in close contact wi th the all important sp iritual realm. The pert inent poin t is that

1 6 Paton to Kay , 1 November 1 860 , R. P.M. 1861 : 16 3-4 . Paton ' s account is repeate d by Johns ton , in Patterson [ 186 4 ] : 2 5 2- 3 .

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Paton had influence among the Tanne se be cause they had a use for him; both sides were attemp t ing to win him over with the ir de cl arations of allegiance . This does not imply that Paton was me rely a pass ive obj ect in his re lat ions with the Tannese or that his authority was illusory . On the con trary , he o ccup ied a positive poli tical role analogous to the ya:ni en de te ' s . But like any nat ive yani en de te he was e f fective precisely be cause he assume d the funct ion wh ich the community assigne d him .

Whereas fo r the Tannese the talk o f Jehovah competing with Satan was a me taphori cal idiom by which to dis cuss the land issue , for Paton i t was a literal exp ression of the re ality of the worl d-wide bat tle be tween Satan and Jehovah . I t co uld not have been o therwise . Had Paton shared the Tannese awareness of the idiom' s practical use fulne ss the negot iations co uld not have cen tre d on him . Paradoxically , then , Paton ' s polit ical authority at this t ime re sted on his ignorance of the reasons why he was ab le to exer cise it . To his eyes , he was witne ssing a repetition of the presumed trans format ion of Aneityum in to a scrip tural magist racy - and it is inte resting in th is context that he followe d the Ane ityum miss ionarie s ' me tho ds even down to distribut­ing re d shirts among the chiefs he wan te d to cult ivate . 1 7

In addit ion to fulfilling the role of a ya:ni en dE te , Paton was perce ived by the Tannese as a magician , which also had a direct effect on his poli tical inf luen ce . The belief that Christ ian miss ionaries were magi cians and sorce rers had a long his tory on Tanna , pre-dating even Turner and Nisbe t , and from the t ime of his settlement at Port Resolut ion Paton was similarly perceive d . A drought aroun d the harb our in De cember 1858 and January 1 859 b rought a declarat ion from two Ya:nekahi chie fs that if rain did no t fall within a few days the ir tribe woul d destroy the missionarie s and the people with whom they l ive d. 1 8 Miaki and Nouka , the two NePaimene yani en de te , and as s uch Paton ' s patrons , ent reate d Paton and Copeland to b ring rain and warne d them that , in the event of a Ya:nekahi attack , they could not protect them. But God interpose d , the two miss ionarie s wrote , and on the following Sabbath , when they were assemb le d for public worship , rain be gan to fall ' and the whole inhab itan ts bel ieve d it was dire ctly sen t in answer to our prayers ' . But with the heavy rains came ' much sickness ' for wh ich the mi ss ionarie s were also blame d . They were blame d too for gale s wh ich damage d fruit crops and when a hurricane on 6 February 1859 drove a sandalwood

1 7Paton to Kay , 2 4 May 1860 , R. P. M. 1860 : 46 4 ; cf . Ge ddie , Diary , 30 July 1 855 .

1 8Paton ' s informants were Nouka an d Miaki , whose names are ren dere d as Nouva and Nuake in Paton and Copeland to Kay , 26 May 1 859 , R. P. M. 185 9 : 361 ; cf . Paton 1965 : 8 7 .

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vessel ashore , where it was smashe d to p ie ces , 1 9 again ' me se did i t ' . In short , wrote Paton and Copelan d , ' we ge t the cre dit of everything remarkable that take s place on Tanna ' . The missionaries contributed to this attitude by b roadcast ing that Jehovah was re spons ib le for all things : presumably they would have offered up public praise for his grace when the rain fell at the S un day service . Given the Tannese bel ie f th at spirits inter­vene d in the af fairs o f man an d nature in re sponse to a magician ' s interce ssion , Paton and Cope land ' s boas t that ' God interposed on our behalf ' implie d a measure o f personal re sponsibility . The fact that it began to rain during the miss ionarie s ' most public ritual would have confirmed the eff icacy o f the ir magical te ch­niques . Similarly , given the miss ionaries ' vo ciferous obsess ion with the supposed ant i-miss ion machinations of sandalwood trade rs , it was entirely natural for the Tannese to suppose that Paton and Cope land had caused the hurricane which dest roye d the sandal­wood ship .

A week af ter the hurri cane Mrs Paton gave b irth to a son . For the next few weeks she suffere d from del irium an d diarrhoea and , despi te her husband ' s rene die s o f shaving he r head and apply­ing cl oths dippe d in vinegar , she die d - of ' pericarditis ' - on 3 March . 2 0 After severe suffering the child die d three weeks late r . Paton was stunned and ove rwhe lme d with grie f : Matheson wro te on 11 April that he had ' almost stmk tm der th is severe trial ' , and Geddie later commen ted that subsequen tly ' he was often le d to take too gloomy a view of p as sing events ' . 2 1 As well as the tragedy of his wife and son ' s deaths , Paton had to contend wi th a succession of malarial attacks . The incomprehensib le suffering he experience d p ushe d his re ligious faith to its l imit s :

I try to feel re signe d , b ut i t is very diff icult ; for O ! i t seemed har d t o b e s o left , an d t o lose one that was so s ingularly qualifie d for the work , an d wi th whom I lived so very happily ; ye t God doe th all things we ll . Afte r her death I was much set on the dear child , and hope d e arnestly that he would be spare d . His countenance was so expressive of his mothe r ' s , and he seemed such a lovely chil d ; b ut God took him , and I bel ieve he is too wise to err ; ye t I cannot help mourning the ir absen ce , for it is very trying t o b e h ere alone i n such circumst ance s . 2 2

1 9Paton and Copeland to Kay , 2 6 May 1 859 , R. P. M. 1859 : 361 ; Sh. G. & S. G. T. L . , 16 May 1 859 .

2 0Paton to his family , 2 7 April 1 859 , R. P. M. 1 860 : 3 7 .

2 1Matheson to Bayne , 11 April 1859 , Missionary Registe r 1 859 : 180 ; Patterson 1 882 : 4 76 .

2 2Paton to Wal ter Paton , 2 6 May 1 85 9 , R. P . M. 1860 : 38 .

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Fearing that the Tannese woul d disinter her body for a cannib al feast , Paton kep t a lonely vigil , gun in han d , over his wife ' s grave tmtil her remains were complete ly de compose d . The fear was unfounded in terms of Tannese practice s , and the ep isode was later related by Julius Brenchley and Herbert Meade to pour s corn on Paton , b ut it points to the te rrifying mental anguish o f a man deprived of his love d ones in a hostile environment . Event­ually Paton derive d some comfort from his conviction that ' God doe th all things well ' , and Ingl is wrote that he soon be gan to bear up ' beyond expectat ions ' . 2 3

What was a source of reassurance for Paton , that the deaths were inexpl icably part of God ' s plan , was a source of fear an d conste rnation for the Tannese . Paton ' s claim that Jehovah was responsible for the deaths was not wi thout meaning for the Tanne se who also attache d spiritual signi ficance to such events . For them , the deaths would have signified either that Paton and Jehovah we re powerless against s uperior Tanne se magicians and deitie s , or , if they accepted Paton ' s explanation that the deaths were God ' s will , that Jehovah was a capricious spirit who coul d act against the very magi cian who prop itiate d him .

For the Tannese , it was but the late st instance of the mission ' s long association wi th s ickne ss an d de ath . The deaths of Paton ' s wife and chil d , his own re curren t attacks of ' fever and ague ' , and the deaths o f two le ading Anei tyume se church members who were visiting Paton at Port Re solut ion , comb ine d with a ' gre at amount o f sickness ' aro tmd the harb our to ' infuriate ' many Tannese . At ' mee ting after meet ing ' excite d speakers threatene d Paton with death if he did not leave the islan d . When a teacher died on 9 August 1860 again ' grea t alarm . . • prevaile d among the nat ive s , who were very insolent and ill to manage , again and again demanding me t o tell them the cause o f his death &c ' . 2 4 Paton turned the Tanne se logic b ack onto h i s accusers b y telling a ' l arge party ' that he might j ust as well as cribe all the mi s s ion ' s trouble s and deaths to them. Paton wrote that the crowd lt f t him ' much afraid ' . They re turned a few days later explain ing that a ' bushman ' had got some thing belonging to them and Paton , which he had thrown in to the vol cano . Ano the r group of Tannese said tha t the ' Aurumum , or evil sp ir i t ' o f Tanna had cause d the deaths and illne s s , ' for he knew that if they be came worshippers of Jehovah , they would no t continue to fear him, and presen t him with the f irst and best of the ir food , &c . , as they and the ir fathers had always done ' . Poss ib ly the Tanne se feare d that Paton woul d direc t Jehovah ' s wrath at them . They may also have feared that Paton woul d summon a British gtmb oat to punish the ir misdeeds : from Mrs Paton ' s last le tter from Tanna , in wh ich she wrote that

2 3 Ingl is to Kay , 4 May 1 85 9 , R. P . M. 1 85 9 : 35 9 ; cf . Meade 1 8 70 : 32 1 ; Brenchley 1 8 7 3 : 194 . 2 4Paton to Kay , 14 Octobe r 1 85 9 , R. P. M. 1860 : 6 8 .

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she was not in the least frightened by the Tannese as ' a man-of-war some times pays them a vis it , and has already given them some very salutary lessons ' , 2 5 it might be infe rre d that her husband had use d such a threat against the Tannese .

The threat was given force at the end of Augus t 1859 when a British gunb oat , H . M . S . Corde lia , did anchor at Por t Resolution and the commanding officer offere d to do anything in his power to consolidate the miss ionary ' s position . At a mee t ing with the assemb le d harbour chiefs Capt ain Vernon gave ' many very j udicious advices , all calculated to advan ce the interests of our work , and make my posi tion more safe among them' . The Tannese ' made many fair promise s ' and were , according to Paton , 26 much pleased with the cap tain, probably be cause he had not punished them. Vernon ' s vis it left the Tannese with the imp ression that Paton had only to signify his wish ' and the roar of British cannon would be heard at Port Resolut ion , as i t was he ard last year at Black Beach ' . 2 7 For the next few months Paton heard o f no more threats against himself or the mission .

However , s ickness and death among the Tannese at the en d of 185 9 an d beginning of 1860 precipitated further cal ls for Paton ' s expuls ion . In April 1860 the people wi th whom Paton re sided , mainly Neraimene tribe smen who p reviously had supported the missionary , de clared th at they hate d the worsh ip of Jehovah as it made them afraid to do as they had always done . However , if Paton we re to give up talking with therr. about religious mat ters they would l ike him to stay and trade with them - ' for they like d the trader , but they hate d the worship ' . One ch ie f , who it seems had s pent some years in Sydney , de clare d on behalf of his followers :

Our fathers love d and worshipped the devil , and we are de termined to do s o , for we love all the conduct of our fathe rs . Mr Turner came h ere and tried to b reak his worship , b ut our fathers fought him , and he le f t - they fought Pe ter , a Samoan teacher , and he fled - they fought and kille d some of the Samoan teachers , p lace d on the o the r s ide of the bay , and the ir comp anions fle d - they kille d Vas a , a Samoan teacher and h i s companions le f t - we kille d the last foreigner that live d on Tana be fore you came . We fought the Anei teum teachers , and burne d the ir house , and on e ach occasion Tana was good , they al l did as they like d , and s ickness lef t us . Now all the people are de termined to kill you , for you are des troyin g our worship and cus toms , and we all hate Jehovah and his worship . 2 8

25Mrs Paton to he r family , 20 De cember 185 8 , R. P .M. 1860 : 3 7 . 26Paton to Kay , 14 October 1 85 9 , R . P .M. 1860 : 70 . 2 7rnglis to Kay , 7 Novembe r 1 85 8 , R. P .M. 186 1 : 2 4 . 28Paton t o Kay , 24 May 1 860 , R. P . M. 1860 : 406 .

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I t would seem that the Tannes e feared not to propitiate Jehovah an d , at the same t ime , believed that his worship offended their cus tomary dei ties , who disp laye d their displeasure by causing illness and death among the Tannese with whom Paton came into contac t .

I t was not Paten ' s physical presence but his mis sionary activi ty to which the Tannese obj ec ted - a phenomenon which was to re-emerge a ye ar la ter in the wake of the measles epidemic . This was partly due to the Tannese fear of being told about Jehovah and of fending other spirits . But the invi tation to s tay a t Port Resolution and t rade whi le giving up ' visi ting the villages ' -which were mainly the inland Ne:Pa.imene villages - sugges ts als o th�t the harbour peop le wan te d t o sever Paten ' s re la tionship with Kuanuan ' s people without at the s ame time denying themse lve s acce s s to European goods . There were , then , a number o f interrelated and sometimes in consis tent e lements in the Tannese percep t ion of Paton at this t ime . He was perceived as a sorcerer whose god was b o th powerful and connec ted wi th the appearance of disease ; he was cons idered a threat to tradi tional customs and beliefs ; he was used by both Kuanuan ' s peop le and the harb our dwe llers as a means of out-manoeuvring the other group ; he was seen as having a man-of­war to back him up i f the need arose ; and he was viewed as being use ful for the acquisition of t rade i tems . Paton , often in spi te of his own efforts , occupied a comp lex and highly polit i cized p os i tion a t Port Res olution .

Simultaneous wi th the Tannese cons truc tion of reality , Paton p laced his own meaning on what was happening around . him . Jus t as the Tannese had i dentified him in terms of roles lo cated in their cul ture, so too he categori zed the Tannese ac cording to the precepts of his particular cul ture . Basic to his in terpretation of events was the assump tion tha t man was natural ly deprave d , and tha t this natural dep ravity could b e transcended only b y the intercession of the Holy Spiri t . It wi ll be recalled that Paton and Cop eland, even before they lef t S cotland , had port raye d the New Hebridean as naturally suspicious and vengeful , undependable , vol atile , deceit ful , given to lying , stealing and cruelty . Thi s degraded condi tion was he ld to be the result of nat ive ignorance , supers ti tion , and vengeful reacti on to the vile conduc t of European traders . In his le t ters from Tanna Paton repeated the classic mis sionary epithets : the Tannese were painted savages enveloped in all the supers titions of heathenism; their conduc t was wicke d and deceit ful ; they were naked ; they were exceedingly ignoran t , vi cious , and bigoted ; they were almos t void of natural affec tion ; the women were the down-trodden s laves of the men , children were uncared for , and aged persons were negle c te d and s tarve d ; wives and daughters were of ten ki lled and cooke d , and the Tannese desire for human f lesh was so great tha t even the in terred dead were exhumed and ea ten ; they were cons tantly at war among thems elves , with every man doing what was righ t in his own eyes and every quarrel was settled by an appeal to arms . The

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wors t charac ters were those who had had contact wi th traders for , in addition to their own prej udices , they had imb ibed the profane traders ' hatred of the missionary and his work . 29

Paten ' s day to day experiences on Tanna were inseparab le from the crea tions of his symboli c imagina tion . In part , the world as a vast bat tle-ground , wi th the forces of good and evil locked in deadly combat , was a me taphor , a code , as it were , by which Paton communicated wi th othe r Re forme d Presby terians . But at the same time it was the pervasive ac tuali ty of life for Paton ; b rought up from infancy wi th a view of reali ty as an ongoing bat tle between God and S atan , the my thi cal and the literal were one and the same . Thus every expression of opposition be came an attemp t on his life carrie d out by heathen comple tely unde r Satan ' s sway and foiled only by God ' s grace . Even hearsay reports from unreliable sources were accep te d as fact , wi thout any attemp t to verify th eir accuracy , becaus e they conformed to his mythi cal explanation of events . 3 0 Had these attempts on his life been as serious as he main taine d they were , it is doub tful that he would have survived his firs t two years at Port Resolution . Evidence tha t he was more secure than his hair-raising ac counts suggest may b e seen in his material achievements : be tween the attemp ts on his life and recurrent malarial a ttacks , he was ab le to b uild a new mis sion hous e , sink a twe lve foot well , erect a fi fty by twen ty-one foot church , and p rep are and p rint an eight page primer in the Kwamera language . 3 1

However , i t wo uld be wrong to interpret these achievements as unequivocal indi ces of missionary suc cess , as members of the Reformed Presbyterian Foreign Missions Commi ttee were wont to do , 3 2 for the simp le reason tha t they signified different things to Pa ton and to the Tannese . The making of the well meant for Paton the application of some simp le practical knowledge with which he had grown up , and the appearance of wate r confirmed God ' s continued b lessing on his work . To the Tannese , for whom digging for water in this manne r was unpre ceden te d , it confirme d Paten ' s magical powers . ' On seeing i t ' , wrote Paton , they ' seeme d to be without words to express their as tonishment at good water exis ting so deep in the earth and [ they ] generally gave a wild scream' . 3 3

2 9Paton and Copeland to Kay , 26 May 185 9 , R. P .M. 1859 : 360-2 ; Paton to Kay , 14 October 185 9 , 24 May 1860 , R. P .M. 1 860 : 6 7-70 , 403-8 . 3 0Paton to Kay , 14 October 1 859 , 24 May 1 860 , R. P.M. 1860 : 6 8 , 40 3-8 . 3 1 Paton to Kay , 2 4 May , 24 July 1 860 , R. P .M. 1860 : 40 3-8 , 410 . 3 2Foreign Missions Committee 186 1 Report , R. P.M. 186 1 : 182 . 3 3Paton to Kay , 24 May 1860 , R. P . M. 1860 : 405 .

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The erection of the church involved the same sort of cul tural confusion . When the ground was be ing levelle d a s tone was un­earthe d , at the sigh t of which the Tannese ' seeme d awe-struck ' . One old chie f explained to Paton that the s tone e i ther had been p ut there by the great sp iri t Karapanamun or it had been hidden there by a great chie f in the p as t : it was the s tone to which the ir fathers had offe re d human sacrif ice , and the holes in it were fille d wi th the b lood of the pe rs ons kille d for the s tone to drink . The terrified Tannese implored Paton to remove this s tone which ate men and drank their blood . Ins tead , to ' shew them the vanity of the ir not ions ' , he made i t the centre of the church . The s tone , which previous ly had been a tangib le link wi th Karapanamun , was hence forth to be ' sacre d to Jehovah and his service ' . This would have reinforced in the Tannese mind that Jehovah was not e ssential ly different from their tradi tional de ities and that he was competing agains t Karapanamun for the ir allegiance . 34 Given the pers onalize d , magical con cept ion of religion for the Tannes e , whe re sp iri ts in tervened in human affairs be cause o f a magi cian ' s ritual , this view o f Jehovah implie d also that Paton was compe ting against cus tomary Tannese magicians . By such actions as consecrating Karapanamun ' s s tone to Jehovah , Paton unwi ttingly integrated both himsel f and the god he serve d into exis ting Tannese conceptual cate gories .

No copie s of the eight p age p rimer are known to have survive d b ut , wi thout doub t , Paton wo uld have con fronted the s ame sorts of trans lation problems which had bese t Turner . In his trans lation of the Gospel of Mark in to Kwamera , 3 5 Paton , like his p redecessor , used variations of the Greek and Heb rew words Ihova, Iesu K'Pis to, Tiapolo and Satana , t o avoid re ducing key Christ ian figures to Tannese dimens ions . Agge los , Greek for ange l , was use d various ly a s angel , unclean spirit (agi lo 'Piraha) and devils (age lio 'Piraha) . But , as with Turner ' s texts , this solution be gged the ques tion in that the Tannese , to comprehend the con­cep ts at al l , had s t ill to internalize them according to the ir exis ting knowledge . Paton also use d Tannese terms for important rel ig ious f igures . Following Turner , he use d the wo rd irwnanu (yeremwanu) - th e designation of the digni tary en ti tled to we ar the kayoo - for Lord (Irwnanu) , Holy Spirit (Irwnan Ikinan) and even Prince o f Devils (irwnanu fei agei lo 'Piraha) . Anothe r local term , nanin or nanim ( cf . nanumun) , meaning the spirit or ghost o f departed ances tors , was also used for the Holy Ghos t (nanin ikinan) . Atua , a Polyne sian term use d in many par ts o f the Pacific at this time to designate both a god and the Christ ian Go d , was also used by Paton . Thus the house of God was nim.ua [= hut ] fei Atua , the son of Go d mati fei A tua , and the kingdom of God indi ta fei Atua.

34c f . Mrs Ma theson to he r mother , 2 3 July 1 860 , H. F. R. 1 861 : 1 31 . 3 5Paton [ 1 86 9 ) : passim.

Paton ' s use of indita (en de te ) was an interes ting choice be cause it already functioned for the Tannese as a signi ficant me taphor . On the physical level re fe rring to a canoe , on the symbolic plane i t expresse d the idea of a social body , and as use d in the Tannese appellat ion yani en dete , ' master of the

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canoe ' , the dignitary primarily responsib le for gro up safe ty in times of war , the me taphor was already rich in i ts over tones of security , loyalty , obedience , respe ct and permanence . It is likely that indita was able to cap ture , better than any othe r term , the essence of God ' s kingdom . S imilarly , yani en ck te , as a me taphor , wo uld have caught something of the exclus ive signi fi can ce God hel d for the missionaries themse lve s . However , Paton did not use yani en dete to designate God : following Turner , he re tained the term yererrrwanu , p arti cularly in his attemp t to trans late the con cep t of Lor d Go d . In choos ing this symbol , in inviting the Tannese to relate to God as they relate d to the ye rem.JJanu - Paton , like missionaries be fore and after him , misread Tanna ' s poli tical s tructure . Af te r all , the yererrrwanu was not only one of the most common of Tanne se dignitaries but also one with a de cide dly limite d and ambiguous ro le . I t is likely that , whatever the de signation , God would have had to compe te with other ' heroes ' for Tannese al legiance , with His accep tance or rej e ction depending on the practical results of His prop itiat ion . Ce rtainly , Jehovah ' s identification with the yererrrwanu helpe d ensure that the magico­rel igious framework of the Tanne se was le f t basically unchallenge d by Paton .

For his par t , Paton was confident th at ere long the gospel woul d ' triumph over idoltry on dark Tana ' , and that the love of Jesus Chris t would ' roo t out all p rej udice s from the hearts o f this de grade d peop le . ' The app arent extension of the mission ' s inf luence supported his op timism. In addi tion to the b uil ding operations and the pro duction of the primer , religious services were being conduc ted fur the r afield to in cre asing numbers o f Tannese - since Apri l 1 860 Paton h a d had nine Ane ityumese teache rs and their wives working under his dire c tion at many outposts ar ound the harbour - and in Sep tember 1 860 the mis sion at Port Resolution was further s trengthene d by the se ttlement of Samue l Johns ton and his wife - anothe r nie ce of John Geddie - from Nova S cotia . 3 6

Like Paton the eldest of a large family , Samuel Fulton Johns ton , born 1830 , was raised by god-fearing parents in the pattern of family ins truct ion based on the Bib le and the Shorter Catechism. A serious bout of me as le s at the age of sixteen had heightene d a disgus t with his own body already engende re d by Calvinis t teachings , and Johns ton be came ob sess ively fastidious

36Paton to Kay , 2 4 July 1 860 , R. P . M. 1860 : 40 8 , 1 November 1860 , R. P. M. 1861 : 16 3-8 ; New Hebrides Mission Synod , Minutes 1 7 July 1 86 0 .

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in exercising to tal cont rol ove r his ' licen tious de sires ' - though j ud ging by the venom he poured on himsel f in his diary , he was neve r to tally s uccessful . He ins ti tute d a program of self-examina­tion every fourth Sunday to dig out the ' se cre t abominations ' o f his heart - the ' vile , corrup t human he art ' , that ' cage , containing every unclean fowl • • • ' . Foreign mission work offe re d him an escape from the corrup ting inf luences of civilize d socie ty with i ts worldliness , selfishness , and pr ide , wi th i ts emphasis on ' dre ss , the gratification of the sensual , deprave d , the pampered tastes , appetites , and desires ' . I t also promise d to fee d his ob sess ions , to heighten his personal sense of sin and weakness and , final ly , to bring him to cathartic peace through the explo ration of the dep ths o f human depravi ty . He was not disappoin te d . His first painful sight of native nakedness was enough to make him realize , ' in quite a new sense , the awful , the dismal darkness , the cons ummate degradation , the awful wre tchedne ss of heathenism. Such is Tanna ! ' The women , the ' poor , degrade d women , • • • are made subservien t to sensual grat ification - pros ti tuted to the lowest and mos t deb as ing purp ose s • • • made to drink the b owl of sensual pleasure to its very dre gs . • • ' . Admittedly , Johnston was wri ting for a home audien ce which crave d portraits of heathen depravi ty - espe cially carnal dep ravity - against which they could measure the ir own righteousness and purity . But his le t te rs were not only writ ten for the titillation and e dification of othe rs : with his pen , Johns ton flagellated himself , lifte d his sense of human weakness and moral depravi ty to di z zy he igh ts . As his wife no te d , he was mos t in his element when he got a crowd o f heathen wi th whom he coul d talk ' of their wicke dness , evil hab i ts , &c . • 3 7

Johnston ' s se ttlement at Port Resolution coincide d with the high point of Paton ' s influence among the Tannese . With his position apparen tly secure at the harbour , Paton began to plan for an extension of his miss ionary operat ions . In Sep tember , wi th Johns ton , he vis i ted Black Beach to assess its s uitab ility for Johns ton ' s se ttlement , and in October he place d two Aneityumese te achers the re . The Tanne se at Black Beach were anxious for a European missionary to counte rac t traders who , they claime d , had fe lt free to abuse and oppre ss them ever since the naval b ombard­ment two years be fo re . 3 8 Paton interpre ted the de sire for European miss ionarie s as fur ther proof that the triumph of Christ ianity on Tanna was imminent . His optimism was re fle cte d in his buil ding program wh ich , bes ides the church and a new mission house , included a school b uilding , store , printing office , wright ' s shop , and five ' substantial ' dwellings for his teachers at various points around the harb our . But his most amb itious proj e ct was a grand scheme to make the Kwame ra language Tanna ' s

3 7Pa tterson [ 1 86 4 ] : 12 7 , 2 1 3 , 2 44 , 250 , 261 . 3 8Paton to Kay , 1 November 1 860 , R. P. M. 1861 : 165 ; c f . Copeland to Kay , 2 8 November 1860 , R. P. M. 1861 : 1 70 .

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lingua franaa. He acknowle dge d that it would be an addi tional burden on Johns ton who , as well as attempting to impart rel igious knowledge to a ' benighte d people ' , would also have to attemp t to teach them a new language . But eventually , Paton argue d , the common language would ' unite and elevate this divide d and degrade d people ' .

Early in Novembe r 1860 , howeve r , there were expre ss ions o f ant i-miss ionary feel ing a t both P o r t Re solution an d Umairarekar . Joseph Copelan d , who calle d at both s tations in the miss ion s chooner John Knox , reported the Tanne se ' more saucy and turb ulent ' than they had been for a long t ime , with nothing good to say about the gospel , the miss ionarie s , or the miss ion vessel . The imme diate cause of this disen chantment was Paton ' s insis tence that no more kava and tobacco could be brought from Ane i tyum to Tanna ab oard the John Knox. Apparen tly a s i ze ab le trade had deve lope d , with the teache rs on Tanna ob taining the goods from the ir families and friends on Ane ityum to dist ribute among the Tannese with whom they res ided . 3 9 The implicat ions of this · traf fic in terms of the integrat ion of the teachers into customary Tanne se social rela­tionships , their concep tion of the ir role among the Tanne se and the Tannese percept ion of the miss ion , were profound. However , perhaps embarrassed by the revelat ions , Paton did not even re fe r to the matter in his usually exhaustive correspondence .

The Tanne se voiced their re sentmen t with threats against Paton, who wrote at the beginning of Novembe r that in the prece ding week his li fe had been threatene d eve ry day . As he was prone to do , he put the re action down to ' fo reign in fluence ' , claiming that one trade r had calle d at the harbour in the last week of October an d offered to come and l ive there and provi de the Tanne se with plenty of tobacco and gunpowder if only they would kill the miss ionary or at least drive him from the islan d . Con sequently , Paton wro te 1 there had been Tannese attemp ts on his life every day sin ce . 4 u Un doubte dly some trade rs were b itterly oppose d to miss ionaries who , by opposing their trade in tob acco , grog and powde r , and their use of nat ive women , threatened both their livel ihood and their re creation . But any opposit ion to Paton which the traders were ab le to foment amon g the Tannese , an d the backlash which followed the ce ssation of the kava and tobacco trade via the John Knox , were st orms in a teacup compare d with the Tannese re ac tion to the great measle s epidemic of 1 860-6 1 .

3 9Copeland to Kay , 2 8 November 1 86 0 , 2 January 1 86 1 , R. P. M. 1861 : 169-71 , 236 ; Paton , Journal , 11 Ap ril 1 861 . 4 0Paton to Kay , 1 Novembe r 1860 , R. P. M. 1 861 : 16 6 ; cf . Paton and Copelan d to Kay , 26 May 185 9 , R. P. M. 185 9 : 360 ; Paton to Kay , 2 4 May 1 860 , R. P. M. 1860 : 404 .

Chap ter 6

The great me asles epi demi c

On 7 November 1 860 Rev . J . Jon es of Mare , in the Loyalt ies Group , wrote that me asles had been t ransmitted to his island from New Caledon ia , ' carrying off many , espe cial ly the heal thy ' . George Gor don wrote from Erromango on 1 8 November that the disease was ' running through the island ' , after be ing introduce d earlie r i n the month b y a trading vesse l . 1 About the same t ime it appeare d on Tanna . At Black Beach some infe cte d Lifuan crewmen were lande d from a boat from New Caledonia and the disease , ' unp re ce den te d in i ts fero ci ty ' , soon spread among the Ane i tyumese teache rs and the Tanne se . At Umairarekar ' four young Tanna men ill wi th measle s ' were se t ashore and very quickly ' every soul , man , woman , and child ' , was p ros t rate d . A month later , in mid-De cember , it broke out at Port Resolution after the trade r Hiron de lle lande d infected islan ders . The same ve ssel introduce d the disease in the s ame manner to Aneityum , where fewer than six of the to tal popul ation of 3500 escaped infection and more than a third of that number died within a year . A few months late r the mis sion s chooner John Knox carried measle s t o Aniwa , whe re it was e s t imate d that a quarter o f the islan d ' s popul ation o f ab out 300 was wiped out . O f the islands which comprise d the southern New Heb r ide s only Futuna escaped the epidemi c . 2

1 Jones t o [ ] , 7 Novembe r 1 860 , ext ract in Sydney Mai l , 5 January 1 861 ; Gordon t o [ ] , 18 November 1860 , extract in Sydney Mai l , 5 January 1861 ; Gordon to Bayne , 3 April 1 861 , H. F. R. 1861 : 250 ; Paton to Kay , 10 June 1 861 , R . P.M. 1 862 : 39 ; Geddie to Bayne , 20 Augus t 1861 , H.F.R. 1862 : 36 ; Murray 186 3 : 44 2 . 2Geddie , ' Miss ionary voyage of the "John Williams " among the New Hebride s and Loyalty Islan ds ' , H. F. R. 1 86 2 : 149-50 , 151 ; Matheson to Bayne , 2 January 1 86 1 , H. F. R. 1 86 1 : 29 9 ; Paton to Bayne , 15 February 1 861 , H. F. R. 1861 : 241 ; Cope land to Kay , 28 Feb ruary 1 86 1 , R. P. M. 1861 : 2 7 3 , 25 July 1 861 , R. P. M. 1 86 2 : 40 ; Ge ddie to Bayne , 3 April , 26 June 1 861 , H. F. R. 1861 : 2 4 7 , 29 8 , 26 August 1861 , Mis cellaneous papers , 16 Decembe r 186 2 , H. F. R. 1863 : 1 5 7- 8 .

1 1 6

1 1 7

I t is n o t known exactly when me asles first appeared at Port Resolution . Some time be fore 2 2 De cember Samuel Johnston note d in his j ournal that di sease was ' prevailing among the natives to a most alarming extent ' , and spreading with ' fearful rapidity ' . All whom he saw were ' scopulous ' , with only a few free from running sores . Many appeare d to be ' masse s of corrup t ion ' . 3 Until the end of De cember , Johnston vi sited the vil lages around the harbour alone as Paton had cut his ankle with an adze . On 1 January , feeling too depresse d to confron t the mournful s cene by h imself , Johnston had the teachers carry Paton from village to village w� re the two missionarie s dist ribute d wate r , food an d me dicine . Paton noted in his j ournal on that day that the measles had ' nearly pros trate d all our native s ' , and were caus ing ' great mortality ' . On 4 January he noted that at ' our ne arest inland village ' (Yras iau) , many were dead and many others were in a very low condi tion . His j ournal entry for 9 January reads : ' A chie f die d on Monday , another to day , and a th ird is dying , one has lost six b rothers , and the mortality increases ' . The next day Paton vis ited a village a little dis tance from the harbour , whe re he found ' many • . • dying ' . On 8 February he noted that ' almost every person ' was conf ined wi th disease ; with many ' dying and lying on the earth and in their houses unburie d all around us ' , there being not enough people suf ficiently well to bury the dead . In a le tter dated 1 3 February he wro te of hundre ds , in cluding ' many o f the most important chiefs ' , having die d . 4

Matheson noted that inflamation o f the throat and lllllgs prevailed among measles victims at Kwamera , and at all of the affe cted islands it was what the miss ionaries des cribed as severe dysentery accompanying the measles which appears to have been the main cause of death . 5 One nee d only read a medical de scrip tion o f dysentery and its comp lications to appre ciate the islande rs ' utte r misery and despai r , exace rbate d by the excruciatin g deaths o f family and friends .

The ep i demic was followed by a series of hurricanes and a tidal wave which obl i terate d trees and huts , fence s and gardens . 6

3Johnston , Journal entries for De cember 186 0 , H . F . R. 1 �6 1 : 2 45 . 4Paton , Journal , 1-10 January , 8 February 186 1 ; Pa ton to Kay , 1 3 February 1 861 , R. P. M. 1861 : 302 ; cf . Paton to Bayne , 1 5 February 186 1 , H. F. R. 1861 : 2 39-42 .

5Matheson to Bayne , 2 January 1 86 1 , H. F. R. 1 86 1 : 299 ; Ge ddie to Bayne , 3 April 186 1 , H. F. R. 1 861 : 247 ; Paton , Journal , 7 February 1 86 1 . 6 Geddie t o Inglis , 2 8 February 1 86 1 , R. P .M. 1861 : 2 39 ; Ge ddie t o Bayne , 3 April 186 1 , H. F. R. 1 861 : 24 8 ; Copeland t o Kay , 2 5 July 1 86 1 , R. P. M. 1 86 2 : 40 ; Matheson to Bayne , 1 February 1 861 , H . F. R. 1 86 1 : 302 , 1 May 1 861 , H. F. R. 1 862 : 44 -5 .

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At Port Resolution , a hurricane on 3 January - whi ch , with crue l irony , Paton and Johnston had s e t as ide a s a day o f fas t ing an d thanksgiving - de st roye d all the tree crops on which the Tannese ' depende d for three mon ths food ' . Anothe r hurricane a week later destroy ed the ground crops and 'laid the houses and fences of the natives in one common ruin ' . A violent electrical s torm on 7 February , which cut a ' great hole ' in fron t of the miss ion house , killed a man , a woman and a pig . On 14 March another hurricane uprooted large banyan tree s and de stroye d Paton ' s church , s chool , store , wrigh t ' s shop , cook-house an d goats ' house . The sea was reported to have gone ' ne arly hal f a mile ' inlan d at the head of the bay , sweepin g several village s and gardens be fore i t . 7

Islander reaction to the epidemics and natural disas ters varie d from island to island . Geddie ' s new church b uilding at Anelgauhat was b urn t down , but then the hurricane a week late r was seen a s divine j udgement on the incendiarist ' s act . There­after , the Anei tyumese were ' si lent un de r the repeated stroke s ' and resigne d themselves ' to s ubmit to God ' s will in all things ' . a The Aniwans were similarly sub due d . 9 However , on E rromango George Gordon and his wife were killed in revenge . Jus t days before the measles appeared , Gordon had warne d the E rromangans that if they did not renounce heathenism Go d would vis it them wi th a calamity . As he noted in his diary after the appearance of the me asles , the chie fs ' could hardly now persuade the ir pe op le that this is not the f inger of Jehovah ' . By January the E rromangans were ' for the mos t p art like mad tige rs , having been stiPPed up to believe that we are the cause o f their alarming distre ss ' . Gor don believe d tha t re sident traders were doing the st irring , though i f the Erromangans be lieve d ( as Gordon main taine d) that Jehovah had brought the measles , i t was wholly cons istent for them to blame Jehovah ' s sel f-proclaimed agen t . By mid-Feb ruary , however , the missionary was ab le to write of renewe d con fidence in the mission among many Erromangans : medicine was accepted and , i f re covery followed , there was a ' profound imp re ssion ' that Jehovah was shielding mission s upporters . In early May , Gordon repeate d to the inhab itants of Bunkhill h is claim that me asles were God ' s punishmen t for the Erromangans ' idolatry and wi cke dness . Two weeks l ater , Bunkhill tribesmen slew the miss ionary an d his wife . 1 0

7Paton , Journal , 3 January , 7 Feb ruary , 14 March , 1 86 1 ; Paton to Kay , 1 April 1 86 1 , R. P. M. 1 861 : 304 ; Patterson [ 186 4 ] : 26 8 . 8Geddie t o Bayne , 3 April 1861 , H. F. R. 1 861 : 24 7 , 2 6 Augus t 1861 , Miscellaneous papers , 3 October 1 86 1 , H. F. R . 1 861 : 326 . 9Murray 1 86 3 : 4llff . l OMilne to Cuthbert son , quot ing Gordon ' s diary , 7 June 1 861 , H. F. R. 1861 : 29 4 ; Geddie to Bayne , 26 June 1861 , H. F. R. 1 861 : 29 8 ; 20 , 2 6 Augus t 1 86 1 , H. F. R. 1862 : 36 , 41 ; Go rdon t o Bayne , 3 April 1861 , H. F. R. 1 861 : 250-1 .

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On Tanna , there was a general repudiation of Christ ianity in the wake of the epidemic and hurricane s . At Black Beach , whe re the disease appeare d soon after the landing of the teachers , it was suppose d that the new religion had something to do with it - a supposition , according to Ge ddie , confirmed by the cruel statement s of traders . The chie f of the dis trict in which the teachers live d was forced to take them into his own hut for safe ty and keep them there unt il the excitement had abate d . In July or August 1 861 one of the teachers vis ite d Aneityum and reporte d tha t , while the Tannese were no longer angry , they were s t ill ' afraid of christian­ity ' , imagining that it ' ei ther brings disease and death with i t , or their own deitie s are enraged with them, and inflict j udgements on them, when they receive chris tian teachers ' . 1 1

At the other end of Tanna , in Matheson ' s district , one of the first to s uccumb to measles and dysentery was Kapuku , who had long been friendly towards Christianity and had been living at the mission house for some months . Kapuku ' s friends trie d to pers uade him that Matheson an d the new rel igion had caused his s ickness and that if he continue d to live with the missionary eventually all the Tannese would die . 1 2 Kapuku left the miss ion stat ion - more from fear of be ing kille d by his friends , Mathe son s uppose d , than f rom accept ance of their argument . But it is possible that Matheson ' s supposit ion really was less a comment on what motivated Kapuku to leave , than a refusal t o acknowledge that even his Tannese allies may have perceived him as a sorcere r . Such a percept ion ·had been unwittingly confirmed on various occasions by Matheson ' s claim that God was responsible for all things . For instance , in August 1860 he had explained to Namaka , whose younge st son was dying , that God alone had the power to inflict disease , to make or take life . 1 3 On that occas ion Mathe son had been innocently trying to console Namaka and prevent his taking revenge against the p resumed sorcerers , b ut s uch statements would have assumed a bizarre s ignificance with the outbreak of measles a few months later . As Matheson feare d , he and his religion got the credit for the epidemic :

And neve r did Pope or Prie s t more violen tly hurl anathemas against poor here tics and the Word of God than did our poor natives against us and the new-re ligion • • • When taken ill they de clare d that I had smitten them with the measles ,

1 1 Paton to Kay , 1 3 February 186 1 , R . P . M. 1861 : 30 3 ; Copeland to Kay , 28 November 1 860 , R. P. M. 1861 : 1 70 ; M' Farlane to Cuthbert son , 1 7 June 1861 , R. P. M. 1 861 : 2 39 ; Ge ddie t o Bayne , 12 De cember 1861 , H. F. R . 1 862 : 160-1 ; Geddie , ' Miss ionary voyage o f the "John Williams" among the New Hebrides and Loyalty Islands ' , H. F. R. 1862 : 150 . 1 2Matheson to Bayne , 2 January 1 861 , H. F. R. 1 86 1 : 29 9 . 1 3Matheson to McGregor , 14 August 1 860 , H . F. R. 1861 : 1 3 3-4 .

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in order to be revenge d on them for havin g re cent ly st olen from us w ith such a high hand . The ir being all sick , and my he alth never having been so good on Tanna , confirme d the ir suspi cion • • • taking our lives excep te d , they re sor te d to every imaginable expe dient t o have us flee , or at leas t t o say nothing t o them about the new re ligion . 1 4

To ' persist in speaking to them of Je sus ' was to invi te threats of death. 1 5

To avoid hearing about Christ ianity , the Tannese star te d avoiding Matheson . Previously , he had been able to employ Tannese ' for a t rifle ' and speak to them on spiri t ual matters while they

were engage d in the ir work . But by March he could not ge t a sol itary indivi dual to perform the smalle st task for any amount of remuneration , ' lest while thus engaged , we should speak to them abou t the ir souls and the ne cessity of seeking an interest in Christ ' . Whenever Matheson appe are d , the Tannese would run and hide or pelt him with stone s . At one village , where he occas ion­ally succeeded in collec ting t ogether a few in dividuals , he coul d not be heard owing to ' the fiendi sh yells o f our enemies , and the incessant noise which they kep t up by clapping , and beating with their clubs upon t ree s , old logs , etc . ' . Even those Tannese whom Mathe son had cotmted as friends did ' eve rything that lay in the ir power ' , such as denying him food and threatening his life , ' to oppose the spread of the gospel ' • 1 6

Later , Matheson was t o dis cover why the Tanne se so vigorously guarde d themselves from hearing about Christianity, when the yeremwanu , Kat i , explained that they believe d that measle s we re Jehovah ' s ptmishment for the ir rej e ct ion of the new rel igion . But so long as they cont inue d in their ' he athen state ' God knew nothing of them and they were free to l ive as they l ike d :

On the contrary , they bel ieve that s o soon as a person ventures about the mission premises , converses with the miss ionary on re ligious s ubj e cts , and at tends public worship on the Sabbath day , so soon does God acquire a knowle dge of that person ; and any sin afterwards conunitte d by that person , not only lays the offender open to God ' s displeasure , but every person of whom God has any knowle dge • • • They believe that God is indeb ted to the miss ionary for all his knowle dge re specting the inhab itant s of this island , and

1 4Mathe son to Bayne , 2 January 1 86 1 , H. F. R. 1 861 : 2 9 9�300 - my emphasis . 1 5Mathe son to [ Bayne ] , 7 February 1861 , H . F. R. 1861 : 302 . 1 6Matheson t o Bayne , 18 February 1 861 , H. F. R. 1 86 1 : 30 3-4 , 1 Ap ril , 4 June 1 86 1 , H. F .R . 1 86 2 : 43-5 , 4 7 ; Mathe son to [ Bayne ] , 1 4 January 1 862 , H . F . R . 1 862 : 24 9 .

that the mi s s ionary cannot give God any informat ion respecting any person , only while that person con t inue d

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to rece ive inst ruct ion from the miss ionary , either on Sabbath or week days , hence a man may come and perform any amoun t o f manual labour and re ce ive payment for it , but if he re fuses to listen to the word of God , and will no t attend church on S abbath , he imagine s tha t he is still un­known to God , as I cannot report of him anything good or bad . 1 7

The stoning of Mathe son , the people ' s fleein g at his approach , their ye lling and beat ing of tree trunks , far from being symptoms of frenzie d despair , were cal culated attemp ts t o control the awful power it was believe d Matheson had at his dispos al . In terms of the belie f that Jehovah ' s in tervention depende d on the missionary ' s intercession , the way to con trol Jehovah was t o con trol Matheson . And j ust a s i t was ne ce ssary f o r a nahak sorcerer to obt ain some proper ty of his intende d victim , so too it seems t o have been bel ieve d tha t Matheson had to enter into a re ligious conversation to place his spe l l ove r his vict im . Hence the var ious techniques which were employed t o cut off such conversa­t ion . In accordance wi th the Tannese belie f that the intervent ion o f sp irits depende d on the e fficacy o f the magician ' s ritual , it was import ant to stop Matheson from performing his ri tuals such as preaching and praying . S toning the miss ionary , avoiding him , and makin g so much noise that h e could n o t b e heard , we re b arriers e re cte d by the Tannese to pro tect themselve s from God ' s wra th .

At Por t Resolut ion the Tannese were at first ' ve ry much humbled by the disease ' and willing t o worship with Johnston , promising t o ' l ive be tter in t ime t o come ' . But wi thin a few days they be gan to waver :

And say that the Nahah [Nahak ] is kill ing them - that our wo rship is bringing the se calamities upon them, an d that i f we would leave them the disease would leave , that Satan was destroying them all b e cause he does not like the worship , and doe s not allow them to worship . They are now beginning to th reaten us . They say some of us mus t die to satisfy Kempromun [ Kara panamun.] . 1 8

The statement that Satan was des t roying t hem be cause he dis liked the worship of God indica ted to the miss ionaries that some Tanne se were coming to share their Christ ian framework . But as the Tannese who had come into contact with the missionaries tende d to confuse Satan with the tradit ional evil hero Karapanamun , they

1 7Matheson to Bayne , 2 7 December 1 86 1 , H. F.R . 1 862 : 24 7 . 1 8Johnston , Journal entry for 2 2 De cember 1 86 1 , H. F. R. 1861 : 246 ; c f . Pat terson [ 1864 ] : 265 .

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were really incl ining to their old superstitious notions ( as Johnston put it) in trying to make sense o f the measles . It is likely that some believed that nahak sorce rers were caus ing the disease to drive the gospel from the island; while others thought the missionarie s had b rought it be cause the Tanne se would not worsh ip Jehovah - an entirely logi cal deduction given not only the Tannese e t iology of disease , b ut also the missionarie s ' claim that God was responsible for all events and their persistent warnings tha t He would surely punish the islanders for their s infulness .

According to Paton , he and Johnston were attacke d at the miss ion house on the evening of 1 January 1861 by two Ya:nekahi tribesmen . 1 9 The men had asked for medicine for a sick boy but , from their agitated appearan ce , Paton suspe cted a plot and tol d them t o return the next mornin g . One of the men was allege d to have attemp ted to club Johnston from behind but , be coming ' faint­hearte d ' , he missed his blow . At th is point Paten ' s two dogs sprang at the men , Johnston raise d the alarm and Paton rushed out on to the veranda . One o f the dogs was struck a b low from a club which , according to Paton , was meant to have kil led himse l f . After the fracas , Paton surmized that the two men had travelled eight or ten miles expressly to kill the two missionaries . But as Paton was inside the house when the Tannese were supposed to have attemp ted to club Johnston , and as Johnston had his back to the two men - he was stooping to pick up a kitten from the veranda - it is di fficul t to accept Paten ' s account of the ' attemp ted murder ' . It is mo re plausible that the Tannese had struck out with their clubs to repulse the dogs which apparently were ferociously ant i-nat ive . 2 0 As they fled down the path , Paton ' reprove d their s in ful con duct , and entreate d them to give up hating Jehovah , his worship and his servants ' . If the men We!'e at the mission house for medicine , one can imagine that the Tanne se would have been le ft wi th the distinct impress ion not only that Paton had refused to provide me dicine for a dying boy b ut that he had set his dogs on two men on an errand of me rcy .

For one who conceives ' History ' as decisions of state made in the world ' s capitals , or victorie s won on the battle-fields , incidents such as that related above may appear pe tty and trivial . But it was precisely th is sort of incident - minor misunder­standings and personal clashes b ased on ignorance of the othe r ' s inten tion - which characteri zed the culture contact history o f islands l ike Tanna . Particularly in a situat ion of uncertainty and sufferin g , such as during the measles epidemic , minor episodes were prone to be blown up far beyond what the intent ions of the

1 9Paton , Journal , 1 January 1861 ; c f . Pat on to Kay , 13 Feb ruary 1861 , R. P. M. 1861 : 301 . 2 0Paton , Notebooks .

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actors warran te d . Thus , the altercation with the two Tannese soon be came for Pat on and Johnston an ' at tempt made upon our live s long me ditated and undert aken with de termination ' :

They cons idere d that as when Mr . Turner was here , disease destroye d gre at numbers , so now the p resent epidemic had been b rought upon them by us , and tha t at leas t some o f us mus t die . The [ Yanekahi ] p arty came to the foot o f the hill , and sent two of their number , - bold , b lood-thirsty men to l ie in wai t and kill some of us , while the rest lay in readiness t o assist if the ir as sistance shoul d be require d . 2 1

Such was the heathens ' fiendish p lot .

In all probab ility the re were plots ; after all , whe the r it was bel ieve d that the missionaries had caused the measles or that traditional sorcere rs had done so in an a t temp t to drive them from the island , it would have been reasonable to ge t rid o f the miss ionarie s in order to end the disease . It is al so possib le t hat the Yanekahi decide d t o avenge Paton ' s re fusal to provi de medicine on 1 January . But it is unlikely that there was as con certed a plot as Paton believe d e ithe r be fo re or after 1 January . He re ce ived ' message af ter message ' from the inhab itants of the harbour that a Yanekahi attack on the mission was imminen t . How­eve r , as his informants were at the t ime figh t ing agains t the Yanekahi , it is likely that they were portraying the ir enemie s as opponents of the miss ion - j us t as they had done in the ir earlier dispute with Kuanuan . Indeed , Paton connnente d that when they de clare d war on the Yanekahi , ' in a most mysterio us manner all our people resolve d to make common cause with us • • • Up t ill this mee t ing our few friend s were so overawe d there is not one to spe ak in our favours ' . The Yanekahi did not attack an d , accord ing t o Paton , the harb o ur people con cluded that the worship was making them strong and fr ighten ing their enemies . Large r numbers began coming to worship at the mis sion house every morning . 2 2

Part o f the reason why the harb our people made common cause with the missionarie s , and at temp te d to al ienate them from the Yanekahi , was the belief that miss ion me dicine was e ffe ctive against measles and dysentery . In mi d-Feb ruary Paton wrote tha t the mort ality at Por t Resolution , compare d wi th the mortality ' at a dis tance ' , had been slight and that the people in the vicin ity of the bay came ' in crowds ' for me dicine :

The inland people say they are all dying , and the worship is in some way the cause of it , the re fore they want to

2 1 Johns ton , Journal ent ry for 11 J anuary 1 86 1 ; Patterson [ 1864 ] : 26 8-9 . 2 2Paton , Journal , 6-8 January 1 86 1 ; c f . Paton to Kay , 1 3 Feb ruary 186 1 , R. P. M. 1861 : 301 .

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de stroy the worship of God from Tanna ; but the tribe s around us say the worship is good , and the medic ine is good , and that it i s only dark-hearted Tanne se who bl ame mi s s ionarie s for the sickne s s . 2 3

It would seem that medi cine had b e come a political we apon in a local conflict . Paton ignored this aspect and interpre ted the des ire for medicine as an indicat ion that the harb our dwe llers , at least , were becoming more favourab le t owards Christ ianity . The mission ' s cause , he wro te , had ' gaine d much ground during the s ickness ' . In a sense , Paton ' s op timism was not unfounde d : from the Tannese viewpoint , to accept the e fficacy of the miss ionary ' s medicine was al so to accep t the e fficacy o f his magic and rituals . If a p erson re covere d after t akin g medicine , Paton ' s st atus as a magi cian was confi� d .

I t is not possib le t o estimate how e ffe ctive Paten ' s medicine s really were . But that there was a high demand for them among the Tannese migh t be infe rred from his cal culat ion that in a few weeks he use d ne arly 2000 pills ( unspe cified) , thirty pounds of Epsom sal t s ; bot tles of calomel , j alap , prepare d chalk , laudanum , quinine , essence of senna , an d tincture of rhubarb ; and a quantity of the powder o f rhubarb , sweet spirits of nitre , Dove r ' s powder , and sulphur . 2 4 Mos t of these drugs - j alap , senna , Epsom sal ts , calomel , rhubarb and sulphur - are purgatives , though rhubarb may also have an as tringen t e ffe ct after purga tion . 2 5 Dover ' s powder , administere d in small dose s , acts as an expe ctoran t , while in large doses it leads to vomit ing and diarrhoea . Taken in the early s tage s of fever , it acts as a diaphore tic . Swee t sp irits of nit re has both a diaphore t ic and diuret i c e ffe c t . Prepare d chalk is an ant acid and e ffective in the treatment of diarrhoea . Laudanum was occasionally use d for treat ing diarrhoe a , though i t is l ikely th at Paton use d i t f o r its narcotic e f fe c t . Ove rall , the drugs administered sugge st that Paton ' s t reatment was b ased on the as sumption that toxins had to be expelle d from the body as quickly as possib le - at the t ime , an almost tm iversal as sump tion among the medical profess ion and one which would have been passe d on to Pat on in his earlie r studies at the Andersonian College -though i t is likely that the more rap id flow of intes t inal con­tents did more harm than good . 2 6 Laudanum and quinine , and possibly Dover ' s powde r ( ipe cacuanha and op ium) , might have aide d re covery by the ir analge sic and ant ipyre t ic e ffe cts , though it is doub t ful that they woul d h ave suf ficiently compensate d for the dehydrat ion ef fe ct of the purgative s . It is possible that the administ rat ion of any drug had a placeb o e f fe c t .

2 3Ibid. 2 4Paton to Kay , 13 Feb ruary 1 861 , R. P. M. 1 861 : 302 . 2 5Blacow 1972 : passim. 2 6 christie 1969 : 146 .

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For his p art , Paton had no doub ts about the e ff icacy of his treatment . On 12 January he wrote that many lives had ' been saved by Gods blessing on our medicine ' , and at the beginning of March he knew of only one death among those who had taken medicine . 2 7 Given the large number who seem to have re ce ive d medicine , and Paton ' s cl aim th at only one patient had died by March , it might be con cl ude d that the mortali ty rate at Port Resolution was much less than at Ane i tyum and than what Gordon reporte d for Erromango . 2 8 This does not prove , howeve r , that Paten ' s treatment was either pharmacologically or psychosomatically e ffe ctive as it is possible that some immunity had deve lope d at Port Resolut ion dur ing the intense E uropean traffic of the prece ding two de cade s . Neverthe­le ss , the re were many Tannese who bel ieve d that they had survive d the measle s and dysentery be cause of Paten ' s medicine . In the th ird week o f January a Neraimene dignitary , Sirawia , and a number of his young men ceremonially presente d Paton with six fowls , a p ig and a pineapple , ' for coming among us and giving us medicine to take away our sickness ' . They did not blame him for the disease , they proclaime d - it was only the · ' dark-hearte d men ' who d i d that . 2 9 Another dignitary , who use d to mock Paton when he went to his village to conduct worship , p resented him with a b tmch of bananas , declaring , ' had it not been for your ( ' Uni Biritannia ' ) medi cine , I wo uld have been dead , an d also many o f my people ; b ut , when we were de ad ( almost dead) , it made us al ive , and now we all love you ' . As the presentations corresponde d with the payment customarily made to the magic ian who had caused the illne ss , it is pos sib le that Paton was regarded as the sorcerer who had b rought measle s . I t is significant in this re spect that when a Tannese chie f who had clubbed one of the teachers contrac ted measles it was widely bel ieved to be ' a punishment from God for his abuse of Mi s si ' . 3 0

No t all the deaths were trace d back to Paton . On 16 February four men ' of the tribe at the head of the b ay ' (p robably Yanekahi ) were k illed to avenge the death , two days be fore , of Miaki ' s infant son . Following his chil d ' s de ath the re was general

27 Paton , Journal , 12 January , 1 March 1861 . 2 8Gordon wro te that measles and dysente ry kille d two chirds o f Erromango ' s populat ion , including ' ne arly all ' the principal chie fs . However , of 100 young men and children who submitted to his treatment , only two ( one of whom was ' othe rwise disease d ' ) had died by Apri l 1 86 1 . Of the two do zen Erromangans ' who did not aeandon the house of God ' , Gordon knew of only one who die d . Gordon to Bayne , 3 April 1 86 1 , H. F. R. 1861 : 250-1 ; Go rdon to Paton , 15 February 1 86 1 , ext ract include d in Paton to Kay , 10 June 1861 , R. P. M. 1862 : 39 ; Geddie to Bayne , 2 0 August 1 861 , H. F. R. 1862 : 39 . 2 9Paton to Kay , 1 3 February 1 86 1 , R . P. M. 1861 : 30 3 . 3 0 Paton t o Symington , 1 8 March 1 86 1 , R. P. M. 1861 : 375 .

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unre st at Port Re solution , perhap s from anxie ty over who woul d be accused of sorcery . In the disturb ance s some of Paton ' s property was destroye d and Miaki sent Paton word that he was on no accollllt to leave his house or he might be kille d . 3 1 Paton chose to regard the warning as a hypocritical b luff and wro te that Miaki was in fact do ing al l that he coul d to have him kille d . When Miaki set some o f his warrio rs t o protect the mis sion house , Paton wro te of his being besieged by multitudes of arme d savages wat ching an opportunity to take his li fe , adding (with unintended irony) , ' yet they did not think o f breaking our doors or windows to accomplish their purpo se ' . Paten ' s somewhat ridiculous inter-· pretation of event s served an important p sychological func tion ; confirming , by his very survival , that God was constantly protect­ing him from Satan ' s plots .

After three days Paton ' go t hold of a chief ' and told him that if anyone belonging to the mis sion were kille d , ' God would punish them severely , & a man of war woul d also come from Sydney & punish them ' . 3 2 The chief , who had been to the Aust ral ian colonie s and who had ' seen a man-of-war punishing some natives ' (possib ly at Black Beach in 185 8 ) , ' tremb le d , be came covere d with persp irat ion & left ' . He returned soon after with a ' h igh chie f ' o f the Kaserwnene and de clared t hat now the Tannese love d Paton . Miak i , his bro ther and another man also came to Paton , ' pro fe ssing gre at friendship ' and de claring that ' no person woul d attempt to kill us now ' . Paton note d that they were afraid o f a man-of-war punishing them and that ' perhaps God may make this the means of keep ing them quiet for the p resent ' . I t was a thre at which Paton was t o employ again and again . On 14 March he warne d Nouka and Yonan , two asso ciates of Miaki , of their s in and danger ,

& told them i f my life was taken a man-o f-war would come & p unish them, & what was worse God would punish them, especially Nouka , Miaki & Yonan , who had not only attemp ted my life , but hired the inland p eop le to come & kill me . I had already written home to tha t effect so that if I was killed they would know tha t it was by these three men who hated the worship & me & every thing good . Sai d i f you do force me to leave I will go to Aneiteum wait till a man-of­war does come , when I wi ll come back & claim my own , & get redress . 3 3

According t o Paton , Nouka trembled with fear and said that i t was his ' young men ' who had oppos ed the mission . Paton re torte d that they only obeyed him and that a gunboat captain would hold him

3 1 Paton , Journal , 16 February 186 1 ; Paton to Kay , 1 Ap ril 186 1 , R. P .M. 186 1 : 305 . 3 2Paton , Journal , 18 February 186 1 . 3 3Paton , Journal , 1 4 March 186 1 .

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responsible for their conduc t . Under the twin threat of further divine punishment and naval re tribution , Paton was ab le to extract promises of support from Nepikinamame, Neraimene and Yanekahi leaders . 3 4

The image of a wrathful and vengeful God was not contrived by Paton simply to cow the Tannese . It was a concep tion wi th which he had grown up . When he told the Tannese tha t the hurricane of 14 March 'was be cause of their bad talk , of their killing and eating men , of their hat ing Jehovah and his worship , and wishing to kill us his s ervants ' , Paton was s tating the orthodox Re forme d Presbyterian concep tion of natural disasters . He might have been addressing a S co ttish congregation when he warned them that ' i f they did not fear , love , and worsh ip ' Jehovah , ' he would punish them b o th he re and hereaf ter , for he knew all their conduc t • • . •

For his eye saw them a t all t imes and in all places , and his ear he ard all their bad and good talk ' . 3 5 And the Tannese might j us t as well have been a Re forme d Presbyterian congregation , for their customary belie f tha t spirits kept watch over them and de termine d the co urse of events was , in fac t , very close to Paton ' s concep t ion of Go d .

For the next two and a half months Paton could point t o minor pilfering of his fowls , yams , taro and coconuts as the only signs of an ti-mission behaviour . But , no twithstanding the severe shor t­age of food at the harbour - which in i tself provided s ufficient reason for the the fts - Paton inte rpreted each incident as a serious a t temp t on his life and part of a well orchestrated conspiracy . Again , his characteris tic t rans formation of everyday events into signs fulfi lled an imp ortan t psychological function . By turning every minor Tannese misdemeanour into a religious symbol Paton was repeatedly confirme d in his fai th . By categor­iz ing every isolated Tannese action as part of a diab olical p lot he proved to hims elf that

Satan has a fearful hold upon the s upers tit ious minds of this peop le , and , at his will , leads them capt ive to commit the grosses t deeds of wickedness wi th impuni ty . . • S atan seems to have our natives comp le tely under his power , and undoubtedly he wi ll do his utmos t to keep them , and contest every inch of ground gained for Jesus . 3 6

34 In his le t ter t o Syming ton (R . P . M. 186 1 : 375) Paton referred t o Nowar , Nouka , Miaki , Manuman and Yonan . In his Journal ( 19 March 186 1) he lis ted Nouka , Miaki and Esubule . 3 5Paton to Syming ton , 18 March 186 1 , R . P . M. 186 1 : 3 76 . 3 6Paton to Syming ton , 18 March 186 1 , R . P.M. 186 1 : 3 75 ; cf . Paton . Journal , 25-2 7 March , 3- 1 7 April 1 86 1 ; Paton t o Kay , 1 April 1861 , R. P.M. 1 86 1 : 306 .

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But God exercised res training p ower on the minds o f the degraded savages and p reserved his servant . In terms of this symbolic representation of hims elf vis-a-vis the Tannese , Paton was able every day and in every incident , to experience the meaningfulness and worth of his mission . God had p lace d him on Tanna to ' prosper his own glorious work ' he wro te in March 186 1 and , due to God ' s ever-loving grac e , the s torm over the meas les had passed .

But the s torm had not completely passed and the re was a fresh wave of anti-mission sentiment when news of the Gordons ' deaths on Erromango reached Port Resolutiqn . A party of Erromangans on a trading vessel b rought the news to Tanna and urge d the Tannese to kill their missionaries , as they had done on Erromango and as they claimed the Aneityumese would soon do . The Tannese at Port Resolution , however , knowing tha t pub li c opinion on Anei tyum s t rongly supported the mis sion , and fearing naval re taliation should anything happen to Paton , rej ected the Erromangan proposal . Tannese from other part s of the is land we re less caut ious and next day the mission premises ' thronged wi th armed men . • . from inland distric ts and . . . Mr . Ma theson ' s s tation • • . rej oi cing and praising the Erromangans for ki lling God ' s servants ' . Paton reported the speech of the ' leader of a large party ' of excited Tannese :

The men of Eromango kille d Misi Williams long ago . We have ki lled some of the Samoan and Rarotongan teachers . We banished Misi Turne r and Ni sbet from our land . We ki lled an Anei tyum teacher on Aniwa , and s ince Mis i [Pa ton ] came we ki lled one of his Aneityum men , and no man-of-war came to punish the Eromangans or us for killing the servan ts of Jehovah . Let us all t alk about killing Misi P at on and the Aneityumese till we s ee i f a man-of-war does punish the Eromangans and , if not , le t us all uni te in killing the miss ionaries , and b anishing the worship of Jehovah from our land . 3 7

An inland chie f declared the Erromangans ' bold , good men . • • to kill Misi and his wife , and to dest roy the worship of Jehovah ' . Pa ton warned the speaker that God would be angry with him for s uch ' bad talk ' and that he would punish the Erromangans wi th ' e ternal mis ery ' for their wickedness . But the inland Tannese me rely reasserted their ' love for the Eromangans ' .

Nowar (Plate 6 ) , who had been closely associate d with the miss ion s ince the mid-1 850s, but who was now anxious not to be counted as a miss ion s upporter should the Tannese rise up agains t Paton , assumed a hostile pos ture . Jehovah had been unab le to pro tect the Gordons , he explained to Paton . If a man-of-war

3 7Paton to Kay , 10 June 186 1 , R. P . M. 186 2 : 37 ; cf . Ge ddie to Bayne , 26 August 186 1 , Misc . papers .

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punished the Erromangans , the Tannese would be too afraid to harm their miss ionaries but if the Erromangans were no t punished , ' by and by they will kill you, and the Aneityumese , and me , and all who worship at your house ' . On 3 Augus t Nowar boas te d to Paton that Miaki would make a hurriiane to sink any gunboat which attemp ted to land at Tanna and (with no regard for the contradi c­tion) that if a gunboat did land the Tannese would unite to kill all on b oard . ' For the wo rship is lies , it makes us all s ick , and kills us ' , he de clare d , threatening Paton with death if he did no t leave the is land by the firs t vessel to call . Almost inunediately two Bri tish men-of-war appeared on the horizon and Nowar fled into the bush . He emerge d from hiding when the ships had saile d and chide d ' a great mee ting ' of Tannes e that they had ac te d like children in listening to the captains . They woul d not punish the Erromangans , he as serted , j ust as they had not punished the Tannese : ' They will talk to them - that ' s all ; they are afraid of us . Give up Missi and the worship , it is lies ' . Nowar p rivate ly confided to Paton that his pub lic talk was lies , but that if he spoke the truth he wo uld be killed . But beneath Nowar ' s equivoca­tion , his at temp t to b alance his attachment to Paton and his fear of being swep t aside by anti-mission sentiment , Paton could per­ce ive only the influence of Miaki . 3 8

In Paton ' s eye s , Miaki was ' our evil genius ' who ' has been and is the cause of all our opposi tion ' , who personified the worst features of heathenism . As an agent of the Devil he co ul d do no good - any moderati on or reasonableness on his par t signified duplicity and cunning . Behind eve ry real or imagine d expression of anti-mission sentiment was Miaki ' s guiding hand . 3 9 The evidence suggests othe rwise . I t is true that Miaki tried to convince Paton to leave the island for , like many Tannese , he believe d that the missionary and his re ligion were in some way responsib le for the unp recedente d epidemic of 1 860-6 1 . He also feared that Paton was helping to undermine tradit ional Tannese values and rituals of which he , as a yani en dete , was a moral guardian . On 1 3 June 1 86 1 he confronte d Paton at the miss ion house and de clared :

Long ago we des troyed the worship o f Jehovah again and again , and we were wel l ; and now the worship is killing us al l , and the inland peop le will des troy you and it , for we all love the conduc t of the Tannese , but hate that of the worship . We wi ll kill you and i t , and then we will be good • . . Such is our conduct , Mis i . We and our fathers have love d such conduct , and if the worship condenms i t ,

3 8Paton to Kay , 11 O ctober 186 1 , R . P.M. 1 86 2 : 115 -16 ; Geddie to Bayne , 26 Augus t 1861 , Mis c . papers ; Seymour to Admiralty , 9 Augus t 1 86 1 , Adm . 1/5 760 . 3 9Paton , Journal , 8 January , 2 , 11 March 1 86 1 .

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Plate 6 Old Nowar of Tanna. (From M.W . Paton 189 4 : 5 2 . )

I say it is forbidden for you to condemn it ; if you oppose such good conduc t , we will all kill you and des troy the worship . . . Misi , you lie ; we like many wives t o at tend us and do our work. Three of my wives are dead , and three are s till living ; and the worship killed them and my child , and by and by it will kill us all . We hate the worship . . . Misi , we hate you and the worship , and love our own conduc t . My heart is very good , and I hate your teaching. They wil l kill you. 4 0

To Pat en ' s ears the s tatement , ' My heart i s very good , and I hate your teaching ' , rang out as a contradiction and an ab surdi ty . If

4 0 Pat on to Kay , l� June 1861 , R. P . M. 1 86 2 : 38 .

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Miaki hated his teaching - i . e . the word of God - then , by de finition , Miaki ' s hear t was bad . But for Miaki goodness was de fined by the ' conduc t of our fathe rs ' , by tradi tional belie fs and p ractices . No t only did Paton condemn and b laspheme against such beliefs and p rac tices , but he even threatened ptmishment from a man-o f-war if the Tannese did not throw them aside and worship Jehovah and p erform Christian ri tuals . In condenming the conduct of the ir fathe rs , Paton repudiated what it was to be Tannese . In its p lace he o f fered what appeared to lead to dea th , misery and desp air . But Miaki also argued against those who wante d Paton killed, not only because he feare d the personal consequence s -Paton had warned him in mid-March that the navy would hold him personally re spons ib le if he (Paton) suf fe re d any harm or were fo rce d to le ave Tanna - but als o be cause he reali ze d that the death of one miss ionary would not reve rse the disin te gration of Tannese traditions . 4 1 ' They will kill you' , Miaki had warne d Paton - ' they ' being the inland pe ople who , in by-pass ing the authority of cus tomary le aders like himse lf , re f le cted the very dis integration he wante d to arre s t .

But Paton had no empathy wi th Miaki ' s dilemma and the declaration simply confirme d for him that Miaki was his ar ch-enemy . ' Satan seems to have go t ful l possession o f this poor man at present ' , he wro te , ' and is leading him to commit every act of wicke dness . . . It is impossible to think o f a savage in whom more wi ckedness could be con centrate d ' . He told Miaki and his compan­ions that it was the ir own ' sinful heathen conduct ' , and not the worship of Jehovah , which was making them sick and ki lling them . ' Give up your bad conduc t ' , he tol d them, ' or God will punish you with e te rnal f ire for your wickedness . Remember , I have told you all these things ; you now know wha t is good and what is b ad and when you love and do what is b ad , Jehovah will punish you ' . Again he warne d Miaki that no matter who might kill him , it would be he whom God would punish . 4 2 In his obsession wi th Miaki , Paton was reacting to a proj ec tion of his own symbolic imagination rathe r than to a separate and independent person outs ide himsel f ; and opposit ion to the ' evil genius ' , the ' devil-king ' , be came pre­s cribe d as a test of faith .

Paton ' s survival in the face of Miaki ' s presumed plotting con firme d Go d ' s supremacy over the latter ' s ' fiendish fury ' and Paton ' s pe rsonal control of mos t of the inhab i tan ts of the harbour . ' Pub lic opinion ' , he wrote , ' s t il l enab les me to keep peace all over and around my side of the is land , for which • . • [Miaki ] is

4 1 Paton himsel f quoted those who were clamouring for his death as saying : ' Miaki is lazy . • . le t us go and hold mee tings at all our villages , and talk wi th each othe r till we all agree to kill Misi . • • ' . Paton to Kay , 10 June 1861 , R. P. M. 1862 : 3 7 ; cf . Paton 1965 : 169-70 . 4 2 Paton to Kay , 10 June 186 1 , 6 January 1 862 , R. P . M. 186 2 : 38 , 2 84 .

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very angry ' . Given the evidence of his act ive mediation wi th mission opponents , 4 3 Miaki had h imse l f been ins trument al in main­taining peace , though Paten ' s percept ion of the yani en de te as a source of evil p re clude d the possib ility o f his admitting this . Paton re ceive d st rong support from the Tannese amongst whom he l ived in his opposi tion to Miaki , on the b as is of which he made his claim abou t the backing of pub l i c opinion . When the men-of-war anchored at the harbour in Augus t 1 861 Miaki ' s enemies pre sse d Paton to have him and his followers pub l icly punished . Using the s ame tactic which had been employed against Kuanuan in 1 85 9 and the Yanekahi in January 1 861 , they argued that then they would ' be strong to speak in your de fence , and also to induce all the Tannese to worship Jehovah ' . 4 4 I t is not clear if Paton also p re sse d for Miaki ' s punishment , but Connnodore Seymour was satis fie d with a p romise of good behaviour .

The visit of the gunboats , and the non-appearance o f a hurricane to de st roy them, confirmed Jehovah ' s supremacy ove r the Tannese de itie s and st rengthene d Paton ' s power in the vicinity o f the harb our . To a certain exten t Paton was be ing manipulated b y the Tanne se wi th whom h e live d . But , at the same t ime , h e clearly was seen as a person with st rong magi cal power . After his trees and ground crops success fully bore fruit in spite of a lo cal famine so se rious that many Tannese were force d to subsist on leaves and bark , a ' great number ' o f as tonished Tannese mas sed at the miss ion house to view the spec tacle , and a ' great chie f , a sacre d man ' de clare d :

Our conduct i s b ad , our profess ions are false . I say I make this famine . Others say they are making the b re adfrui t , the b ananas , and the yams grow . Where is it? Who is making Missi ' s b readfruit and b ananas grow? Oh , le t us all ent reat Missi and Ab raham [ an Ane it yumese teache r ] to pray to Jehovah , to make our fruits grow also , or else we will all soon die wi th hunger . 4 5

All acknowledge d the fruit t o be ' the gift o f Go d ' , and Paton claimed that he was able to persuade ' nearly all the inhab i tants ' of a nearby village to give up their custom of making the smal l she lter in the centre of their p lantat ions which housed the prote ctive spirit s of their ancestors . He even persuade d ' one young chie f and h is wife ' to de s t roy a spirit shelte r . The

4 3Paton to Kay , 10 June , 11 October 1 86 1 , R. P. M. 1 862 : 3 8 , 147 ; Ge ddie to Bayne , 26 August 1 861 , H. F. R. 1 8 62 : 42 ; Seymour to Admiralty , 9 August 1 86 1 , Adm. 1/5 760 . 4 4Paton to Kay , 11 Octobe r 1 86 1 , R. P . M. 1 862 : 116 ; cf . Paton 1965 : 183 . 4 5Pat on to Kay , 11 October 1861 , R . P.M. 1862 : 1 15 .

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cus tomary magi cians , Paton wrote , were ' much offende d ' and claime d that the plantations would be los t . But the crops grew , and ' all conclude d that Missi is right , and that it is not the sacre d men and evil spirit that cause the yams to grow well , but Jehovah ' . Subsequently , an d significantly , Paton was pre sente d with the first-fruit o fferin gs . 4 6

By October 1861 Paton had regaine d much o f his earl ie r authority in the vicinity of the harbour . This was due in part t o the backing of the Royal Navy , but it also re fle cte d his reputation as a powerful magician . Wi th the measles , dysentery and hurr icane s behind them, the Tannese could look forward to bene fiting from the apparent e fficacy of Paton ' s rituals . But , contrary to Paton ' s expe ctations , the Tannese were not un dergoing convers ion . Because they , too , viewe d the world in re ligious terms and invested nat ural occurrences with a spiritual signifi­cance , the Tannese were able to accep t the efficacy of Paton ' s prayers , and Jehovah ' s power ove r nature , without ove rturning their tradit ional magico-re ligious construction of reality . ' Miss i ' was ano the r sacre d man and Jehovah another de ity , like Karapanamun . In the same way , Paton attached a sacre d signifi cance to the ir act ions and statements according to his own rel igious framework . What for the Tanne se was Paton ' s integration into their tradit ional ideological and social re lat ional systems - as exemplifie d by his accep tance of the ir first-fruit offerings - was for Paton a s ign that the Tannese were cas t ing as i de the ir ' supersti tious notions ' and embracing the gospe l . If the Tannese considere d they had gained a magi cian , Paton thought he had acquire d a congre gation .

4 6Paton to Kay , 6 January 1 86 2 , R . P . M. 1 862 : 2 84 .

Chap ter 7

' Friends ' an d ' enemie s '

At the end o f 1861 all the confusion , mutual misunderstan d­ing and double meaning which had characterize d Paton ' s three years among the Tanne se suddenly came to a head . In a matter of weeks , he be came caught up in a complex and confuse d polit ical imb rogl io . This revolve d around a dispute ove r the customary ownersh ip of the land on which he was se ttled and was complicate d by the death of a principal claimant , the outb reak of dise ase among tribes to the no rth of the harb our , a severe war inland , and the occurrence of a destructive hurricane . What for the Tanne se were separate -though not ne cessarily unrelated - issue s giving rise to different comb inat ions of allies and enemies , were for Paton expre ss ions of the fundament al conflict be tween the friends and enemie s of the miss ion ; and Tannese at temp ts to resolve the issues th rough a varie ty of tradi tional me ans , including public disputation , gift exchange an d warfare , signifie d t o Paton a conspiracy dire cte d against the miss ion in gene ral an d himself in par ticul ar .

Pre di ctably , the conspiracy ringleader was Miaki , who continued to remain Paton ' s favourite b� te noir. Whereas other miss ionaries were able to maintain amicab le relations with Miaki , for Paton he was the obverse re flection of himsel f : whe re one was devo te d to the glory of God , the other serve d only the Devil . Even when he was ab sent from Port Re sol ution , Paton was ob sesse d wi th his supposed machinat ions . When he went down to Umairarekar in De cember 1 861 , to ass ist Mrs Matheson in her con finement , Paton , on the basis that some ( unknown) Tannese b urn t an ol d , disused teache r ' s hut a t Umairarekar and that Mathe son ' s goat s had been disturbe d , conclude d that Miaki had hire d a party of Kwamera native s to kill him. When he re turned to the harbour h is ' friends ' - Nowar , I an , Sirawia an d Manuman - told him that his ' enemies ' - centred arotm.d Miaki and Nouka - had ' resolve d to for ce me again to leave and go to the south side , or to go and live inland [ i . e . with Ian ] , or they woul d kil l me ' . 1 Howeve r , the ' friends ' rose to a man ( accor ding t o Paton) an d de clare d : ' He i s our Missi . He will stop here , an d we will al l worship

l paton to Kay , 6 January 1 862 , R. P . M. 186 2 : 2 84-5 ; Paton 1965 : 1 87 .

1 34

Jehovah , and obey his wo rd ' . Miaki and Nouka answe re d : ' As

1 35

he live s on our l an d , he mus t leave it , and you can take him whe re you please ' - which was not so much an ult imatum to Paton as an assert ion that he was se ttled on their lan d . Ian replie d :

It is our land on which he now lives ; it is his own land which he b ought from you , b ut which our fathe rs sold Missi Turner long ago . The land was not yours to se ll ; it was re ally ours . Your fathers s t ole it long ago from us by war . . . 2

Kuanuan , who had sold the land to the miss ion in 1842 , seems to have died somet ime in 1861 , and Miaki , Nouka, Ian , S irawia an d Manuman , as Neraimene tribesmen , p resumab ly would have had some claim to the land through genealogical connection . Us ing the old tactic of representing a local dispute as an issue centre d on s upport for the mis s ion in order to win Paton ' s s upport , the ' friends ' declare d that they would massacre Miaki and Nouka and their followers ' for the ir ha tre d of Miss i ' . Be cause the mis­representation correspon de d to Paton ' s own cons truction of events , part icularly in relation to his view of Miaki , the tactic was largely successful .

Early in January 1 86 2 , Paton , for the first time s in ce the meas les epidemic , visite d Ian ' s inland village s . The Tannese prob ably interpre ted this as an expre ss ion of support for Ian over the land ques tion . All the villagers , Paton wro te , ' e xpressed a strong des ire to have revenge on Nauka , and Miaki , and Karewi ck , for their de ce it and wicke dne ss , and all said that " for the goo d of Tanna the se men must perish" ' . 3 The mere involvement of Miaki was s uf ficient to convince Paton that land owne rship was not the issue at all ; what was really o ccurring was a re ligious war . This had two profound e ffects . One was that Paton , b acke d up by his threats of naval in tervention which he had cle arly suggeste d wo uld b e dire cte d against Miaki and his allies , e f fe ctively supported one s ide in a local land dispute an d was seen by the Tannese to do so . The other e f fe ct was that Miaki ' s capacity to press his claim vrithout at the same time appearing to oppose Paton was diminishe d .

The land quest ion was furthe r cloude d , and Ian and Sirawia ' s bargaining position vis-a-vis Miak.i strengthene d , by a ' severe war inland ' towards the end o f 1861 wh ich had sen t ' hundreds ' of moun tain dwellers to seek re fuge wi th Sirawia . Late in De cember Sirawia as sembled the refugees at the village of Yuanawe f a and presente d them to Paton as his inland allies whom he had b rought to the harbo ur to fight for the miss ion . ' Now you will not le ave

2Paton 1965 : 1 8 7 . 3Paton to Kay , 6 January 186 2 , R. P . M. 1 862 : 2 85 .

1 36

us , for here they are ' , he de clare d . ' Look aroun d you ; they are many , like the sand , and will prote ct you ' . One old chie f rose from the group and addres sed Paton : ' Miss i , I say it is good for us al l to l ive here . We are all your pe op le , I say . The re is to be no more steal ing from you or perse cuting o f you , or we will kill and cook those who do so ' . 4 He re again was the tactic employed by the people who had se ttled on Kuanuan ' s land in 1 858 the claim that they wante d to llll ite ( on the dispute d land ! ) t.lll de r Paton ' s care . And again Paton made the mist ake of accep ting the encroa chment by calling on Miaki and Nouka to ' unite ' and ' l ive in peace ' wi th Sirawia ' s inland all ies ; wh ich was , in effe ct , to demand that they re linquish their claim to the l and . If they did not , he warne d , Jehovah ' woul d punish them both here and hereafte r ' . As he had threatened in the past , punishment here implied naval bomb ardment .

In the face of the threat o f gunboat action and other punishment s from Jehovah , the numerical strength of Sirawia ' s forces , and possibly even hoping to secure Paton ' s support , Miaki an d Nouka publicly acknowledge d that ' missi ' s word ' was good and gave a large pre sent of food to Ian and his men as a peace-of fering . 5 One of Sirawia ' s followers called on the two men to give back the land ' which they took from our fathers in war , and we will come and live in peace amon g them, and i f not , we will f ight for it ' . The next day Ian ' and a host of fol lowers ' b rought Miaki and Nouka a re turn present and Sirawia ' s men told Paton that if Miaki an d Nouka did not accept the gift , ' we will have revenge for all the ir b ad con duct ' . However , the pre sent was accepted and Ian became ' owne r ' of the mission land . Now Miaki and Nouka could have no claim to it , he tol d Ab raham , Paton ' s senior teache r . ' All is ours , an d you and Mis si can take of our cocoanuts and b read- fruit what you require . You are our friends , living on our land, and we will p ro te ct you' . 6 One implication of Ian ' s statement is that Paton ' s purchase of the mis sion lan d i n 1 85 8 , regardle ss of whom h e p aid , was irre levant from the Tannese point of view as it could be exchange d without re fe ren ce to him . ' This is our quarre l , and not yours , Missi ' , Sirawia ' s men asserte d , which suggests that the quest ion o f Paton ' s safety had not , as Paton ass ume d , mot ivated Ian an d Sirawia to push their claim : from a statement by Ian ' s men that the ir ch ief had given Miaki and Nouka the gift ' to give up quietly & in peace , the land of our fathers , so that we might come and live on it . . . ' , 7 it woul d rather seem that Ian ' s supporters intende d to settle on the land.

4Pat on to Kay , 6 January 1 862 , R. P. M. 1862 : 2 85 . 5Paton 1965 : 1 8 8 . 6Paton to Kay , 6 January 1862 , R. P . M. 1862 : 2 86 ; cf . Paton 1965 : 1 89 . 7Paton , Journal , 8 January 1 86 2 . My emphasis .

1 3 7

Paton p ut the peaceful settlement of the land disp ute down to his own skill and influence as a me diator . A more reasonab le view of his role in the negotiations was that he was use ful for Ian and Sirawia . If he pe rce ived at all that he was being used against Miaki and Nouka he did not obj e ct . The important point for him was the triumph o f Jehovah over Satan ' s force s . Notwithstand­ing the opposi tion of ' our enemie s ' , he wrote in his Journal , ' our cause seems daily to be gaining grotmd ' . 8 Never had he fel t such encou ragement and happiness in his work . Outwardly , things were advancing . Sixty people attende d his services an d some praye d morning and evening with their families . If he gave any of his ' young men and children ' a b is cui t , ' they either ask a shor t b lessing , or request me to do so , be fore they will taste it ' . 9 Paton doe s not spe cify who the sixty people were who at tende d his rel igious service s . If , as is l ike ly , they were the followe rs of Ian , S irawia , Manuman and Nowar , their attendance might point no t to the Tannese acceptance of Christianity , but to Paton ' s involvement in the land issue . S imilarly , there is nothing to suggest that the Tanne se p rayers t o Jehovah were not simply an extension o f the ir tradit ional ri tual prop itiation of de itie s like Karapanamun . In the same way , it is not neces sary to assume a deepened Chris tian awareness to make sense o f the Tannese requests that Paton bless the food he gave them.

Paton was also encourage d by being S tllDIIloned often to pray wi th and give me dicine to the s ick and dying . As in the pas t , i t p rob ably signi fied that he was , in fact , pe rceive d a s the sorcerer who had cause d the illness . The old as so ciation of mission and disease had been revive d in De cember 186 1 with the appearance o f ' a great amotm.t of sickness and death ' arotm.d the harbour . The most seriously af fe c te d region seems to have been towards the vol cano , among the KasePU11'¥ane tribe whom Paton counte d a s among his wors t enemies . The imp ression that the missionary had cas t a spell upon them may wel l have been re late d to his as cent of the vol cano - the mos t s acre d site on the islan d , ove r­looking KasePumene terri tory - in Sep tembe r with a party of Belgians from La Coquette . 1 0 According to Nowar , the KasePwrene planned to kill Paton in De cembe r to avenge the deaths from disease of three of the ir people . Fearful o f the repercuss ions of the miss ionary ' s death , Miak.i and Nouka , ' pro fessing great friendship ' , urged Paton to accompany them to the KasePumene to show that he was no t causing the sickness among them. Convince d that it was a plot to have him kille d , Paton re fused the request . 1 1

8Paton , Journal , 6 January 1 86 2 . 9Paton to Kay , 6 January 1 862 , R. P. M. 1 86 2 : 2 86 . 1 0Paton to Kay , 11 October 1 861 , R. P. M. 1 86 2 : 14 7- 8 ; c f . Michel 1948 : 15 4 . 1 1Paton to Kay , 6 January 1862 , R. P.M. 1 86 2 : 2 86 .

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From the Kaserwnene perspe ctive , Paten ' s re fusal to mee t with them was an admission of guilt .

Miaki and Nouka ' s failure to e ffe ct a re conciliat ion b e tween Paton and the Kaserwnene , combined wi th the ir inab ility to conclude the land dispute in their favour , re flecte d on their cre dibility as yani en de te and undermine d confidence in their authority . When , in De cember 1 86 1 , Nouka , as a yani en de te for the Neraimene , calle d on his tribe smen to fight against the tribe which had fo rce d t he ' mountain people ' to seek she lter with Sirawia , ' he le ft for it with only one at tendant , and be coming fain t-he arte d , he turne d and came home next day ' . The following week when Miaki s ummoned his people only his b rother and ' six or seven b oys ' re sponded, ' but as the enemy had heard of his de sire , the night be fore they had surprise d and shot two o f his leading friends ' for cing him to abandon his attack . When he re t urned to Port Re solut ion , Miaki was ' laughed at by all our people , having lllliversally re fused to j oin him ' , which Paton , characteristically , interpre te d as an express ion of support for the mission .

Pa ten ' s division of the Tannese around him into friends and enemie s was confirme d by reports re aching him from the Tannese . Pa ten ' s Journal ent ries for January 1 862 show that reports whi ch alle ge d that Miaki , Nouka and Kariwi ck were in ci ting people arol.Uld the harbour to murder him and drive Christ ianity from the island came from Katasian , Kowkari , S irawia , Manui tonga , Rinkaimour , Kopisouak , Manuman and Nowar . 1 2 Katasian and Kowkari live d at the mission station , had adopte d European clothin g , and we re cons idered by Paton to be on the verge of convers ion - Katasian was re ferre d to arol.Uld the harb our ' as miss i ' s boy ' - and it is likely that Miaki and his s upporters had reproache d both young men fo r abandoning traditional belie fs and customs . The other informants were , at the t ime , backing Ian ' s cl aim to the disp ute d land and it was in their interes t for Paton to threaten Miaki , Nouka and Kariwick with gllllboat action if they persiste d in their land claim. On 8 January , fol lowing de terioration o f Ian ' s health , Paton rep orte d that a do zen of Ian ' s ' llllderchiefs ' de clare d tha t Nouka , Miaki , Kamimi - a ' bro ther ' of Manuman - and Kariwick were killing their chie f by sor ce ry , ' be cause he love d Missi and Sirania ' . The ir past ' bad treatment ' of Paton was cited as proof tha t they ' did or caused all the evil to be done ' :

Missi these men fought & killed our fathers , they fought Mis si Turner , kille d one of your teachers , b roke down yo ur fences , killed your dog , st ole al l they coul d from you, trie d to kill you, & t rie d to ge t others to kill you , they cut your bananas for which we wi ll have revenge , they told you if we would g ive up fighting , that they woul d

1 2Paton , Journal , 1 , 4 , 6 , 7 January 1 862 .

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all wo rship Jehovah & f ight no more , you came & interce de d wi th us , & our fathers , & we love d you & obeye d you & your work , but they de ce ived you & us all • . . They did not come to wo rship as they of ten promise d • • . And they send Kariwick here to advise us all to hate & kill you Missi for making him [ Ian ] sick . Ian loves you . Sirania love s you . We all love you & you love us all we know they are tell ing lie s . 1 3

The characteristic intermingl ing o f a number o f local dispute s with the que st ion of support for the mis sion , re gardless of the mo tives of those who perpe tuate d the confusion , simply conf irme d Pa ten ' s prej udices . Whe the r Ian ' s men cyn ically manipul ated Paton - whose hos tility to Miaki would have been apparent to every­one - or whether they s incerely bel ieve d that their fight was his fight , Paton did no t consider that he was allying himself with a party to a lo cal dispute . Every conflict was merely an aspe ct of the fundamental re ligious b attle . On 30 January he wro te home that Nouka , Miaki and Kariwick ' unite d against our people , and gave the challenge to war by killing a fat p ig of Sirania ' s , cutt ing down my fences and b ananas , killing three of my goats , and attemp t ing to kill a chief ' s son [Katasian ] who had come to s tay at my house ' . 1 4

The cutting down of the bananas on the dispute d lan d was referre d to on a number of occasions during the course of the land d ispute , and i t provide s a precise example o f how even seemingly minor episodes assumed radically dif ferent meanings for Paton and the Tannese . For Paton , it expresse d the oppos ition of Miaki and his followers to himself and the mission . From the Tannese perspective , it was a symbolic challenge by Miaki to the other land claimants - an assertion of his right to the lan d . It was an action , de clared Ian ' s followers , ' for which we will have revenge ' .

In the f irst week o f January , Paton had been treating Ian for his sickness , administering medi cine and app lying b l isters to his chest . Given the Tanne se belie f that the person who cause d an illness was the person be st ab le to cure it , Kariwick ' s claim that Paton was making Ian sick was cre dib le . Indee d , Paton later wro te that Ian had planned to kill him from his sick-be d . The impression that Paton was using sorcery against Ian woul d have gaine d further cre dence by his protestation to Ian ' s men on 8 January that Go d alone had power ove r life and death - in e f fe ct , an admiss ion of personal re sponsib il ity . Paton was no t the only person suspe cte d o f sorcery : some of Ian ' s underchie fs suspe cte d Miaki and his followers . Following Ian ' s death on

l 3Pa ton , Journal , 8 January 1 86 2 . 1 4Paton to Kay , 30 January 1 862 , R. P. M. 1 86 2 : 24 3 . My emphas is .

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8 January ' even a p art of his own [ i . e . Ian ' s ] peop le fle d from their villages ' in the terror and exci tement o f the htmt for the guilty sorcerer ( s ) . 1 5

During the week following Ian ' s death a steady stream of rumours that a bloody war at the harb our was imminent reache d Paton . On 11 January Manuman sent one o f his men to warn Paton that in a day or two Nouka , Miaki and Kariwick woul d be attacke d , ' as Ians people & all their inland tribe s were assemb le d & de termined to drive them out of the harbour for their wi cke d inconsistent conduct ' . Sirawia repe ate d the warning and adde d that if Nowar side d with Miaki he and his people woul d also be kille d . Miaki also warned Paton of an imminent war , though he maintaine d that Ian ' s people were coming to shoot the miss ionary and steal his property - presumably for kil ling their chie f . Though Ian had himself plot ted to kill him , Paton dismissed Miaki ' s statement as a complete fabrication . The next day , two of Miaki ' s men entreated Paton ' most urgently ' to s ail wi th them at once from Tanna o r the inland people would shoot him an d burn his house . It is not clear whe ther they were re ferring to I an ' s people or to the Yanekahi and Kaserumene who , the p revious month , had blame d Paton for the outbreak of disease in the ir territory . In e ither case , Paton ' absolutely refuse d ' to believe them. 1 6

Cut ting across the re criminations over Ian ' s sickne ss and death , and the thre at of a KasePUmene-Yanekahi attack on the miss ion , was the continuation of the land dispute as a b urning issue . It is no t clear what the terms of the se ttlemen t be tween Ian and Miaki were , but almost immediately after the ir exchange various partie s were again asserting the ir right to the land . Ian ' s peop le b roadcast that they planned to live on the lan d ; Miaki ' s Yanekahi ally Naias cut bananas growing there ; and Sirawia seems to have actually settled on it at Paton ' s behest . 1 7 With as many as four partie s disputing proprie tary or us ufructuary rights to the lan d , Paton con tinue d to re duce it to an tm complica­ted battle be tween the miss ion ' s friends and enemies .

The inability of Paton ' s mythical framework to embrace the complex in te rplay of political factors at the harb our in January 1862 may be seen in his interp re t ation of Nowar ' s behaviour . On 7 January Paton noted that Nowar was ' much excite d & afraid as Miaki had threatene d to shoot him on ac cotm t of his friendship for me & Sironia & Ian ' . After Ian ' s death , he was ' a firm & boiste rous friend o f Miaki ' s • • • b ut again when he mee ts Manuman or S irania he is j ust as great a friend & adherent o f !ans ' .

1 5Paton , Journal 2-9 January 1 86 2 ; cf . Paton 1965 : 191 . 1 6Pa ton , Journal , 10-11 January 1 862 . 1 7Paton , Journal , 8 January 1 862 ; Paton to Kay , 30 January 1862 , R. P. M. 1 86 2 : 2 46 .

14 1

Paton claimed to have heard Nowar advise Miaki , Nouka and Numaha on 1 0 January to nahak and kill ' al l the ir enemie s ' , an d two days l ater Ab raham alle ge d that Nowar urge d Ian ' s pe ople to ' fight Miaki ' . All o f which suggests that there were dist inct issues , bringing in to operation diffe ren t webs of alliances , cut t ing a cross each o ther at Por t Resolution in January 1 862 . However , for Paton , Nowar ' s contradictory behaviour s imply s ignifie d ' heathen tre ache ry ' . 1 8

The event which finally precip itate d fight ing be tween Ian ' s people and Miaki an d his allies was a hurri cane on 16 an d 1 7 January . S ince 1 3 January Miaki ' s people had been soun ding the ir conche s to bring on a storm - according t o Paton , to de st roy the mission house and drive him from the island . The hurri cane levelle d hut s and plan tat ions and Miaki warned Paton that he feare d the inland people would kill him and his peop le for de st roying their crops . He advise d the mis sionary to be ready to t ake to sea in canoes with his people should they be a tt acke d . 1 9 The confron ta­t ion came on 18 January , when the ' inland people. came in a host enclos ing the whole bay & fire d some 5 or 6 muskets . . . . In a moment the whole bush from sea to sea was one yell & howl as if thousands of peop le were around ' . 2 0 Both Miaki an d Nowar warne d Paton tha t the invaders woul d shoo t him, burn his house an d s teal all his property . They urge d him to le ave his valuab les at Nowar ' s village o f Samoa and j oin them in flight e i the r ove rl and or by se a . Paton , on the b as is o f Miaki ' s ' sul len look ' , rej e c te d the ir advice as a ploy to ge t his proper ty to dist ribute ' among their new frien ds ' - though two days late r he did remove some of his property to S amoa after Nowar had indicate d that he would prote ct it from Miaki , Nouka and Kariwick . 2 1 In the fight ing , Miaki , Nouka, Kariwick an d Nowar initially were oppose d by Manuman , Manui tonga and Rinkaimour . Wi thin four days Sirawia and Manuitonga were supporting Miaki against Manuman . Miaki also had Yanekahi an d Kaserumene b acking wh ich might indi cate acceptan ce of Miaki and Nouka ' s accusation that Manuman had cause d the hurricane to de stroy their food , where as his people had ' plen ty of pigs , yams , an d kava ' . There may also have been oppos i tion to Manuman ' s family be cause Manuman ' s ' b rother ' Kamimi was allege d to have killed Ian by s or cery . 22 Nowar , who had been a ' close friend ' o f Manuman , after 1 8 January both denoun ce d and s upporte d Miaki . 2 3

1 8Paton , Joun1al , 7-8 , 10-12 January 1 86 2 . 1 9Paton , Journal , 1 3 , 17 January 1 86 2 . 2 0Paton , Journal , 1 8 January 1 862 . In his let ter to Kay , 30 January 1 86 2 , and Paton 1965 , the ' if ' is dele te d . 2 1 Paton , Journal , 1 8 January 1 86 2 ; Paton to Kay , 30 January 1 86 2 , R. P. M. 1 862 : 244 . 2 2Paton to Kay , 30 January 1 86 2 , R . P . M. 1 862 : 2 45 . 2 3Paton , Journal , 1 8 January 1 862 ; Paton to Kay , 30 January 1 86 2 , R. P. M. 1 862 : 24 3- 8 ; Paton 19 65 : 210 .

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The fighting , which appears to have been in re sponse to several issues , was seen by Paton as anothe r showdown be tween his friends and enemies . S irawia an d Manuitonga ' s s upport for Miaki signi fie d he athen treache ry , an d Manuman was represente d as uphol d­ing the miss ion ' s cause . Paton wrote on 2 3 January that Manuman had been chased ' from village to village , with his remaining people , hal f over Tanna , and every day some are murdere d , and villages are burne d ' . Miaki , Kariwick an d their followers were reporte d to have burnt a l ine of thirteen or fourteen villages , ' all belonging to Mantnnan ' s tribe ' , re aching from Port Resolut ion to sixteen miles inland (sic) , and mur de re d and cooke d women and children as they fell into the ir hands . 24

In the midst of his fighting agains t Manuman , Miaki was s t ill attemp ting to isolate Paton from his Ya:nekahi and Kaserumene opponents . According to a myth now curren t at Port Re solut ion , the Yanekahi and Kaserumene wante d to kill Paton to avenge the death of Gaskin in 1 85 1 . While the myth clearly expresses re cent ant i-Europe an sent iment amongst the Tannese , it is also pos s ib le that there were Yanekahi and Kaserumene people who wante d to avenge Gaskin ' s de ath , and an opportun ity presented itse lf when it appeared that Paton was using sorce ry against their tribes . The question of avenging Gaskin ' s de ath as ide , the belie f that Paton was killing t hem by sorcery was sufficient reason for the Yanekahi and Kaserumene to rid the island of the missionary . In e ither case , the writ ten evidence and the current myth both s uggest that Miaki use d all the means at his disposal to prote c t Paton . H is attemp t to arrange a meeting be tween the mis sionary and the Kaserumene in December was followed by a proposal that Paton should di stribute prope rty among the mission ' s enemies , as Turner had done in 184 3 , to save his life . 2 5 On 1 8 January Miaki and Nouka gave ' a large present of foo d ' to the Yanekahi and Kaserumene people which , Miaki assure d Paton , was to keep them from do ing the miss ionary further harm. On re ce ip t of the gift they re tire d from Port Resolut ion to the ir own territory . When they re turned two days late r , Miaki and Nouka forbade them to steal Paton ' s property or to burn the miss ion house . 2 6

Each of Miaki ' s attempt s at mediation signified something siniste r to Paton . He had re fuse d to accompany Miaki and Nouka to the Kaserumene in December for fear that it was an amb ush . 2 7 He ' f irmly re fuse d ' to dist ribute property among the Ya:nekahi and Kaserumene : Miaki and Nouka ' de ceive d me in everyth ing ' , he wrote .

24Paton to Kay , 30 January 1 862 , R. P. M. 1 862 : 2 4 8-9 . 2 5Pa ton to Kay , 6 January 1 862 , R. P . M. 1862 : 2 86 ; Paton , Journal : 10 January 1 86 2 . 26Paton to Kay , 30 January 1 862 , R. P.M. 1862 : 2 4 3 , 2 45-6 . 2 7Paton to Kay , 6 January 1 862 , R. P. M. 1 862 : 2 86 .

1 4 3

' I f they go t my goods among them they would steal al l . The ir des ire , talk & conduct was b ad & had been bad' . S imilarly , the presentation of food on 18 January sign ifie d that Miaki and Nouka were enlisting Ya:nekahi and Kaserwnene support ,

to ' kill and cook Missi and his two Aneiteumese at every village on Tanna , to steal all the ir property , and to b urn all the ir houses ' . Our bodies were to be cut into small pie ces , so that they might be sent to be cooke d at all the public village s . 2 8

Miaki ' s direct ion to the Ya:nekahi and Kaserumene who had assemb le d at the harbour o n 20 January , t o respect miss ion prope rty , was a ploy to b ring him back from Nowar ' s village to the miss ion premises whe re ' they wo uld • • • kill me and my Anei teumese ' . As in the past , Paton ' s fears were confirme d by a larming reports from his ' friends ' , that is the supporters of Manuman , who were opposed to Miaki . During his last days at Port Resolut ion Paton re fused even to con fer with Miaki an d , on Nowar ' s advice , made plans to e s cape to Matheson ' s district .

Paton ' s h air-raising account of his abortive attempt to sail from Port Resolut ion in a canoe , his j ourney overlan d to Matheson ' s station j ust s teps ahead o f Miaki ' s forces , the suppose d machina­tions of Miaki even at Umairarekar , and his e scape to Ane ityum on the Blue Be ll , has been recorde d in his Autobiography . While it reads like a Ballantynian adventure st ory , after the manner of Headhunters of the Coral Sea , it would be a mis take to dismiss it as the roman t i c fantasy of an aging man . 2 9 The st ory is fantas t ic , but it is also true , in the sense o f be ing a symbolic exp ress ion of how Paton pe rce ived himself vis-a-vis the Tannese . The concept of warfare be tween the powe rs of light an d the powers of darkness was no t j ust an allegorical device for Paton , b ut the literal exp ression of reality : ' What a dreadful hol d Satan has upon the hear ts o f these poor delude d peop le , ' he wrote in h is Journal , ' O for the al l powerful influence o f Divine grace to b reak his bonds & let the prisoners go free under the light & influence o f the Gospel o f Jes us ' . I n particul ar , what a dre adful hold Satan had upon the hearts o f Miaki , Nouka and Kariwick : ' It is impos sib le to conceive of more deceitful , or desperately wicke d people than the se men are • • • They hate the wo rship & seem only to delight in robbery , b loodshed , & murder , & cannib al ism ' . Their fight against Manuman was ' a rel igious war , tho ' carrie d on by

' 3 0 savages

2 8Paton to Kay , 30 January 1 862 , R. P . M. 1862 : 24 3 ; Paton , Journal , 10 January 1862 . 2 9Paton wrote the Autobiography when about 60 ye ars o l d . The extant manus cripts confirm that his b rother James ' e diting o f the Tanna sec tion was very sl ight . 3 0Paton , Journal , 1 3 , 14 , 18 January 1 86 2 .

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Paton ' s fl ight to Umairarekar was followe d by a reaction against the mission the re . Mathe son had writ ten on 14 January that ' our prospects are . • . be coming mo re than eve r cheering ' ; two weeks later he wrote that he had ' experien ce d more real h eart satisfac tion in the work , than ever be fore among this people ' . More ' re al soul-saving knowledge ' was being communicate d daily . 3 1 But Matheson also wro te that eve r since he had settled at Umairarekar, the people ' invariab ly ' had told him that they would act towards him j ust as the people of Port Re solution acted towards Paton : ' if they drive Mr . Paton away , we will drive you away ' . As at the harbour , there we re influent ial men at Umairarekar who perceive d that the miss ion posed a threat to tradi tional Tannese belie fs and customs and who wel come d the opportunity to rid Tanna of the mis sionary menace . For instan ce , after participating in b urning the church b uilding on 2 Feb ruary , Kati , under whose protection Mathe son had settled at Umairarekar , complained to the missionary :

Be fore you came here , people use d to he ar my word far and ne ar , they use d to bel ieve that I could do anything and make anything , they also used to say great is the word of Kati , but now you tell them Go d make s everything , and the people are beginning to hear your word ; an d all who re ce ive the word of God don ' t hear my word , or believe that I am god of the sea , of sickness , of food &c . 3 2

Proof that Mathe son was beginning t o exert some of the influence Kati cre dited him with was Kapuku ' s action at this t ime of hand­ing over to the miss ionary all his family ' s sacre d stones as a s ign o f his acceptance of Chris tian ity . 3 3

Matheson ' s reply t o Kati was that God ' s word was never going to le ave Tanna , and when a trading vessel cal led to evacuate the mis sion party Mathe son ' resolve d to remain and die on Tanna ' , and locke d himse lf in his study rather than ac company Paton to Aneitytllll . In his otherwise ve ry de tailed le tter to the Foreign Missions Committee of. the Re forme d Pre sbyterian Church , Paton made no ment ion of Mathe son ' s re f usal to leave his post . The omiss ion may have been to save Mathe son any emb arrassment , though it seems more l ikely that Paton was anxious not to give an impress ion that he had fle d Tanna prematurely . Matheson reluc­tantly agreed to qui t the islan d only after Paton thre atened to ' write a no te wi th the ve ssel stating why I am force d to remain ,

3 1Matheson to [ Bayne ] , 14 January , cf . 31 January 1 86 2 , H. F. R. 1862 : 2 4 8 , 22 3 . 3 2Mathe son t o Bayne , 2 0 February 1 862 , H. F. R. 1 862 : 22 3 . 3 3Matheson to Bayne , 2 0 Feb ruary 1 86 2 , H. F. R. 1862 : 22 4 ; Paton to Kay , 30 January 1 86 2 , R. P. M. 1 86 2 : 250 .

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and i f we are murdered as it is almost certain we will be , God wiii ch arge you as our murdere r ' . 3 4 En route to Ane ityum, the vessel called at Port Resolution where Miaki urged Paton to inspe ct his house which, he claimed , was j ust as the miss ionary had le ft it . S uspecting an ambush , Paton sent his Aneityume se assistant Abraham who brought back the report that food and printing type were s trewn about the p remises and that the piano was smashe d . 3 5 That damage had , in fact , been commit te d a fortnight be fore by Yanekahi and Kaserwnene tribesmen , an d Miaki and Nouka had taken steps to ensure that it was not repeate d . 3 6 Nouka had even naile d up the miss ion house door . 3 7 Miaki told Paton that although he and his people ' hated the worsh ip ' for its e f fect on ' the ir talk and cus toms ' , they woul d not destroy his house , j ust as ' the ir fathe rs did not dest roy Mr . Turner ' s house • . . ' . 3 8

After his flight from Tanna , Paton drew up a ' petition ' from ten ' chiefs of Tanna who worship t owards Jehovah ' to be sen t to Sir John Youn g , Governor of New South Wales . From s tart to fin ish the document is Paton ' s creat ion , and his proposal to pre sent it to the Governor was agains t the wishes o f his fellow miss ionaries John Ge ddie and Joseph Copelan d . 3 9 The do cument is significant for the way i t epi tomi zes Paton ' s re duct ion of a complex variety of polit ical issue s to a straight forward ' religious war ' , his obsessions with Miak.i , his de terminat ion to employ the punit ive power o f the Royal Navy against the recal citrant Tanne se , and his paternalist attitude towards the Tanne se :

The prayer of the Tannese who love the Word of Jehovah to the Great Chief o f Sydney .

To the Chie f of Sydney the servant of Queen Victoria of Bri tannia , saying , We great men of Tanna dwell in a dark land . Our people are ve ry dark-hearte d , they know nothing good .

Miss i Paton the man , Mis si Matheson the man , and Missi Matheson the woman , have dwe lt here four yams (ye ars) to teach us the worship of Jehovah ; their conduct has been straight and very good , therefore we love the se three

3 4Paton , Notebooks ; cf . Paton 1965 : 2 1 7 . 3 5Paton to Kay , 30 January 1862 , R. P. M. 1 862 : 25 1 . 3 6Paton t o Kay , 3 0 January 1862 , R. P. M. 1862 : 2 4 3-4 . 3 7Ge ddie to Bayne , 22 July 1 86 7 , Mis c . p apers ; Paton , Noteb ooks ; Paton 1965 : 19 7 . 3 8Paton t o Kay , 30 January 1862 , R. P. M. 1862 : 252 . Miaki later remove d Paton ' s b oat into the b ush ' lest someone shoul d take it away ' ; Copeland to Kay , 2 3 May 1 862 , R. P.M. 1862 : 4 32 . 3 9Paton to Kay , 30 January 1862 , R. P. M. 1 862 : 254 ; cf . Paton 196 5 : 302 .

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missionaries , and the worship of Jehovah which they three have taught us Tannese .

Alas ! a part , as it were , only three (sic) o f our chiefs ' whose name s are Nauka , Miaki , Karewi ck , Ringian , Enukarupi , At tica and Namaka, they and the i r people ha te the worship , and all good conduct like that which the wo rd of Jehovah teache s us , and the peop le of al l lands . These men all belong to four villages only ; they have stolen all Miss i ' s property ; they have broken into his house ; they have cut down his bananas ; they have scolded an d persecute d him , and they desire to kill Missi and to eat h im , so that they may de stroy the worship of God from the land of Tanna .

We hate exceedingly the ir bad conduct , and pray you the Great Chie f of Sydney to punish these dark Tannese who have perse cuted Mi ssi , who have de ce ive d Missi , who have al toge the r de ceive d the Great Chie f ( Connnodore Seymour) , and the Ch ie f ( Capt ain Hume ) of the men-o f-war , and who de ce ived the chie f and othe r missionaries in the John Wil liams , who mur dere d one of Mr Paton ' s Aneiteum teachers , who fought Me ssrs Turner and Nisbe t , who killed Vasa and his Samoan people , who kille d the foreigners , who have now fought and dr iven away our three missionaries ; their conduct had been exceedingly bad , they dest roy the kingdom of Tanna , kill the people and eat them all , and are guilty o f b ad conduct every day ; our hearts hate their bad conduct , we are paine d with i t .

There fore , we earnestly pray you the ch ief of Sydney to send quickly a man-of-war to pun ish them , and to revenge all their bad conduct towards Miss i . Then truly we will rej oice , then it will be good and safe for they three missionaries to dwell here , and to teach us men of the devil ; our he arts are very dark , we know nothing , we are j us t like pigs , the refore it is goo d for Missi to teach us the word and the worship of Jehovah the Great King . Long ago he was unknown to us here , Missi b rought his knowledge to us here .

Our love to you the Great Ch ie f of Sydney , the se rvant of Queen Victoria , and we earnestly pray you to protect us , and to prote ct our miss ionaries , and the worship of God in our land , the land of Tanna . We weep for our miss ionaries ; they three gave us me dic ine for our s ickness , cl othing for our b odies , taught us what is good conduct , taught us the way to heaven ; and o f all the se things long ago we had no knowledge whatever , there fore we we�p and our he ar ts cl ing to these three , our mi ss ionaries . If they three are not he re , who will teach us the way to heaven , who will preven t our bad conduc t , who will pro te c t us from the bad conduct of fore igners , and who will love us and teach us al l good things ?

Oh compas sionate us , Chief of Sydney ! Hold fast the se three , our miss ionarie s , and give us them back , and we will love you and your people . You and your people know the word of Jehovah , you are all going on the path to

heaven , you al l love the word of Jehovah . Oh ! look in mercy on us dark-hearted men going to the b ad land , to the great e ternal fire , j ust like our fathers who are dead .

1 4 7

May Jehovah make your heart and the hearts of your people sweet towards us , to compass ionate us , and to look in mercy on our dark land , and we will pray Jehovah to make you good and give you a rich reward .

The names of us the chiefs o f Tanna who worsh ip towards Jehovah :

Yarisi X his mark Manuman X his mark Ruawa X his mark Nauru X his mark Kapuka X his mark Neb usak X his mark Taura X his mark Kuau X his mark Firmin go X his mark Nowar X his mark

It is most unl ikely that the statement signifie d the same th ings to the ten pe ti tioners as it did to Paton . Poss ib ly they did not un ders tand what they were signing . After al l , the very not ion of a pe ti tion is rooted in a We ste rn tradit ion of j urisprudence beyon d the range of their experience . The ten men may have put the ir ' X ' on whatever Paton offered them j ust to p lease him , or with the hope of some material reward , or so as not to be counted among the mission ' s ' enemies ' shoul d a gunboat pay a re tal iatory visit . I t is also possible that the petit ion rep resented existing alliance ne tworks among the Tannese which may or may not have been rel ated to the question of support for the mission . Perhaps some of the signatories did , like Paton , view the re cent fighting as a re ligious war . Each explanation is credible to some extent . Just four days before the document was drafted ( assuming it was written at Port Re solution) , Manuman and Nauru ' s people were ' s till hunted and shot down daily ' by the men listed as the mission ' s opponents . Perhap s Manuman and Nauru saw the call for naval action against Miaki and others as a means of revers ing the ir losse s . Nowar and his son-in-law Faimungo ( Firmingo) may have been insuring themselves from possib le gunb oat retribut ion . Both had s ided with Miaki against Manuman . Taura , from Mathe son ' s distric t , had pledge d to pro tect Paton after he fled to Umairarekar until a vesse l arrive d , for which he had been given various goods (which Pat on had ' b rough t for the purpose ' ) . Perhaps he antici­pate d additional rewards for a show of support for the miss ion . Certainly Pa ton had l it tle faith in his goodwill . Kapuku (Kapuka) , als o from Mat heson ' s distri ct , perhaps saw his mark on the petition as a ge sture of support for the miss ion cause : earlier he had given up all his family ' s s acred stones as a sign that he accepted Chr is tianity, after which he was ' time and time again ' threatened with death if he ventured near the mi ssion premise s . 4 0

4 0Paton to Kay , 30 January 186 2 , R. P.M. 186 2 : 2 4 7-50 ; cf . Matheson to [ Bayne ] , 21 January , 20 Feb ruary 186 2 , H. F. R. 1862 : 2 2 2 , 2 2 4 .

1 4 8

Perhap s one of those who made th e thre ats was Namaka ( listed a s one o f the mis sion ' s enemies) , who had been a s taunch opponent o f Matheson during the measles epidemi c - though Inglis later incl ude d Namaka among the ch iefs ' who had befriende d Mr Paton ' . 4 1 Of the other s ignatorie s , Ruawa seems to have move d to Port Resolution only in the late 1850 s , after being forced to leave northwest Tanna , apparent ly set t ling on the land claimed by Ian and Miaki . 4 2 Possib ly he bel ieve d it to be to his advantage to have the navy drive Miaki from Port Re solution - a sugge st ion Paton may well have made . 4 3 The name s Neb usak and Kaua do not appear anywhere else in the historical do cuments for the period and are not recalled today at Port Resolut ion or Kwamera .

Geddie dismi ssed the pe tition as fraudulen t . In his annual rep ort for 1862 he repud iated Paton ' s assumpt ion that th e war which precipitated the miss ion ' s b re akup had been dire cted against the mission . It was ' entirely a native quarrel ' , he wrote , with mis s ion supporters and their ' heathen countrymen ' united on oppos ite sides . 4 4 Paton , rather than any spurious re ligious war , was responsible for the mission ' s collapse . Geddie sugge sted that Paton should not be allowe d to re turn to Tanna as he had completely al ienated an influent ial party of Tanne se who we re not othe rwise opposed to the mission . Two other miss ionaries should re-occupy Por t Resolution , he argue d , while Paton ' s experien ce would be use ful elsewh ere .

For his par t , Paton ' re solved to remain on Aneityum trans­lating and wat ching any opportun ity to re turn as soon as pos s ib le to Tanna ' . However , he was ove rruled by Ge ddie and Copeland who despatche d him to the Aust ralian colonies to raise fund s for a new miss ionary ve ssel . 4 5 Mathes on persevered with his transla­tions , wait ing Paton ' s return so that they might together re­o ccupy Tanna. But Paton del ayed his re turn , time and again , to tell the world of the gruesome s cene s of depravity he had endured on Tanna and of hi s miraculous e s capes from Satan ' s grasp . To enrapt ured audiences throughout Aus tralia and Britain he never tired of repeating his trials among a people who , he claimed , daily sacri ficed human vict ims , daily feasted upon human flesh ,

4 1Matheson to [ Bayne ] , 1 April , 1 August 1 86 1 , H. F. R. 1 862 : 4 3 , 5 1 ; Inglis to Kay , 9 November 1 865 , R. P. M. 1866 : 305 . 42 In 19 75 Ruawa ' s de s cendant claimed ( t o me) that his great­grandfather was Kuanuan ' s son , who therefore had tradit ional right to the land. The genealogy was d ispute d by othe r peop le at Port Resolution . 4 3 c f . Geddie to Bayne , 16 De cember 186 2 , H. F. R. 1863 : 158 . 4 4 Ibid.

4 5Paton , Draft Autobiography : l2 ; New Heb rides Mis s ion Synod , Minutes , 11 February 1 862 .

enslave d their women , st rangled the ir wives and killed the ir children. 4 6

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4 6 ' Address at S t . Georges Chur ch , S ydney ' , R. P.M. 1 862 : 327-30 ; Paton t o Kay , 2 3 August , 2 3 Sep tember 1862 , R. P.M. 1862 : 4 35-7 , 4 71 , 16 January , 20 February , 15 April , 9 October 1 86 3 , R. P. M. 186 3 : 1 85-7 , 1 87-8 , 2 74-5 , 455-9 ; Report o f Re formed Presbyterian Synod , R . P . M. 1 864 : 2 1 1 - 1 � Paton to Kay , 2 7 De cember 186 4 , R. P. M. 1865 : 1 76-9 ; Foreign Miss ions Commit tee Report , R. P. M. 1 86 5 : 22 3-4 ; Paton to Kay , 21 June 1 86 5 , R . P . M. 1 865 : 44 5-8 ; Paton , Noteb ooks ; Fleming 192 7 : 14 8 .

Chap ter 8

The Curaqoa Af fair

By the time Paton returned to the islands Matheson had been dead nearly three years . 1 When he le ft the New Heb ride s in 1 862 on his fund rais ing tour , Paton was to have spoken only in New South Wales ; b ut he exten de d his itinerary to Victoria , then the remaining Aus tralian col onies , and finally Bri tain . In Scotland he remarried an d was elected Moderator of the Re forme d Presbyte rian Church . He returned to Aus tralia in 1864 b ut again put of f re turning to the New Heb ride s for another season . During all th is time he had an ticipate d that it would be he who reoccup ied Port Resolution for Chris t . However , when he re turne d in June 1865 the harbour was closed to him , b ut the fortuitous appearance of a Brit ish gunb oat offered him a Go d-sent opport \lll ity to re-open Tanna to the gospel by force .

When Joseph Copeland visited Port Resolut ion in April 186 2 , the war whi ch had occas ione d Pa.ton ' s leaving Tanna had ende d . Copeland found the miss ion house standing b u t with the windows b roken , doors remove d and ' not the worth of sixpence ' o f furnish­ings remaining - for wh ich the harb our dwellers b lame d the inland people . 2 Miaki told Copeland that it would be safe for teache rs to re turn to the harbour but advised a four month delay - until the planting season would further imp rove political stab ility . When he re turne d towards the end of 186 2 Copeland was again urge d to delay the re settlement o f teachers , as the people around the harb our were about to make war . Fight ing and the threat of fighting - it would seem chie fly be tween the Neraimene and Yanekahi - kep t the harb our region closed to the mis sion ' s re­commen cement throughout 1 86 3 and 1864 . During that time Miaki , who requested Copeland in Ap ril 1 86 3 to remove him to Aniwa for fe ar of his life , was shot dead and numbers of his followe rs

1 copeland to Kay , 31 De cember 1862 , R. P. M. 186 3 : 149-50 . 2 Cope land to Kay , 2 3 May 1 862 , R. P . M. 1862 : 4 32 ; cf . Ge ddie to Bayne , 23 May 1862 , H. F. R. 1 862 : 2 9 3 .

1 5 0

15 1

were force d to f lee to other p arts o f the is land . 3 Asked late in 1 864 if they desire d the return of teachers , the Tanne se replied , ' We have not t ime to sit down and hear the Word of God ; we are j ust ab out to b e driven into the sea b y our enemies yonde r ' . The unrest continued into 1865 - with Nowar bein g accused of us ing sor cery against Nouka - an d when Paton called at Port Resolut ion in July of that year he was force d to accept that the stat ion was closed to his rese ttlement . 4

Paton sailed from Port Resolution with ' crushe d feelings ' . 5 During his three and a half years in Britain and Aust ral ia he had implici tly assumed that the Tannese would hail his re turn . The de cision of his fellow missionarie s , meet ing on Aneityum at the ir annual syno d , that Tanna was not ready for the miss ion ' s recommencemen t , would have he ightened his sensitivity to the charge that he had j e opardized the mi ss ion by prematurely abandoning his post in 1862 . 6 The synod re solve d , on 1 August 1865 , that Paton should undertake missionary dut ies on some other island . Paton seems to have rej ected the propos al - three days late r , it was re scinded in favour of his re turning to the colonies to raise more funds . 7 During the same session the miss ionar ies , learning from Cap tain Luce of H . M . S . Esk of the imminent arrival at Ane ityum of Commodore Sir William Wiseman , prepare d a st atement on the loss of life and property suffered by the miss ion on Tanna , Erromango and Efate , for the Commodore ' s immediate attent ion . 8

The main force behind the synod de cision to appeal to Wiseman was Paton - with the st rong backing of John Inglis , synod chairman . The other signatories of the memorial were James Go rdon , William McCullagh and Donald Morrison , all of whom had arrive d in the New Heb ri de s only during the pre ceding ye ar , and Captain W . A . Fraser , master of the mission b rig DayspPing . The most senior missionary , John Geddie , was on furlough in Canada ,

3 Copel an d to Kay , 31 De cember 1862 , 1 June 186 3 , R. P. M. 186 3 : 1 51 , 424 , 30 November 1 86 3 , R. P. M. 1864 : 26 6 , 1 5 March 1 86 5 , R. P. M. 1865 : 2 7 3 ; Geddie to Bayne , 1 7 June 186 3 , H. F. R. 1 86 3 : 316 ; Ingl is to Kay , 2 3 December 186 4 , R. P . M. 1865 : 1 71 , Ne ilson to Kay , 11 De cember 1 8 71 , R. P. M. 1872 : 209 . 4McCullagh to Bayne , 2 5 March 1 865 , cited in H. F. R. 1865 : 2 40 , 1 7 June 1 865 , H. ff. R. 1865 : 296 ; Inglis to Kay , 9 November 1 865 , R. P. M. 186 6 : 305 .

5Gordon to Bayne , 2 9 Augus t 186 5 , H. F. R. 1 86 6 : 46 . 6c f . Paton , Notebooks ; Paton 1965 : 22 3 . 7New Heb rides Presbyterian Miss ion Synod , Minutes , 1 and 4 August 1865 . 8New Hebride s Mis sion Synod to Wiseman , 1 August 1 865 , enclosure No . l , Wiseman to Admiralty , 1 October 1865 , Adm. 1 / 59 25 .

1 5 2

and Joseph Copeland was t ouring the Aus tralian colonies . The event s complaine d of by the synod had occurred before Gordon , Mccullagh , Morrison and Fraser had arrive d in the field and most of them during Inglis ' s furlough in Britain . Gordon later claime d that he at first rej e cted Paton ' s proposal s for naval intervention , but eventually yiel ded , ' as my standing out would have b arre d act ion on Tanna ; a t least such was said ' . 9 Gordon - who had al ready been contemplat ing naval intervent ion at E rromango l O - p rob ably feared that not backing Paton on Tanna would have b arred any action at Erromango, which he considere d much more warrante d . Neither McCullagh nor Morrison was enthusiastic about naval act ion against the Tannese , b ut both ac cep te d that it was perhaps neces sary in orde r to re co11llllence the mis s ion at Port Re solution . 1 1 Mccullagh , certainly , was less concerne d with Paton ' s spe cific charge s than with Tanne se indi fference to ' any rel igious inte r ference ' , which hel d out no prospect for Paten ' s rese ttlement . 1 2 It is likely that they deferred in th is mat ter to the more experience d mis s ion­aries and , having accepted the concept of punitive naval ac tion , felt obliged to j ustify the ir support . Captain Frase r , not be ing a missionary , acted irregularly in signing the memorial . However , he later expressed his satis faction a t the result s o f the act ion at Tanna 1 3 and was prob ab ly pleased to have been able to support his ' patron ' Paton .

The synod ' s memorial to Wiseman allege d : that in 1 85 4 a Rarotongan family in the service of the mission was murdere d on Efate ; that on 20 May 1 861 George Gordon and his wife - b rother and sister-in-law of James - we re murdere d by two E rromangans f rom the tribe at ' Bunkil ' (Bunkhill) , a few miles south of Dillon ' s Bay , at the inst igation of Rangi , supposedly a S ingaporean and there fore a British sub j e ct , 1 4 and Akasau ( al ias Long Bob ) , a native of Dillon ' s Bay ; that sub sequently Akasau incited the Erromangans to kill the miss ion teachers ; that , on Tanna , Paton and Johnston were attacked by Yanekahi and Kase'11Ull'¥3ne tribesmen

9Gor don to Bayne , 2 9 August 1 86 5 , H. F. R. 1 866 : 47 . l OPatterson to London GuaPdian , reprinted in H . F. R. 1866 : 244 . 1 1Morrison to Bayne , 15 August 1865 , H. F. R. 1866 : 71 ; Mccullagh to Bayne , 17 October 1 86 5 , 2 7 August 1 86 6 , H . F. R. 1 86 6 : 9 9 , 316 . 1 2McCullagh to Bayne , 18 August 1 86 5 , H. F. R. 1866 : 18 . 1 3Fraser t o Wiseman , 2 1 May 1 86 6 , enclose d in Wiseman to Admiral ty , 23 June 1 86 6 , Adm . 1 / 5 9 6 9 . 1 4Rangi was o ften de scribed as a native o f S ingapore , though Shineberg be lieves that he was p rob ab ly Polyne sian . She notes that the missionaries possib ly had heard that he was a ' Malay ' , a term of ten loose ly use d in those days to dis t ingui sh Polyne sians from Melanes ians . Shineberg 196 7 : 266 fn . 24 .

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on 1 January 1861 ; that in 1 861 an Ane ityumese teacher was fatally wounde d at the village of Yuanawe fa ; and that in February 1 862 the Tanna miss ion was b roken up and Paton , the Mathe son s and the ir teache rs were force d to flee , ' while most of their prope rty was stolen or dest royed ' .

The mis s ionaries complained that nothin g e ffec t ive had been done to bring ' these murderers and mis creants to j us t ice ' . In 1 86 1 Commodore Seymour had visited E rromango after the murde r o f the Cordons , b ut had de cide d against act ion . In 1 862 a pe ti tion on the s ubj ect had been presented to Governor Young b ut no act ion followe d be cause of the loss of the relevant documents when the Orphe us was wre cked off New Zeal an d . Since that t ime no man-o f­war had visited the area . Consequently :

The natives of Erromanga and Tanna count up the number of whi te men they have kille d , without the ir being punishe d for so doing , and b oast ingly say , that it is all lies , ab out Men-o f-War coming to punish them ; so that unless some firm but dis criminating s teps be taken to convince them , that British power will be employed for the prote ction o f Brit ish subj e ct s , no white man ' s l ife wil l be safe .

The synod trus te d th at Wiseman woul d reve rse this s tate o f affairs and ass ure d him of their full coope ration . The commodore agreed to do all in his power ' to render l i fe and p rope rty se cure ' and took on Inglis , Paton , Gordon an d Morrison to act as interpre te rs , and Cap tain Frase r in the mis sion vessel Dayspring to act as pilo t .

At Port Resolut ion Wiseman re ce ive d a further statemen t 1 5 from Paton and Ingl is on the mis sion ' s losses at Tanna . It s tre s sed that land had been legally purchase d at Port Re solution , Umairarekar and othe r place s be tween the two stat ions for Paton , Matheson and upwards of twen ty teachers . In all of the se t rans­actions , it was claime d , ' the ch iefs promise d them protection ' -promises they repe ated to Captain Vernon in late 1859 and again to Commodore Seymour in 1 86 1 . In sp ite of the se promise s , ' one assault after another was made upon the teachers and the mis sion­aries ' culminating in the break-up o f the mis sion in 1862 . Furthe rmore , j us t before Wiseman ' s arrival the three teachers at Black Beach had been for ce d to flee t o Erromango ' through the threatenings of some inland tribes , ins t igated by a party of nat ive s from Port Resolution ' . Thus , conclude d Paton and Inglis , act ion mus t be dire cted against Port Re solut ion wh ich was the ' centre o f polit ical inf luence ' for the whole island , and the base of opposit ion to the mis s ion .

1 5 Ingl is and Paton to Wiseman , 1 1 August 1 865 , enclosure No . 2 , Wiseman to Admiral ty , 1 October 1 865 , Adm. 1 / 592 5 .

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Though he had been warne d by his predecessor , Seymour , no t to accep t missionary claims uncritically , 1 6 Wis eman took the mission statements to heart . In doing this he was following a firm tradi tion of mutual support which had deve loped be tween naval officers and miss ionaries in the New Heb rides . Both were con­cerned to impose civi lized standards on a presumed benighte d ra ce , and Wis eman would have appreciated that effective missionary control was conducive to s tabi lity in the region . Furthe rmore , the miss ionaries ' argument that Seymour ' s pacific policy had merely emb oldened the Tannese and Erromangans to commi t more mis deeds was superficially persuasive . Indeed , Seymour had imp lied in his notes for his successor that a disp lay of force mi gh t be warranted at Port Resolution and Erromango, 'where the natives are not to be trus ted ' .

But the decision ab out what to do at Tanna and Erromango was Wiseman ' s alone . There were p recedents for armed in tervention to protect British life and property - such as the as sault on northwest Tanna in 185 8 - but the Bri tish Government had consis- ·

ten tly backed away from giving firm directions on the matter . As to the use of force , the Duke of Newcas tle had writ ten in 1860 that on the one hand flagrant ac ts of violence committed by the natives should not go unpunishe d , whi le on the o ther hand i t was very difficul t to give general abstrac t ins truc tions . To j ustify force it would be necessary for the investigating of ficer to es tab lish that the fault was on the part of the natives and that they had not been provoked by the comp lainants . 1 7 On the basis of Paton ' s testimony , Wis eman ascertaine d that the Tannese were gui lty of unprovoked acts of violence agains t the mission . Opera ting very decidedly wi thin a British legal framework , he satis fie d himself tha t Paton ' s land had been ' fairly purchased ' , that the property alle ged to have been des troyed or stolen was ' all bona fide the prop erty of Bri tish subj ects ' , and that the Tannese had broken the ir promise of protec tion and annoyed B ritish s ub j e cts to an extent which rendered their p resence at Port Res olution highly dangerous .

Paton went ashore on 10 Augus t and b rought back to the Curapoa a group of friendly Tannese , who were ' kindly re ceive d ' b y Wis eman and shown over his ship . The commodore demanded tha t they de liver up the ' guilty chie fs ' 1 8 by noon next day or , in accor dance wi th the principle of colle c tive responsibi lity , he

1 6 Seymour to Admiralty , ' The Aus tralian S tation ' , 15 May 186 3 , Adm . 1/ 5 8 29 . 1 7 c . o . to Admiral ty , 1 2 May 1860 , c . o . 20 1/5 14 . 1 8 Namely Nautka [Nouka ] , Usua , Yawrien [Yorian ] , Kariwik [Kariwi ck ] , Rangian [Ringian in 186 2 Petition ] , Yaukarupi [Enukarup i in 186 2 Petition ] , Yaufangi [Yaufanga ] and Kariaw . Inglis and Paton to Wiseman , 11 Augus t 1 86 5 , enclosure No . 2 , Wi seman to Admiralty , 1 Oc tober 1865 , Adm . 1/59 25 .

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would p unish them for p rotecting the murderers . He als o demanded £1000 compensation for the British property s tolen and dest royed . Twi ce that afternoon Paton re turned t o the shore and urged the Tannese to comp ly with Wiseman ' s s ummons and both times they laughed at him . The Tannese declared that they were prep ared t o fight the B i g Ship . Next day , Paton went ashore three times , and the deadline was extended to 7 o ' clock next morning . S till he fo und the ' guilty parties . . . al l rej oicing in prospect of figh ting ' , and his tearful entreat ies only b rought on more laugh­ter . On the morning of 12 Augus t Paton again went ashore and told the assembled Tannese tha t all who went wi th Nowar and the ' Christian party ' to a vantage point over looking the bay wo uld no t be harmed and would be ab le to witness all that took p lace whi le Wiseman ' punished the heathen ' • 1 9

In a celebrated account of the bomb ardmen t , J . L . Brenchley , na turalist on board the Curaqoa , note d the course of even ts as the ship ' s big guns began to carry very unp leasant messages to the culpri ts . The cut ter further enli ghtene d them by dis charging ro ckets among a great crowd that had massed at the harb our (Plate 7 ) . The overture continue d for some hours , when the more serious b usiness of the day began by the landing of 1 70 men - comprising almos t the entire fighting c rew of the ship - who were to penetrate into the is land and commit such devas tat ion as was in their p ower . 20 Cooks , stewards and s t okers were left to man the ship ' s guns . No doub t Wis eman had in mind that the Tannese had kille d two marines in the naval assault on Black Beach in 1858 . Among the Curaqoa ' s crew , cert ainly , the re was a stron� undercurrent of opinion that they were likely to ge t a dus ting . 1

The Tannese tried in vain to ma tch the Curaqoa ' s fire-power wi th their muske ts b ut were quick ly s cattered into the bush by the rocke ts . However , the dense tropical bush presente d an almos t ' unsurmountable barrier ' to the landing p arty . Paton had failed to procure a native guide s o the men had to manage as best they could , marching Indian-file along the narrow paths . One party , under Commander Dent , ' after a pro digious expendi ture of creeping , crushing and other fatiguing exertion in forcing a way through the intricate t angle of bush ' , 2 2 eventually reache d a cleare d spo t which was to b e the rendezvous point with Lt . Meade ' s company . So intent were they on grappling wi th the undergrowth tha t they did no t noti ce tha t the Tannese were following close on their heels until , on reaching the open space , the Tannese le t fire on the exposed men (Plate 8) . A dash was made at the Tannese who

1 9Pa ton to S . M. H . , 18 November 1865 . 2 0Bren chley 1873 : 20 1 . 2 1Meade 1870 : 2 37 . 2 2Brenchley 18 7 3 : 202 .

Plate 7 H . M . S . Cu:r>aqoa shelling nat ive vil lages on the island of Tanna . (From The Australian News , 25 October 1 865 , p . 1 3 . )

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Plate 8 Skirmish between brigade of seamen and marines of H. M. S. Curayoa and the natives of Port Resolution , Augus t 12 1 865 . (From a sket ch by W. V. Bayley , Midshipman , Il lustrated Sydney News , 1 6 November 1 865 , p. 9. )

vanish ed into the b ush. During their fligh t they came acros s and mortally wounded one of th e ship ' s men cutting down sugar cane.

The obj ec t of the landing was not to kill Tannese , but to des troy as much as possible of the villages and gardens and then burn the bush. Only four Tannese were kil led , and three of these later by an unexploded bomb. Meade ' s party des troyed gardens belonging to Nouka and Yauf anga , al leged ringleaders of the opposition to Paton in 1 86 1-6 2 , without much effort - ' it being a beauti ful arran gement of Nature that the trees which are the principal sustenance of these savage nations . . . are of so soft a wood that a banana , or mummy apple- tree , six inches thick can be hewn down with one b low of a sword ' . While Meade was th us engaged , Dent des troyed the offenders ' villages and a party under Mr S c udamore, the ship ' s mas ter , went along the coas t des troying their canoes - twenty-one in all. The attempt to set fire to

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the bush was unsuccess ful owing to drenching rain the previous nigh t . 2 3

Wis eman wrote that to have left wi thout punishing the Tannese would have sacri ficed property and life in the future . From his perspe ctive he had arb i trated in an impartial way ; he had made a point of exp laining to the Tannese whom he had interviewed that he would similarly inves tigate and ac t upon their comp laints agains t Brit ish subj ects . 24 However , from the point of view of the Tannese , for whom the significance of the events of January 186 2 was altoge the r different from Paton ' s interpretation , Wiseman ' s acti ons would have appeared far from impartial . Some would have construe d the course o f events as comb ine d naval­missionary intervention against Nowar ' s current enemies . At the t ime Nowar and Nouka ' s people were oppose d to each other - Nowar having been accused of sorcery which was making Nouka ill - and nego tiations had taken place only be tween Paton and Wiseman and Nowar and his suppor ters , after which the villages , gardens and canoes of Nouka and his b ro ther-in-law Yaufanga were des troyed . 2 5 Presumably Nouka would have regarded Paton ' s ac tions as treacher­ous be cause , at the time of the alle ge d offences , he had inter­vene d on the miss ionary ' s behalf and , after he had fled south , had nai led up the mission house door to prevent further pilfering . Imme diate ly af ter the as sault on Nouka and Yaufanga ' s vi llages , Morris on wrote that Nowar ' s peop le stood se cure ly on the beach al l day , ' viewing what was going on wi th mingled feelings of pleasure , grat it ude and terro r ' . 26

In the 186 2 pe ti tion to S ir John Young , Nouka , Miaki , Kariwick , Ringian , Yaukarupi (Enukarupi) , At tica and Namaka were lis ted as the mission ' s chief opp onen ts . In the synod ' s memorial of 1 Augus t 1865 the charge was repeated agains t the firs t five indivi duals - Attica and Namaka being from Mathes on ' s dis trict . Also incl uded in the memorial as an enemy of the mission was Usua , whose fathe r (Ruawa) had s i gned the 186 2 peti tion as one of ' the chiefs of Tanna who worship towards Jehovah ' . In Paton and Inglis ' s memorandum to Wiseman , Yorian , Yaufanga and Kariaw were included with Usua as ' the great enemie s of the Mission • • . who have caused all our los ses ' - ye t none o f these four men was re ferred to in e i ther Paton ' s 186 2 p eti tion or the synod ' s memorial to Wiseman . Us ua , Yaufanga and Kariaw were not mentione d

2 3Meade 18 70 : 240 ; cf . S cudamore , Master ' s remark book, January­Decembe r 1 865 : 24 . 24wis eman to Admi ralty , 1 October 1865 , Adm. 1/5925 ; Ingl is to Kay , 11 December 1865 , R. P .M. 1866 : 1 77 . 25 Inglis to Kay , 11 De cember 1865 , R. P .M. 1 866 : 1 7 8-9 ; cf . Paton to S . M. H. , 18 November 1865 . 26Morri son to Bayne , 15 Augus t 1865 , H. F. R. 1866 : 7 2 .

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in any literary source be fore the memorandum and Paton ' s only p revious re ference to Yorian , in 1 86 1 , was in favourable terms . 2 7 Miaki , the supposed ringleader o f the anti-mission campaign in 1861-6 2 , was by this t ime long s ince dead . 2 8 Given that Paton and Inglis ' s contact with the Tannese was limi ted to ' Nauwar , Boni and othe r natives of the friendly tribe ' , 29 it is likely that the inclus ion of Usua , Yorian , Yaufanga and Kariaw in the memorandum re flected the political context of 1865 . All four were asso ciated with Nouk.a and perhaps had supported accusations of sorcery agains t Nowar ; or possib ly Nowar was us ing the opportuni ty presente d by the gunboat to settle some other s cores . In short , the bombard­ment of 1865 - like the pe tit ion o f 1862 - should be seen as having been us ed by some Tannese for the ir own political p urposes whi ch had lit tle or noth ing to do with the question of support for the miss ion .

Before the Cura9oa saile d , Paton went ashore and re turned with a documen t from the chiefs to Wiseman , in which they promise d to mend the ir ways for the future :

Formerly we had been guilty of so many murders that we feared men-of-war woul d come and punish us ; we all though t and said they durst no t try , and so we deligh ted in our bad conduct . Then we had no ide a of the multi tude of fighting men in a man-of-war , and of he r awful power to des troy us and o ur lands ; but now we have seen i t , and our hearts have faile d us . We are all weak and crying for fear . The great inland chie f , Quan tengan , who came to he lp us fight the man-of-war , was cut down by one of his chiefs ( officers ) , and many more are hurt , and we know not how many are shot and dead. Our canoes , our houses , and our lands are laid waste by his fighting men . We never saw anything like this and plead with the chief of the man-of-war not to punish us any more , but to go and leave us , and truly we will obey hi s wo rd . Tel l him to inform your good Queen Victoria that we will kill no more o f her people but in future be good, and learn to obey the word o f Jehovah . 3 0

2 7 Paton, Journal , 1 March 186 1 ; c f . Paton 1965 : + 7 7 . 28 Copeland to Kay , 15 March 1865 , R. P. M. 1865 : 2 7 3 . 29 Inglis to Kay , 9 November 1865 , R. P. M. 1 866 : 305 .

3 0 Paton to Wiseman , ' Memorandum • • • respe cting the effe cts of punishment o f the native s of Port Re solution , Tanna ' , 14 August 1 865 , encl osure No . 3 , Wiseman to Admiral ty , 1 October 1865 , Adm. 1/5925 . The do cument is reproduced in Brenchley 1873 : 20 4 and Meade 1 8 70 : 24 7-8 .

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While ashore , Paton conducted prayer with the ' leading He athen Chiefs ' , and note d that they were ' exceedingly afraid ' - an imp ress ion con firmed shortly afterwards by a visiting trade r 3 1 an d all ready to ob ey the commodore ' s ' good wo rd ' i f the man-of-war ' would leave off punishing them and sail from the ir Island ' . They promised to erect a new fence around the mis sion garden and to repair the miss ion premises . Perhaps fe arful of Nouka ' s wrath once the warship had saile d from the island , Nowar urge d Paton to rese ttle on the isl and . 3 2 Paton was hope ful that the le ssons deal t out to the Tannese would make them in the future ' respect the lives and property of British subj e cts ' . 3 3

After he le ft Tanna Wiseman made his way , in company wi th the Dayspring , to Dillon ' s Bay whe re he re ce ive d a fur ther memorandum on the mis s ion ' s losses at Erromango . The document made ou t a rather inconclusive case against two chiefs , concen­trating on the ir ' avowe d ' obj e ct of des troying the mis sion , rather than lis ting actual mis deeds , and Wiseman le t the Erromangans off with a warning . 3 4 He was more inte re s ted in the statements and depos i tions he ob tained from Cap tain Henry and other men employed at the sandalwood depot , re garding the killing of an Englishman nane d Fle t che r and fo urte en E fate se on the othe r side of the island . Be cause of the dis tance of the offending tribe from Dillon ' s Bay , Wis eman deci ded agains t landing a party to de stroy property . 3 5 Ins tead he sailed for Efate to inve s t igate the missionaries ' charge that a Rarotongan family in the servi ce o f the miss ion had been murdere d th ere i n 1 85 4 . Given the passage of time and finding there that ' everything appeared to be progre ss­ing satis factorily ' , Wiseman de cide d agains t any punitive ac tion . After an uneventful cruise through the Banks an d Santa Cruz groups in company with Bishop Patteson , 3 6 he re turne d , en route to New Caledonia, to Dillon ' s Bay on 25 Sep tember where he rece ive d ano ther lis t of grievances from Gordon . The missionary claimed that the two of fen ding chiefs had contemptuous ly ignore d Wiseman ' s threats of j us t a month be fore by threatening to take possess ion of mis sion lands . He suggeste d that i f the commodore wipe d out their se ttlenents he could se ttle Dillon ' s Bay with ' a number o f people favo urab le t o Chris tiani ty ' who could de fend the mis sion . Wiseman wisely rej e cted this prepos terous sugge s tion , arguing that he could not punish the Erromangans for ' anticipate d acts

3 1 Brenchley 1 8 7 3 : 300 . 3 2Morrison to Bayne , 15 Augus t 1865 , H . F . R . 1 866 : 72 . 3 3Paton to Wiseman , ' Memorandum • • • ' , 14 Augus t 1865 . 3 4 Ingl is and Gordon to Wiseman , 14 Augus t 1865 , enclos ure No . 3 , Wiseman to Admiralty , 16 October 1 865 , F . O . 5 8/106 . 3 5cf . Enclosure No . 4 , Wiseman to Admi ralty , 16 O ctober 1 865 , F . O . 5 8/106 . 36wiseman to Admiral ty , October 1 865 , Adm . 1/5925 .

of mis conduct ' . Howeve r , in response to Gordon ' s argumen t that once islan ders were won over to Christ ianity they be came ck

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faato British subj e cts and , as such , could expect B ri tish protec­tion , 3 7 Wiseman de ci ded to make a token demons tration against the re cal ci trant E rromangans . He threw some she ll into the village of Sifu ( Sufu) - chosen be cause shots had been fire d from there , earlier in the day , at a sounding party from the ship - but he did no t land any troops . 3 8 The lightne ss of the punishment alarme d Gordon who b itterly quest ioned the value of the commodore ' s visit . His las t appearance had simp ly embo ldened the wicked , he wrote , ' My heart is dis tresse d ' . Brenchley note d Gordon ' s fear that the Erromangans would imagine that the navy had done all it coul d , ' which they woul d probab ly find was n o t much ' . 3 9

Wiseman planned t o re turn t o Erromango a t a later date with properly equippe d landing force s to search out and de stroy the villages an d gardens of Fle t cher ' s kille rs . But he never re ceive d the official approval he requeste d . The Foreign Office made it clear that it disapprove d o f action on the Tanna scale which , i t feared , migh t render European life and property even less se cure . Where a Eur opean ' s life was threatene d , s ugge sted Lord Clarendon , he wo uld do well to leave the island . 4 0 In the light of the subsequent developments at Port Resolution , Clarendon ' s caution was j us tifie d . Wi thin a ye ar , Nowar had been humiliated , the teachers had been threatene d , and the Tannese had de clared that they would take Paton ' s life i f he a ttemp ted to resettle on the island . 4 1

The Curaqoa ' s actions at Tanna we re se ized upon by the Sydney press , wi th contemporary writers makin g the episode something of a aause a� �bre to s uppor t the ir various conten tions abo ut mission­ari es , naval officers , traders , islande rs , and even the rel iab ility o f Sydney newspaper editors . On his re turn from the New Heb rides in November Paton found h imsel f ' probab ly the best-ab use d man in all Aus tralia and the very name o f the New Heb rides Miss ion st ink­ing in the nos trils of the People ' • 4 2 Corre spondents to Sydney ' s Empire were particularly vociferous . ' Cornelius Cannon ' suppose d that , once having told a s avage that if he was not hone st and upright he woul d go to the devil , one gained the right to shoot the ras cal if he offended against good mo rals :

3 7Gordon to Wiseman , 25 , 26 Sep tember 1 865 , enclo sure No . S , Wiseman to Admiralty , 16 October 1 865 , F . O . 5 8 / 106 .

3 8wiseman to Admiral ty , 16 October 1 865 , F . O . 5 8 / 106 .

3 9Gor don to Bayne , 2 6 September 1 865 , H . F. R. 1 86 6 : 70 ; Brenchley 187 3 : 30 3-4 .

4 0 F . O . to Admiralty , 26 December 1 865 , F . O . 5 8 / 106 .

4 1 Ge ddie to Bayne , 16 August 1 866 , Mis c . papers . 4 2Paton 19 65 : 29 8 .

16 2

It doe sn ' t do to be gen tle with the se niggers . You must ins is t upon their leaving the ir evil ways , and if they he sitate , you mus t send a b ulle t through them • • • Of course , after you have slaughtered half a do zen or so of the barbarians , the remainder would see , at a glance , the advant age of embracing Chris t ianity .

Other , less ironic , writers comp lained that the true course of Chri s t ian missions was imp eded by those such as Paton , who b uilt their faith upon the holy text of pike and gun . 4 3

Paton s trongly de fended his actions in a le t te r to the Sydney Morrn1:.ng Heriatd on 18 November , in whi ch he emp loyed the same Manichean inte rpretative framework which had characterize d his ye ars o n Tanna . He divided the Tannese in to two opposing camps of Chri s t ian and Heathen , and outline d the lat te r ' s ' pe rse cution of the missionaries , teachers , and nat ive Christians ' :

The native Christ ians trie d to p rote ct us , for whi ch many o f them los t their lives , and the ir villages were b urne d and the ir property plundered for many miles roun d the sta tion . Having thus driven them away , the heathen re turne d and attemp ted to shoot and again to tomahawk me . They b roke in to my s tore , t aking all i t cont aine d , and drove me from the miss ion stat ion ; and after much suffe ring • • • I go t to Mr Mathie son ' s station , from wh i ch , afte r much con t inued s uffering from wan t and pe rse cut ion , we escape d by sh ip , having lost about £ 1000 wor th o f property .

Paton went on to sugge s t that the deaths of Johnston , Mr an d Mrs Matheson an d the ir child re sul te d from the p erse cution they suffered at the hands of the he athen . The Tannese were no t , he stressed , the ' ignorant savages ' as repre sente d by the Empire , but were ' enlightened as to righ t an d wrong ' as the result of his own unstin t ing ins truction . They were not punishe d to force them to re ce ive the gospel . They were punishe d for ' crimes commi tted ' , and to keep them from such in the future . Civil governmen t , stressed Paton , was God ' s ordinance ' for the punish­men t of evildoe rs , and for the promise of them that do we ll ' , and it was the missionary ' s duty to avail himse lf of its pro te c­tion when pos s ib le .

On the basis of Paton ' s le t ter , the Sydney Morning He riatd on the same day commended Wiseman an d the miss ionaries for their course o f action , and added that ' the results of the commodore ' s visit have shewn that the nat ive s app re ciate a re solute disp lay of fo rce ' . Tha t law o f human nature , it asserte d , had not been

4 3Empirie , 24 , 26 October 1 865 ; cf . Empirie , 2 3 , 25 , 26 , 30 Octobe r , 20 , 22 , 25 November 1865 .

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sufficiently taken into account by good men who had sought to benefit the native tribes . Force was ' the ins trument of Providence for human happine ss ' , it editorialize d , and ' the sub j e ction of the weak to the strong ' was no hardship . ' It is the only process by which the weak can participate in that strength , and be come entitled to share in its b lessings ' . In a thinly veiled j ibe at the Empire , the Herald concluded that the adverse criticisms of the Cura9oa ' s proceedings were mis-statements , ' probably wi th a dash o f malicious invent ion ' . 4 4

The Empire hit back , accus ing Paton o f the mis-statements and malic ious invent ion . His let te r of explanation to the He rald was ' a mas s o f inconsequent ial and in many respects con tradictory twaddle ' . In the name o f humani ty the Empire wri ter proteste d against the ' wholesale destruction of life merely for the gratifica­tion of a few sacerdotal hypocrite s who force themselves upon the islanders • . • ' 4 5 In the following months and years other voices were raised against Paton , who was portrayed as an ins incere and ineffectual miss ionary , ' bent on dangerous enterp rises ' who had misled his fellow missionarie s in to a cowardly policy of retalia­tion . 4 6

The suggestion that Paton was ge tting his own b ack on the Tannese for his inglorious departure from the island three and a half years before - which became t he accep te d view among later historians 4 7 - was largely correct . Brenchley , too , was corre ct when he wrote , ' Relying on the pres ume d results o f the intended discipline , Mr . Paton was about to return to Tanna ' . 4 8 But it does not follow from this that Paton was a mere ' sacerdotal hypocrite ' . There is no evidence to indicate that his claim that civil government was God ' s ordinance , ' for the punishment o f evildoe rs , and for the p romise of them that do well ' , was me rely an ex pos t facto rationali zation to cover an ignoble course o f action ; o r that he did n o t s incerely per ceive events on Tanna in terms o f a drawn-out struggle be tween Jehovah and Satan . Paten ' s fundamen tal aim as a miss ionary was the establishment of a godly community in which he controlled both the religious and the se cular aspects of the islanders ' lives , and to this end he was not only prepare d to accep t , but he expecte d , the support of secular ins titutions such as the Royal Navy . As Andrew Symington had declared years be fore , in ' isolated pagan communities ' it was the duty of bot h se cular and religious authorities to ' co-operate

4 4Paton to S . M. H. , 18 November 1 865 ; S .M. H. , 1 8 November 1865 .

4 5Empire , 20 Novembe r 1865 .

4 6H. F. R. 1866 : 31-6 .

4 7Morre ll 1960 : 100 ; Parsonson 195 4 : 6 ; c f . 19 41 : 2 14 ; Docker 19 70 : 39 ; Coates 19 70 : 12 2 .

4 8 Brenchley 1 87 3 : 19 4 .

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in promoting , each in its own sphe re , the glory of God and of Chris t ' . 4 9

This view o f the role o f civil government was repeate d by Inglis in a long le tte r of explanation to the convener of the Foreign Miss ions C ommittee of the Re formed Pre sby terian Church : ' The magistrate is as much the se rvant of God as the miss ionary , and has a work of his own to do : he is inve ste d with the sword to be a terror to evil-doe rs ' . Like Cromwe ll in h is storming o f Drogheda , the commodore was the soldier of God the Just : ' Arme d sol dier , terrible as death , relentless as doom ; doing God ' s j udgements on the enemie s of God ! ' When great crime s and great outrages were committe d by a peop le like the Tannese and Erromang­ans , Ingl is wrote , he for one woul d ' appeal for pmi.ishmen t , signal punishmen t , pmi.ishment that would be felt an d feared for many a year to come ' . Wi th people in their primi tive state of socie ty seve rity was at times a mercy . I t was only te rror , he asserted , which would keep them from evil-doing . 5 0

At the same time , Ingl is contende d that the quest ion o f missionarie s relying on gunb oats f o r pro te ct ion of life and property was stri ctly a civil mat ter which somewhat con tradi cte d his theological argument . Howeve r , i t shoul d be viewe d within the context of the general con tradic tion be tween doct rine an d the real i ty o f s o cial existence which confron te d Re formed Pre sbyte rians everywhere ; and it indi cates that no t even in the far-flmi.g corners of the g lobe coul d that cont radic tion be ignore d . On the b asis o f Inglis ' s le tter , the Foreign Missions Committee exonerate d its miss ionaries from any blame , and unanimously resolved tha t where life or property were endange re d , it was the miss ionary ' s duty t o invoke the pro te c tion to which , as a Brit ish s ubj e c t , he was entitled . 5 1 The commi ttee ' s stand highl ight s the almost comple te in tegrat ion o f Reforme d Presbyterians into the secular body pol i tic by th is time , and the extent to which they had ove rturned their earlier repudiation of the Bri tish Cons titution .

John Ge ddie , who re turne d to the New Heb rides from furlough in Sep tember 1 866 , complained that ' the way in whi ch the Re forme d

4 9A . Symington 1 841 : 46 .

S O ingl is to Kay , 11 De cembe r 186 5 , R. P .M. 1 866 : 181-2 .

S lKay to E di tor of Reforme d Presbyterian Magazine , 12 November 186 6 , R. P. M. 1866 : 45 3 ; cf . Report on Foreign Miss ions , R. P . M. 1 86 6 : 2 71-2 . Be fore the re ce ip t o f Inglis ' s le tte r there were some commi ttee members strongly opposed to Paton and Ingl is ' s involvement wi th the Curaqoa - c f . Ge ddie to Bayne , 2 3 Jmi.e 186 6 , Mis c . pape rs .

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Presbyterian Chur ch has dispose d o f the affair is discreditable and unwo rthy of any body of Chris tian. men . • • ' 5 2 To his mind , the bomb ardmen t - b ase d as i t was on Paton ' s del iberate misrepresenta­tions 5 3 - was one of the mos t humi liating episodes in modern miss ion history . So ant agonistic did he feel towards Paton that he withdrew his conne ction with the Victorian Presbyterian Church when he di scove red that it planned also to take on Paton . 5 4 How­eve r , extreme as Paton ' s use of naval firepower at Tanna was , he was drawn to that ' cruel outrage ' by the same re l igious belie fs and mis s ionary asp irations tha t had mo tivate d Geddie . In his theocratic aim and his readine ss to use the Royal Navy to he lp es tabl ish a scrip tural magistracy on Tanna , Paton had followe d the p re ce dent of Geddie and Ingl is who had striven to ins ti tute over Ane ityum ' a code of laws , frame d on Christ ian princip les ' , a sys tem of gove rnment based on ' the princip les o f magist racy as laid down in S crip ture ' . Both had aspire d to exer cise to tal personal control over the Ane ityumese . Both had active ly worke d for the de claration o f a British p ro te c torate over Ane ityum . Both had wel come d the e f forts of visiting naval officers to do every­thing in the ir power to 's trengthen the hands of the miss ionaries , and elevate their positions in the eye s of the natives ' . 5 5 Paton ' s reasons for wanting to estab l ish a theo cracy on Tanna were no less principle d than Ge ddie ' s . In terms o f his belie f that it was the divinely ordaine d duty o f se cular as we ll as e ccle s ias tical ins titutions to establ ish godly conununi ties on e arth , Paton , like Geddie , was compelled to attemp t to exer cise strict control ove r the islanders . Moreover , his constant threats of gunboat action were cons istent with the ancient Re forme d Pre sbyterian attitude towards civil authority , and the actual use of a man-o f-war -whi ch even Geddie had admitte d could have ' salutary e ffe cts • 5 6 -was but a logical extension o f that att i tude .

Howeve r , as much as the ir ultimate goals coincide d , Geddie ' s method s were fundamentally different from Paton ' s . He prob ab ly was se rious when he de clare d be fore a special mee ting of the Sydney Presbytery that , ' rather than have had anything to do with the Curia�oa ' s vi sit , he would have had his hand burned off in the fire ' • 5 7 The �i f ference be tween the two men is perhaps be st 5 2Ge ddie to Patterson , 29 August 1 86 8 , Mis c . papers . 5 3Ge ddie to Patterson , 14 Sep tember , 13 December 1866 , and McGregor , 22 July 1 86 7 , Mis c . pape rs .

54Ge ddie to Bayn e , 17 Augus t , 1 3 December 1 866 , Mis c . papers . 5 5 Inglis to Bate s , 1 Decembe r 185 3 , R. P. M. 1854 : 76 7 , 30 May 1 855 , R. P .M. 1856 : 2 7 7-8 , 11 July 1854 , R . P . M. 1 855 : 69 - 71 , 9 September 185 6 , R. P. M. 1857 : 1 33 ; Ingl is to Symington 22 January 1852 , R. P . M. 1 85 9 : 296-7 ; Ingl is to Kay , 1 2 November 1859 , R. P. M. 1860 : 240 ; Ge ddie , Diary 13 March 1 85 4 , 30 July , 2 7 November 1 855 .

5 6 Ge ddie to Bayne , 21 Augus t 1 85 8 , Missionary Re gister 1859 : 2 .

5 7Quo ted by Paton (who was present at the mee ting) 1965 : 302 .

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summed up in an address , on the role of the miss ionary , Geddie delivered to the New Heb rides Mis sion Synod in Sep tember 1 86 6 :

There is among mis s ionarie s as we ll as among friends of the Re deeme r ' s cause at home , an unheal thy appe t i te for immediate and startling re sults , and when these are not real i ze d depre ssion follows . A lit tle re flection will help to co rre ct this error . The extension of the gospe l is opposed by ob stacles nume rous and immense , which omnipotence alone can remove . It has to en co un te r national antipa thies and prej udice s ; it mee ts with difficul t ies arising from differen ce of climate , of colour , o f language and of hab i ts . It has to contend with sys tems of super­s tition rendere d venerab le by the ir antiquity . And above all it mee ts with the natural enmity of the human heart , rendered st ill more inve te rate by the deb asing inf luen ce s of heathenism . I t i s unreasonable t o expe ct that the heathen will always cast their idol s to the moles and the bats at the sound of the gospel even when we can speak in telligibly to them . 5 8

The missionary who preside d over such a flock , Ge ddie ob se rved wi th pointe d re fe ren ce to Paton , nee de d much tenderne ss , much patien ce and much care .

The bomb ardment of Port Re solution in 1 865 was the most momentous episode in Paten ' s life . It gaine d him bitter enemies among former friends , and i t made h im an obj e ct o f s corn and ri di cule in Bri tain , Canada and the Aus tral ian colonie s . It ended his miss ionary asso ciat ion wi th Tanna : the principal digni tary at Port Re solution warned that i f he se t foot on the is land again he wo ul d be killed5 9 and , confron te d by the ' de cide d opposit ion ' of all his colleagues apar t from Ingl is , h e was despatched to the l ittle island of Aniwa . 6 0 With i ts t iny popula­t ion already largely christ ianize d by nat ive teachers , Aniwa offered li t tle challenge to a man who thrive d on conflict and oppos it ion . For a while Paton toye d with the idea of re-occupying Tanna de spite the synod decis ion - he even contemplated taking advant age of the pre sence of H . M . S . Brisk in August 1866 to make his triumphant re turn ! 6 1 Once more he was Christ ian on his lonely pilgrimage through hostile territory . The newspaper opposit ion was part of a Unitarian consp iracy ; Geddie ' s head had been ' turned ' by the tide of abuse ; and the ' sent imen tal Chris t ians '

5 8 New Hebrides Mis s ion Synod , Minute s , September 1 866 .

5 9 Geddie to Bayne , 16 Augus t 1866 , Mis c . pape rs . 6 0 Paton , Notebooks . 6 1 Ingl is to Kay , 22 Augus t 1 865 , R. P. M. 186 6 : 62 ; Paton to Kay , 21 Augus t 1866 , R. P . M. 1 86 7 : 15 -1 8 , 8 July 186 7 , R. P . M. 1 86 8 : 59 ; Mrs Pat on to he r sister , November 1 86 7 , R. P . M. 1 86 8 : 262 .

at home simply did not appre ciate the need for a show o f force among the ' natives ' . ' God ' s people are s t ill belie d ' , he later wrote , ' and the mul titude are s ti ll as ready as ever to cry "Crucify ! Cruci fy ! " ' 6 2

16 7

6 2Paton to Kay , 21 Augus t 1 866 , R. P. M. 1867 : 1 6 -18 ; Paton 1965 : 302-4 .

Chap ter 9

Variations on a theme 186 5-1 874

For the Tannese as much as for Paton the Curaqoa affair had a profound effect . Pe rhaps Tom Harri s s on overs t ated the case with his claim that it marke d a t urn in g point in New Heb ridean history towards ' of fic ial backing for whi tes , and re cognize d compul sion of natives ' , 1 but the re are many Tanne se today who woul d support his view . Along with the death of Gaskin in 1851 and the miss ionary Bell ' s refusal in 1941 to allow John Frum followers into church , because they ' smel t worse than pigs ' , 2 the navy ' s action in 1865 has come to symbolize the characteris t ic arrogance and ignoran ce of the European . At the time , the bel ie f tha t the navy woul d not hesi tate t o use force t o pro te ct British interests encouraged a new wave of traders an d , for the first t ime , planters to set tle on Tanna . More re gular vis i ts by men-of­war muted what native opposit ion there was to the miss ion . This encourage d the new missionaries to suppose that they were making he adway against heathenism - that Tanna mifit ye t be come the hub for the conversion of the wes te rn Pacific .

In the de cade after 1865 there were nine vis i ts to Tanna by British gunboats . 4 Capt ain Hope se t the patte rn of con tact when he called at Port Resolut ion in Augus t 1 86 6 to ' show the native s that Bri tish subj e c ts are being looke d after ' . His dis covery

l Harrisson 19 37 : 13 7 .

2 Told to author around Port Resolut ion in 19 75 and 19 7 7 . Cf . J . Bell , ' Report fo r Synod 1941 ' , App . E . , Guiart 1956 : 411-15 .

3 Neilson to Kay , 2 3 June 186 9 , R. P . M. 186 9 : 41 3 ; Foreign Miss ions Committee 1 871 Report , R. P . M. 1871 : 2 83 .

4 August 1 866 , H . M . S . Brisk , Cap tain Hope ; July 186 7 , H . M . S . Falcon , Cap tain Blake ; August 186 8 , H . M . S . Chal lenger , Commo dore Lambert ; March 1 86 9 , H . M . S . Rosario , Cap tain Palmer ; January 1872 , H . M . S . Rosario , Captain Markham; Sep tember 1872 , H . M . S . Basi lisk , Captain Moresby ; c . October 1873 , H . M . S . Suck ling , L t . Renard ; c . De cember 187 3 , H . M . S . Blanche , Cap tain. Simpson ; April 1875 , H . M . S . Pearl , Commodore Goo denough .

16 8

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that Tannese had ' entirely change d the ir tone towards fore igne rs ' 5 is hardly surprising , given the popular view at the harb our tha t i t was now dangerous to touch whi te men , ' as vengeance would certainly be exacted by a man-of-war ' . 6 Two years afte r Hope , Commodo re Lambert confirmed that E uropeans ' had no cause o f complain t of any s o r t against the nat ives ' - a s tate of affairs which the very presence of men such as himself had he lped bring abou t . Mos t of the miss ionarie s were del ighted wi th the increased naval p resence . As John Ingl is commente d after the visit of Cap tain Mo resby in 1872 : ' I t is a matter o f great encouragement to us in this Mission , to find so many of the cap tains of H . M. ships of war in the se Seas • . • hearty in the ir approval and s upport o f mis sionary e fforts • • • ' 7

Traders , too , were encourage d by the presence o f gunboats . Within days of the Curaqoa ' s action at Port Res olut ion , the crew o f the trading brig Curlew fel t emb ol dene d enough to take on wate r at Black Beach wi thout making the cus tomary payment to the chiefs . But the people on that s i de of the island had not ye t heard of the bombardmen t and one young seaman , Wil liam Peacock , paid for the cheat with his life . 8 At Port Re solution the re cont inued to be the o dd cl ash - ove r paymen t for services , or the re cruitment of unwill ing labourers 9 - b ut given the volume of traf fi c , Tannese­trader relations were remarkably ordere d .

The Tannese endeavour to avo i d con fron tation with Europeans encourage d a number of t raders to take up res idence on the islan d . Early i n 186 6 , two Englishmen se ttle d near Nowar ' s village on the e as t s ide of the harbour to collect s ulphur and make co conut oil . They reporte d to Cap tain Hope in Augus t 186 6 that in s ix months they had not been in any way troub le d by the nat ive s . 1 0 By July 186 8 the re were stations on b oth the eas t and wes t sides of the bay and the number of re sident t raders had grown to four . 1 1

5Inglis to Kay , 24 August 186 6 , R . P . M. 1867 : 12 ; Hope to Wiseman , 5 Sep tembe r 1 86 6 , Adm. 1 /5969 .

6 Neilson t o Kay , 2 3 June 1 86 9 , R. P . M. 1869 : 41 3 .

7Lamber t t o Adm . , 9 Sep tember 186 8 , Adm. 1 / 605 4 ; Ingl is to Kay , 24 October 1872 , R. P. M. 187 3 : 9 7 .

8Unde rwood to Brisk , 1 7 August 186 6 , enc losed in Hope to Wiseman , 5 September 186 6 , Adm . 1/5969 .

9 Inglis , ' The slave trade in the New Heb rides ' , R . P . M. 1869 : 10 3 ; Neilson to Kay , 1 9 August 1871 , R. P . M. 1872 : 5 8-9 .

1 0 Hope to Wiseman , 5 Sep tember 186 6 , Adm . 1/596 9 ; Inglis to Kay , 2 June 1866 , R. P. M. 186 6 : 418 .

1 1Ne ilson to Kay , 26 Augus t 186 8 , R. P. M. 1869 : 6 7 ; Ingl is , Extrac ts from Journal o f a Voyage in the ' Dayspring ' , 1 , 2 4 July 1 86 8 , R. P. M. 186 9 : 66 , 128 ; Ne ilson to Kay , 8 Oc tober 186 8 , R. P . M. 1869 : 14 3 .

1 70

Another s tat ion was establ ished in September 186 8 at the head of the bay and muske ts were the currency for trade in sulphur and p igs . I t was se t up by Charles ( Charl ie ) Hyde , an Ame rican who had be gun trading in coconut oil at the north end o f Tanna in 1866 . Be fore that he had be en on Erromango and Santo for a number of ye ars . He was often emp loyed as an interpreter by lab our re cruite rs , and he had been burn t out at north Tanna by the ' enrage d ' kinsmen of a boy he had sold to a passing blackb irde r . Early in 186 9 Hyde was rep orte d t o b e working for ' some o f the wh ite men ' on Tanna. By that t ime there were two trading stations on the we s t side of Port Re solution , wi th two Europeans in each , as well as an unknown number on the eas t . Another s tation , wh ich spe c ialize d in purchasing sulphur colle cte d from the vol cano , was opene d on the wes t bank during 1 8 70 by an agen t of Cap tain Ashmore of the s choone r Sea Witah . 12 Ab out the same t ime , t raders estab ­lished s tations at Kwame ra and Black Be ach , and be gan a more s ustained trading contac t wi th relat ive ly llll touche d parts of the island , such as Waisisi to the north of Port Re solut ion . 1 3

Life for most trade rs was spartan and o ften lonely and , even when the nat ives were quiet , not wi thout risk . In De cember 1872 , a young Melbourne man in charge o f one of the trading s tations at the harb our died from te tanus after accidentally shoot ing himse l f i n the leg while drllllk . According to Thomas Ne ilson , missionary at the harbour , he belonge d to a family of high s ocial pos ition in England which had taken a dis tinguishe d place in the political and li terary world of the Uni ted S tates . Le ft an orphan at an early age , he had inhe rite d a small f ortune when he came of age all of which he had squande re d by the time he was twen ty-four , when he j oine d a Me lb ourne syndi cate to colonize Tanna . 1 4 There were othe r traders of whom the mi ssionaries spoke favourab ly , 1 5 but gene ral ly the y were lumpe d toge ther wi th the like s of Charlie Hyde and Ross Lewin , as go dless rogues .

l 2Neilson to Kay , 25 De cember 186 8 , R. P. M. 1 869 : 29 7 ; Ne ilson to S teel , 6 February 1869 , R. P. M. 1 869 : 3 7 8 ; McNair to Lambert , 22 Oc tobe r 1 86 8, Parliarrentary Pape rs 1 86 8-69 XLIII : 20 ; Extracts from S. M. H . , 23-2 8 J\llle 1 869 , Parliamentary Pape rs 1 8 71 XLVI I I : l9-22 ; Palme r to Lambe r t , 5 April 1869 , Parliamentary Papers 1 871 XLVI I I : 86 ; Ne ilson to Kay , 23 June 1 869 , R. P. M. 1 869 : 41 3 ; Wawn , n . d . : 25 . 1 3copeland to Kay , 20 Novembe r 186 8 , R. P. M. 1 869 : 1 81 ; Ne ilson to Kay , 11 De cembe r 1 8 71 , R. P. M. 1872 : 2 1 0- 1 1 , 4 Ma rch l 8 75 , R. P. M. 1875 : 2 80 . 1 4Nei lson to Kay , 2 3 December 1 8 72 , R. P . M. 1873 : 331 ; cf . Campbell 1873 : 1 72 . 1 5Paton to Stee l , 19 De cembe r 1 8 70 , S . M. H . , 13 February 1 8 71 , rep rin te d in Parliamentary Papers 1 871 XLVI I I : 5 8 ; Gray t o Col . Se ct . Queensland , 6 Ap ril 1 8 71 , Parliamentary Papers 1 8 71 XLVI I I : 68 .

1 71

The notorious Ros s Lewin - one o f his les ser crimes was the ab duction and rape of a Tannese girl aboard a re cruitment vessel - had se t himself up as a planter on Tanna ' s we st coas t sometime in the 1 860s , poss ibly as e arly as 186 3 . 1 6 Wi thin months of the Cura9oa ' s bombardment of Port Resolution in 1865 anothe r old-time trade r , a cer tain Fit zpatrick , began cul tivat ing cotton and cof fee at Black Beach . 1 7 By early 1 8 71 ' a good many ' E uropeans , incl uding the syndicate of young Melbourne men who planne d to colonize the island , were s imilarly emp loyed on the wes t coas t . Though they dreamed o f setting themselve s up in grand colonial s ty le , in reality they share d the cramped and mean condit ions of t he eas t coas t traders . 1 8 In the middle of the year mos t o f the se ttlers le ft af ter two membe rs o f the Melb ourne syndicate were killed when they los t their way while travelling to a ne ighbo uring plantat ion . Only Ros s Lewin and a Mr Morrison , manager for the well known inter-is land trader Cap tain Macleod, s taye d on, relying for pro te ct ion on the ir large bodies of importe d labourers . Morrison s oon after me t his death and Lewin was sho t - though it would seem not killed - early in 1874 . 1 9

While men l ike Lewin and Morrison were impor ting lab oure rs from other islands 2 0 to tend thei r co tton and co ffee , planters in Queensland, Fij i and New Caledonia were re crui ting Tannese and other New Hebrideans to work on their plantations . The practice had begun in the e arly 1 860s wi th the Tanne se quickly gaining a reputation as good wo rkers - wonderfully strong , b ut at the same time do cile an d affectionate . 2 1 In 186 3 Lewin was engaged by Robert Towns , Sydney merchan t and member of the N . S .W . Le gislative

1 6 Towns to Luin (sic) , 29 May 1 86 3 , Towns to Grueber , 29 July 1 86 3 , Parliamentary Papers 186 7-6 8 XLVII : 2-3 ; Governor Blackall to Earl of Granville , 9 July 1 869 , Parliamentary Papers 1 8 71 XLVIII : 2 ; Extract from S . M. H . 9 February 1 869 , ParliaJ118ntary Papers 186 8-69 XLIII : S O ; Extracts from S. M. H. 2 3-2 8 June 1 869 , ParliaJ118ntary Papers 1871 XLVI II : l6 ; Palmer to Lambe rt , 5 April 1 869 , Parlia­mentary Papers 1871 XLVIII : 86-7 ; Anon . 1 8 70 : 194 . 1 7westwood 1905 : 15 . 1 8Neilson to Kay , 19 August 1 871 , R. P. M. 1872 : 5 7-8 ; Goodenough 1876 : 2 80 ; S tee l , ' New Hebrides Mi ssion ' , R. P. M. 1874 : 408 ; Paton to Kay , 1 July 1 874 , R. P. M. 1875 : 19 ; Moresby 1 8 76 : 114-16 ; We stwood 1905 : 12- 1 8 . 1 9watt to Kay n . d . , R. P . M. 1872 : 36 ; Neilson to Kay , 11 De cember 1871 , R. P. M. 1 872 : 21 3 ; Steel , ' New Hebrides Miss ion ' , R. P. M. 1874 : 40 8 ; Paton to Kay , 1 July 1 874 , R. P. M. 1875 : 19 ; E . Daville , La colonisation franyaise aux Nouve l le s-Hebride.s , 9 4 , cite d in O ' Reilly 1957 : 25 9 . 2 0Watt to Kay , 26 De cembe r 1871 , R. P. M. 1872 : 2 14 ; Goodenough 1876 : 2 7 9 ; Westwood 1905 : 19 . 2 1 Eden 1 8 72 : 313 , 326- 7 .

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Council , to recrui t islanders for his cotton plantation at Towns­vale , about forty miles from Brisb ane on the Logan Rive r . He b ro ught in s ixty islanders , chie fly from Tanna , E fate , Malekula and Erroman go . 2 2 The vent ure was a financial success , and by 4 March 1 86 8 , when the Queensland Act to "Pegulate and control the introduction and t"Peatment of Polynesia:n laboU"Pers came into operation , there were 2 44 Tanne se registere d as inden ture d lab our­ers in that colony . By the end of the year the ir numbe r had grown to about 3 30 , and over the next seven ye ars anothe r 7 79 we re registere d as entering Queenslan d . During the same perio d ab out 425 were repatriated to Tanna - sometimes to the wrong s t re t ch of coas t which could mean death on the spo t . 2 3

Fij i als o att racted Tannese labourers . There were pos s ib ly for ty working on co tton plantations there by October 1865 , and between November o f that year an d November 186 8 , 562 Tannese worke rs were importe d . 2 4 In the lat te r year , a number of Tannese were reporte d kille d and eaten by Fij ians re sentful of land alienation , after which the Tannese were ( unders tandably) re luc­tant to re cruit to Fij i . 2 5 Figures for New Caledonia are more difficult to come by , though early in 186 9 Cap tain Palmer of H . M . S . Rosario note d that forty-nine natives of Tanna and E fate were labouring on a sugar plantation of M. Joubert , ab out f ifteen miles from Noumea . The numbers re cruite d from Tanna an d surround­ing islan ds went on rising into the 1880 s and did not fall s igni fi­cantly until the 1 890s . 2 6 One re sult of the b urgeoning traffic was the in crease d naval surve illance of the region af te r 186 6 , as missionaries agitate d for the control of the new slave trade . 2 7

22Towns to Luin (sic) , 29 May 1 86 3 , Towns to Grueber , 2 9 July 186 3 , Parliamentary Papers 186 7-6 8 XLVI I : 2- 3 ; Eden 1872 : 313-14 . 2 3Neilson to Kay , 2 8 October 187 4 , R. P. M. 1875 : 14 8 ; figures compiled from Parliamentary Papers 1 86 8-69 XLIII , 1871 , XLVIII , 1873 L , 1877 LXI .

24Parliamentary Papers 1871 XLVI I I : 9 7-9 ; cf . Thurston to Earl o f Belmore , 17 January 186 9 , Parliamentary Papers 186 8-69 XLIII : l6 . 25Queensland At torney General to the Governor , 1 3 April 186 9 , Parliamentary Papers 186 8-69 XL I I I : l6 . 26Palmer to Lambert , 22 March 1 86 9 , Parliamantary Papers 1871 XLVI II : 84 ; c f . Coath to Immigration Office r , 15 March 1 871 , Parliamantary Papers 1871 XLVII I : ll4 ; Parnaby 196 4 : 2 82 . 2 7cf . Pe tition of Presbyte rian mis s ionaries to Earl o f Belmore , 7 Sep tember 186 7 , Parliamentary Papers 1867-6 8 XLVI I : 2 8- 30 ; O ' Connell to Earl o f Kimberley , 20 March 1871 , Parliamantary Papers 1871 XLVIII : S0-61 ; Palme r to Lambert , 5 April 1869 , Parliamentary Papers 1871 XLVIII : 85-9 ; Kay 1872 : passim.

One of the statmche st opponents of blackb irding was the miss ionary Thomas Ne ilson who succee de d Paton on Tanna in 1 86 8 . He had come out from Scotland in 1 86 6 ab oard the same ve ssel as John Ge ddie who was returning from furlough in Canada. During

173

the voyage he courted Lucy Geddie whom he marrie d when the ship reached Melb ourne . 2 8 They reache d the New Heb rides in September 1 86 6 by which time Geddie , the age ing patriarch o f the mis sion , had decide d that his daughter and new son-in-law sho ul d be the ones to re-o ccupy Port Resolution . Though appointe d by the mis sion synod to Havannah Harbour , Efate , Ne ilson stayed on with Ge ddie at Ane ityum , st udying the Kwamera language and waiting a ' call ' from Tanna . 2 9 The call was slow in coming and unenthus iast ic when it did eventually come . Though two Ane i tyumese te achers had been placed at the harbour in November 1 865 - j oine d by a third in 1 86 7 - t he ir e fforts were confined to Nowar ' s family . An ou tbreak of dysente ry in the first hal f of 1 86 7 b rought forth threats against them , and even Nowar de s isted from his customary appeal s for a European miss ionary . 3 0 Finally , when Nouka - now the principal yani en de te at the harbour and b it te rly anti­mis sion since the bomb ardmen t of his village in 1 865 31 - gave his consent for Geddie ' s son-in-law to be se ttle d , his people demurred, and wi th a mixture of wit an d re sen tment remonstrate d loudly :

One s aid , ' Suppo se missionary come here , white man go away , whe re man Tanna ge t tob acco ? ' Another , 0Suppose miss ionary come he re , he want man Tanna put on clothes ; no good man Tanna he wear clo the s ; very good wh ite man he wear clothes , al l the same as you . Look at that man (pointing to an Ane ityumese , who was not ve ry neatly dre ssed) , he no look well : look at that man (pointing to a st rapping Tanna man in puPis natuPalibus ) , he look well , he no want clothes . ' A third , ' Look here , Tanna man he laz y , he plenty lazy , he no like work , he like walk about . Suppose missionary come here , he say , Very good man he work ; no ve ry good woman do all the work ; man Tanna he lazy , he plen ty lazy . " A fourth , ' Suppose miss ionary come he re , he say , Very good man Tanna keep only one woman ; man

2 8Miller 19 75 : 35 1-2 .

2 9 New Hebrides Mis sion Synod Minute s , 1 8 Sep tember 1 86 6 ; Ingl is to Kay , 24 September 1867 , Ne il son to Kay , 17 September 1 86 7 , R. P. M. 186 8 � 56 ; cf . 17 January 1 86 7 , R . P . M . 1 867 : 6 3 , 2 5 7 . 3 0 rngl is to Kay , 2 June 1 86 6 , R. P.M. 1866 : 41 7 ; ' Pro ceedin gs of the Annual Meeting of the Missionaries at Ane ityum , New Heb ride s ' , R. P. M. 186 8 : 125 ; Ne ilson to Kay , 1 7 January , 1 8 July 1 86 7 , R. P. M. 1 86 7 : 25 7, 450 , 1 7 September 1 86 7 , R. P. M. 1868 : 6 3 ; Inglis to Kay , 19 July 1 86 7 , R. P. M. 1 86 7 : 446 .

3 1Miller 1975 : 2 94-5 .

1 74

Tanna he no like that , he like to have two , three , four woman . ' A fi fth , ' Suppo se mis s i onary come here , man Tanna go work for him, he give him calico (making bel ieve to tear off a bit of calico , and to hand it wi th a contemptuous ges ture) ; man Tanna he no want calico , he want tobacco , and p owder , and muske t . What for mis s ionary no keep t obacco ? ' A s ixth , ? What for Mr Paton bring man-of-war he re , figh t man Port Reso lution . Mr Paton come here make p len ty good talk , then he go away make plenty bad talk , b ring man-of -war here , figh t man Port Res olution ; man Port Res olution no fi ght Mr Paton , man be long a bush he come fight Mr Paton . Supp os e mis s ionary come here , man b ush he come make figh t , he come burn hous e belong a mis s ionary , mis sionary he go away bring man-of-war he no figh t bush , he figh t man belong a Port Res olution - you go away , man Tanna he no want mis sionary . 1 3 2

By May 186 8 the teachers had been force d to leave the harbour , and Neilson had come to accept that i t was his lo t to s e t tle further no rth . 3 3

FJn route to his Efate pos t in October 186 8 , Neilson heard from the two teache rs at Umairarekar that , with Nowar in the ascendancy over Nouka , Port Res o lution migh t at las t be re-opene d . 3 4 I t wo uld seem that many of Nouka ' s s upporters had been driven inland and then to Kwamera , 3 5 though the mis s ionaries - as usual cas t ing the i s lander in a pass ive role - put the change down to the death of a trader who had been living at the harb our for two years doing all in his power ' to exci te the natives against us ' . 3 6 Turning h i s back on Havannah Harb our , Nei lson headed for Port Res olution whe re he took on a large party of the principal men -incl uding Nowar and Nouka - to vis i t Aneityum. At Inglis ' s s tation they were lavishly feted and as s ured by a leading

3 2Neils on to Kay , 30 November 186 7 , R . P . M. 1 86 8 : 1 2 7-8 ; cf . Miller 19 75 : 300 . 3 3Fourth Annual Rep ort of the Voyages of the mis s ion ship ' Day­spring ' . . . 1 86 7 , R. P.M. 1869 : 1 20 ; Inglis , Ext racts from Journal of a Voyage in the ' Daysp ring ' , 4 Augus t 186 8 , R. P . M. 186 9 : 1 30 ; Nei l s on to Kay , 29 May 186 8 , R. P . M. 186 8 : 36 8 ; Inglis to Kay , 30 July 1 86 8 , R. P. M. 1869 : 19-20 . 3 4Inglis , Extrac ts from Journal of a Voyage in the ' Dayspring ' , 30 June 1 868 , R. P. M. 1869 : 65 . 3 5copeland to Kay, 20 November 18 71 , R. P . M. 1 8 7 2 : 215 ; cf . Neilson to Kay , 11 December 18 71 , R. P. M. 1872 : 21 2 . 3 6 Neils on to Kay , 26 Augus t 186 8 , R. P .M. 186 9 : 6 7 ; Inglis , Extracts from Journal of a Voyage in the ' Daysp ring ' , 1 July 186 8 , R. P . M. 1869 : 6 6 ; cf . Ing lis to Kay , 5 De cembe r 186 8 , R. P . M. 1869 : 1 78-9 .

1 75

Ane i tyumes e chief that they ' neve r had so much food he re as we have now , when we are all Christians . I t wi ll be the same wi th you, i f you give up your heathenism • • • ' . 3 7 In agreeing to ac cept Neilson , Nouka and his s upporters might als o have been impressed by two Bri tish gunboats then at Anei tyum, one of whi ch was about to depar t for Tanna . For Nowar , who seems to have use d the teachers at his village as intermediaries to se cure peace wi th neighbouring tribesmen , 3 8 a res ident European missionary presented a further opportunity to extend his authority through peaceful means . 3 9 Nei lson los t no time in erec ting a small , temporary co ttage at Nowar ' s vi llage of S amoa , to be replaced with a grander affair at the head of the b ay , on Nouka ' s land , when the peop le there were all ' soft in their hear ts ' . 4 0

Like Paton , a Re formed Presbyterian , Neilson wrote of his p roper place as a Came ronian being at the ' fore-front of the bat tle • . . against the high p lace s of heathenism ' • 4 1 But unl ike his p redecessor , Neilson did not let Manichean rhe tori c rule his relations with the heathen . His app roach was to accept the Tannese - ' an active and energe tic race beyond the average in these seas ' 4 2 - as they were and to feel , rather than force , his way . ' Tanna is Tanna still ' , he wro te j us t after his se t tlement , ' and one would nee d a hopeful sp irit to see much prospe ct o f any spee dy change for the be tter ' . He would not force them to wear clo thes , to give up tobacco , to work , or to have only one wife , until they themselves wan ted to do so . 4 3 Even wi th the traders resident in the bay he adopted a con ci liatory and accommodating approach . While he protes ted agains t their practice of selling firearms and ammuni tion to the Tannese , he accep te d that if they did no t , others would . 44 But on the issue of ' b lackbirding ' he was dogmatic and inflexib le , exp os ing at eve ry opportunity the fraud and dep redations of the traffic in bodies . 4 5

3 7 Inglis to Kay , 30 July 1 86 8 , R. P .M. 1869 : 20 ; Inglis , Extracts from Journal of a Voyage in the ' Daysp ring ' , 4 Augus t 186 8 , R. P . M. 186 9 : 1 30 .

3 8cf . Neilson to Kay , 25 December 186 8 , R. P . M. 1869 : 300 .

3 9c f . Ne ils on to Kay , 26 Augus t 1 86 8 , R. P . M. 1869 : 69 .

4 0Neilson to Kay , 26 Augus t 1 86 8 , R. P.M. 1869 : 6 7 .

4 1 Neilson to Binnie , 8 December 1871 , R. P . M. 1872 : 1 70 .

4 2Ne ilson to Kay , 1 7 Sep tembe r 1 86 7 , R. P . M. 1868 : 6 4 .

4 3Ne ilson to Kay , 30 November 1 86 7 , R . P . M. 1868 : 128 , 1 3 November 1 86 8 , R. P . M. 1 869 : 2 30 .

4 4Ne ilson to Kay , 8 October , 25 Decembe r 1 86 8 , R . P . M. 1869 : 143 , 298-30 2 , 2 3 June 1 869 , R. P . M. 1869 : 414 , 23 December 1872 , R. P . M. 187 3 : 331 ; Neilson to S tee l , 6 Feb ruary 1 869 , R. P . M. 1869 : 3 79 .

4 5Cf . Annual Conference of the New Hebri des Mis s ion , R. P . M. 1871 : 101-2 .

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With his more even and accommodating temperament , Neilson fared be tter than his predecessors in his relations with the Tannese . Eventually he was to leave Port Resolution wi thout a single convert to his credit , but the mere fact that he lasted for fi fteen ye ars4 6 is tes timony enough to his s trength as a missionary . At the same time , he was able to las t that period because the Tannes e had a use for him , not leas t of all as a healer and a peacemake r .

Almos t as soon as he had settled the re , the harbour was troubled by three and a half months of inter-trib al fighting seemingly as s erious as that which had led to Paten ' s flight seven years before . According to Neilson , ten people were killed , twenty-six s everely wounded , seven villages razed b y fire and a great many gardens des troyed . During the war Neilson was allowed to move freely among the combatants , ' attending to the wounde d , and using any lit tle influence I had on the side o f peace and mercy ' . In part the ' any lit tle influence ' was due to the general fear that to oppose the missionary would be to invite gunboat retaliation . 4 7 But , as wel l , Neilson was perfectly p laced for the role of intermediary : he lived with Nowar , who was not himsel f involved in the fighting , and by avoiding his p rede cessor ' s habit of interp reting every dispute as centred on himself , with the parties necessarily ei ther pro or anti the mission , he was accep t­able to all . The fighting was b rought to a close early in 1869 when the beaten party4 8 was banishe d for four years ' to the interior of the island' . In sharing out the spoils of war , each o f the victorious chie fs put a trading s tation under his own pro tection - i . e . control - b ut , signifi cantly , Neilson was put ' under the pro tec tion of all ' .

Neilson es timated that during the war one third of his time was taken up with attending to the wounded . Even in times o f peace , much o f his day was spent i n caring f o r gunshot wounds -one ointment he devised was ' perfe ctly success ful ' in keeping down maggots , broken limbs , and even chronic headache . 4 9 Among those who s ought me dical help were Nepikinamarre, NePaimene, Yanekahi and KasePumene tribesmen . But given the Tannese bel ief that the person bes t able to cure sickness was the one who had caused it , 5 0 a reputation as a p owerful healer was a doub le-edge d

4 6Miller 19 75 : 35 2 .

4 7Neilson to Kay , 23 June 1869 , R. P. M. 1869 : 4 1 1 -1 3 .

4 8According to Neilson , comprising 800-1000 people , occupying an area of 5 miles by 10 .

4 9Neilson to Kay , 25 De cembe r 1 86 8 , R. P.M. 1869 : 299-30 3 ; Neilson to Stee l , 6 February 186 9 , R. P. M. 1869 : 3 79 ; Neils on to Kay , 2 3 June 186 9 , R. P. M. 1 86 9 : 411 , 1 9 Augus t 1 8 71 , R . P . M. 1872 : 5 6 .

5 0c f . Lindstrom n . d .

1 7 7

sword . I n the se cond hal f o f 1 8 7 1 an outbreak o f what Neilson though t was diphtheria carried off ' ab out a ten th of the popula­tion ' around the bay including s uch prominent men as Nouk.a and Mahana , and raised the old spe ctre of the mission bringing disease . Be cause some who had been taking Nei lson ' s medicines for o ther complaints die d - s uch as Nouka who had been taking medicine for a chronic headache - it was feared around the harbour that the medicine had caused the s i cknes s . 5 1 Among those farther inland, 5 2 it was felt that Nei ls on and the harbour dwe llers wi th whom he lived were practising s orcery agains t them. In Octobe r , with the ' inland natives . • • threa tening t o come down and force thos e around us to take to their canoes , and migrate to some o ther part o f Tanna or to Aniwa ' , Nei lson wen t to an inland village and tried to reas on with the peop le by showing them ' the folly of the ir i deas about witchcraf t , and how the issues of life and death ar e in the hands of God alone ' . 5 3 Coming from God ' s own representative , the folly would seem to have been Neilson ' s . Possibly the villagers interpre te d i t as a threat of further mischief for they readily agreed to a ' general re conciliat ion ' . When he re turne d to the harb our , Nei lson made arrangement s for a feas t to confirm the peace . The feas t was also used to ce leb rate Nowar ' s marriage - the fi rs t on Tanna according to Chris tian rites - an d the comp let ion of the new mission house - on Nowar ' s land , like the old one - whi ch would have confirmed for the inland gues ts that Nei lson had indeed allied himself with Nowar and his followers .

I t is like ly that Ne ilson was re garded as a s orcerer even by the people among whom he lived . On one oc cas ion the inhab itan ts of a ' ne arby village ' allowe d a young widow , who had spurne d the advances of the i r yeremwa:nu , to be killed . Af ter being condenmed by Neilson ' as s t rongly as I had done in my life to any body ' , the villagers were ' afrai d les t s ome j udgement shoul d fal l upon them' from which i t might be ass umed that Neilson had th reatened them with divine re trib ution . The next day the man who had kille d the woman was suddenly taken dangerously ill which ' was regarde d b y all a s a j udgement upon him for h i s crime , and [ it ] had a very salutary e f fe c t upon the people ' . 5 4

5 1 Neilson to Kay , 1 9 Augus t 1871 , R. P . M. 1872 : 56-9 ; ' The work of the " Daysp ring" ' , R. P . M. 1872 : 176 .

5 2Which in this ins tance , for wha t i t is wor th , Neilson computed at about two miles from the mission s tation . Ne ilson to Kay , 11 Decembe r 1871 , R. P. M. 187 2 : 20 8 .

5 3Ne ilson to Kay , 19 Augus t , 11 December 1871 , R. P . M. 1872 : 5 8 , 208 .

5 4Neilson to Kay , 2 3 De cember 1 8 7 2 , R. P . M. 1873 : 330 .

1 7 8

The si tuation was much the same at Matheson ' s o l d s tation near Kwamera , where ano ther Re forme d Presbyterian , William Wat t , and his wi fe , had settled in 1869 . 5 5 Soon af ter Matheson had quit his stat ion in January 1862 , ' several epi demics ' had carried off the people ' in twos and threes daily ' , whi ch the Tannese interpreted as punishmen t from God for their ' very bad conduct ' . When Wat t settled among them the people s tood in dread of doing some thing ' to spoil the worship ' , les t they be vis i ted with another disease . Like Neilson , Wat t was able to e ffe ct s ome seemingly miraculous cures with s imp le me di cines , even on some who had been prepared for burial ; and he always endeavoured to point his patients ' to the great Physician who alone is ab le to raise up , in whom they ought to t rus t , and who is ab le as he is willing to save both soul and body ' . 5 6

Such statemen ts b o th fas cinated and frigh tene d the Tannese . From the time of Ne ils on and Watt ' s settlement they had feared that the miss ionary would bring s ickness and dea th among them, 5 7 and with each new outbreak of disease - feve r and ague , p leurisy , consump tion , dysentery , diph the ria - the re was a fal l-off at religious services . 5 8 As in the pas t , the Tannese appear to have been torn be tween appeasing the miss ionary and his powerful god , and rep udiating him t o make amends wi th the ir traditional gods . Overshadowing the di lennna was the fear of naval re taliation if ei the r missionary were hur t , or even thre atene d .

Watt openly acknowle dge d tha t any progress he enj oyed at Kwamera was related to the local be lie f tha t his word carrie d considerable weight with the Bri t ish authorities . For Neilson ' s part , from the start he had p ressed for a s trong naval p resence to cur t ail the act ivi ties of the blackb irders . In addi tion his close association with the commanders of gunb oats who came to inves tigate his comp laints would have been public knowledge around the harbour . 5 9 His in terventionis t s tance took on a new dimension in 187 7 when he assis te d a naval inve s tigation into

5 5 rnglis to Kay , 16 July 1869 , R. P . M. 1869 : 40 7 ; Neilson to Kay , 23 June 1 869 , R. P. M. 1869 : 4 14 -16 .

56Le t ter from Mrs Wat t , 28 August 1 87 2 , R. P . M. 187 3 : 9 3 ; Wat t to Kay , 20 October 1 870 , R. P . M. 1871 : 1 70 ; Wat t to [Kay ? ] , 25 Augus t 1876 , F. C. S. M. R. 1877 : 65 .

5 7c f . Miller 1975 : 300 .

5 8watt to Kay , 10 March 18 70 , R. P . M. 1870 : 35 3 , 3 April 1871 , R. P. M. 1871 : 449 , 23 December 18 7 3 , R. P . M. 1875 : 12 ; Neilson to Kay , 1 July 1874 , R. P.M. 1874 : 414 .

5 9watt to Kay , 18 January 187 3 , R. P .M. 1873 : 333 ; Neilson to Kay , 23 June 1 869 , R. P. M. 1869 : 416 .

1 79

the death o f a Bri tish trader who had been killed in a dispute involving his Tannese wife . With Ne ilson ' s assis tance seventeen Tannese were taken on board H . M . S . BeagZe and he ld as hos tages for the allege d murdere r , Yuhmanyah . Ten were released afte r six days with the message tha t , if the culpri t were not del ivere d up , the remaining prisone rs would be carried o f f to Sydney . In the ensuing sear ch for Yuhmanyah e ight Tannese were killed - four in defending him and four in attemp t ing to take him . At this point i t was de cide d to put on trial ins tead one of Yuhmanyah ' s relatives as an accomplice . He was qui ckly found guilty and hange d at the yardarm . Ne ilson agreed with Lieutenant Caffin tha t the a ffair had exe rcis ed a wholes ome influence on the nat ive mind . G O

By the mid-1 8 70s , Tannese-missionary relations had fal len into the old mould . Like his p redece ssors , Ne ilson had be come more and more enmeshed in the in tricate web of int rigue and rivalry which cons titute d Tannese poli tical life . In creas ingly he be came identi f ied with , and manipulate d by , Nowar and his followers , many o f whom were re fugees from o ther parts of the is land . And , like his prede ce ssors , he fell into the trap of identifying that group as ' a quasi -Chris tian and peace party among the Tannes e • • . • . G l In the end , no-one else at tende d his s ervices . 6 2 Visitors could wri te of a ' ne t-work o f Chris tian wo rk over a cons i derable dis trict in the south end of Tanna ' , 6 3 but Neilson knew tha t , even wi th those who attended mos t re gularly on his ins truc ti on , ' the old supers titions have s till a s trong hold ' . As for the great mass of the Tannese pop ulation , they s till followe d the ir ' degrading pract i ces with as much vigour as if they had never heard of any thing be t te r ' . Neilson went on to l is t the prac tices that he cons i de re d mos t oppose d to Chris tianity :

1 . The belief in the power o f sacred men to cause the frui t s of the earth to come to maturi ty . 2 . The worship of , and p resenting offerings to , evil spirits . 3 . The practice o f and bel ie f in wit chcraft , for the p urpose of caus ing disease and death . 4 . Tribal wars and blood feuds res ul ting from the pract ice of witchcraf t . 5 . The practice of tribal revenge , extending ove r many years an d even generations , and exercise d even upon the persons of remote

G O s teel 1880 : 187-9 .

6 1 Ne ilson to Kay , 11 December 1871 , R. P. M. 1872 : 20 8 .

6 2Ne ilson to Kay , 28 October 1 874 , R. P. M. 1875 : 148 . Final ly , in December 1 874 , the re fugees were expelle d to Aniwa , af te r being accused of killing people by sorcery . They were then b lame d for a hurricane which fol lowe d their departure . Paton , Annual Report of the Mis sion S tation on Aniwa , R. P. M. 1876 : 18-21 ; Wat t to Kay , 6 De cembe r 1875 , R. P. M. 1876 : 96 ; Ne ilson to Steel , 4 March 1 8 75 , R. P. M. 1875 : 2 7 8-9 .

6 3 s teel to Paterson, n . d . , R. P. M. 1875 : 26 4 .

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allies . 6 . The practice of circumcis ion . 7 . The obs cenity of much o f their ordinary conversation . 8 . The fact that murde r , adulte ry , the f t , and lying are usually re garded1 not as things to be ashame d of , b ut quite the reverse . b 4

The list may be read today as tes t imony to the underlying s trength and resilience of Tannese ' kastom' , but to Neilson i t was evidence of a heathen perversity so impene trable that there was little reason to persevere with his mission .

Neilson ended his list of Tanna ' s most ' degrading practices ' wi th a little lament : ' The standard of virtue is then , as i t were , reverse d ' . 6 5 It was a conclusion to which he had been drawn , as a man perhaps reluctantly , as a miss ionary inexorably . In trying to change the Tannese from heathen in to chris tian , Neilson was , faute de mieux , Prospero . Where he differed from missionaries like Paton was in his craving for an island of Ariels . But Caliban had never been far from his side : for a century , and more , he had been in the wings , wai ting on a succession of Prosperos - though he always made his mos t dramatic and engaging entrance when Prospero was a missionary . Perhaps the casual visi tor could afford to treat the Tannese as children , to divide them into ' naturally vi cious s avages ' and ' naturally gentlemanly savages • . 6 6 But to the missionaries who chose to live in their mids t , the Tannese were still ' low , degrade d , cunning , treacherous , and cruel • . 6 7 ' One cannot think without a shudder ' , wrote William Watt , ' of the sens uality and lus t which are manife s ted in their daily conduc t ' . 6 8 ' The longer we live among them' , wrote his wife Agnes , ' the more do we see the dep ths in s in to which they have sunk . Their every word and action are such as to indicate a heart s tained with s in of the deepest dye , while they believe themselves to be very good ' . 6 9 It was this belief in their own goodne ss that the missionarie s baulke d at most of all . Their words and actions , no matter how base , could be forgiven - but their re fusal to consider themselves bad , to hate and deny themselves , was unpardonable . Blasphemous and insolent , it s t ruck at the very heart o f the missionary vo cation , threatening the missionary ' s attempts to

6 4 Neilson to [Kay ? ] , 15 October 187 7 , F. C. S . M. R. 1 8 7 8 : 1 30 .

6 5Neilson to [Kay? ] , 15 October 1 8 7 7 , F. C. S. M. R. 1 87 8 : 1 30 .

6 6campbell 187 3 : 16 2 .

6 7 ' The work o f t he "Dayspring'" , R. P. M. 1 87 2 : 16 8 .

6 8watt , Opening Address at the meeting of the New Hebrides Mission Synod , 15 July 1 87 3 , R. P. M. 187 4 : 3 .

6 9Le tte r from Mrs Watt , 28 August 187 2 , R. P. M. 1 87 3 : 96 .

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bring the he athen to God as he himse lf had come : through repre s s ion and self-negation .

Through the pages of church j ournals in Bri tain , America and Aus tralia , Tanna entered i ts se cond century of contact with Europe with a reputation as dark and distorted as it had ever been in the p receding hundred years . In the minds o f many , Tanna was to remain a potent symbol of heathenism, the very antithesis of Chris tendom :

Where all that ' s human has been soiled , Withe red and blasted , danme d and spoile d , And where the Serpen t ' s folds are coiled So firmly round the Soul . 7 0

A place where vice reigne d s upreme , where the people cowere d beneath the s lavish yoke of the Spirit o f Evil , where Monster Parents feas ted upon the virgin flesh of the ir own offspring . An island of Calibans for a world o f Prosperos .

7 0Jame s Paton 1 875 : 79 .

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Ande rsonian Colle ge , 1854-56 . Colle ge Rolls . Ande rson ian Lib rary , S t rathclyde Univers ity , Glasgow .

Bach , J . P . S . 196 4 . The Royal N avy in the South Paci fi c . 1 8 2 6- 1 8 7 6 . Ph . D . t hes is , Unive r s i ty o f New South Wales , Sydney .

Bowles , T . , 1 85 3 . ' Diary ' , 2 8 Octobe r-9 Nov�mb e r 1 85 3 . MS . 2 2 6 4 , N . L . A .

Buzaco t t , A . , 184 2 . ' Voyage f rom Raroton ga to Sydney , March-July 1 842 ' . L . M . S . ' South Seas Journals ' , no . 1 3 3 . A . J . C . P . Micro f i lm , V . S . L .

��- - 1 84 3 . Le tter t o Tidman , 1 January 1 84 3 . MS . A 3 8 1 , M . L .

Chambe rs , M . , 19 79 . Polyne s ian mis s i onary teache rs in the We s te rn Pac i f i c 1 8 30- 1 8 70 . M . A . the s i s , Unive r s ity o f Me lb o urne .

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Ge ddie , J . , 1 844- 7 7 . Mis cel lane ous p apers . Marit ime Con fe rence Archive s , P ine Hill Divini ty Hal l , Hali fax , Nova S cotia . Mic ro f ilm , V . S . L .

184 8-5 7 . Diary , 2 9 July 1 84 8-11 De cemb e r 1 85 7 . MS . 2 180 , N . L . A .

Gill , G . and G . Stallwo rthy , 1 85 8 . ' Journal o f voyage o f deput at ion in the John Wi l l i ams to the New Heb r i de s , Loyalty I s lan ds , N i ue . . . 1 85 8 ' . L . M . S . ' Sou th Seas Journals ' , no . 1 5 0 . A . J . C . P . Mi cro f i lm , V . S . L .

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Development S tudies Centre Publicat ions

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Labour and the Law in Papua New Guinea , D . W . Smith , 1 9 7 5 . 128 + vii pp . A$4 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 00 1

The Ro le of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force , Paul Mench , 19 7 6 . 232 + xii pp . A$6 . 00 . ISBN 0 9090150 08 7

Education, Emp loyment and Migration in Papua New Guinea , J . D . Conroy , 19 76 , 248 + xii pp . A$6 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 2 0 6

Chimbu Issues in Deve lopment , Diana Howlett , R. Hide , and Elspeth Young wi th J . Arba , H . Bi and B . Kaman , 1 9 7 6 . 384 + xliv pp . ISBN 0 909150 14 1

Professiona l Structure in South East Asia , T . E . Silcock, ed . , 19 7 7 . 306 + xi pp . A$6 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 28 1

Education and Nation-bui lding in Plural Socie ties : the West Ma laysia experience , Chai Hon-Chan , 19 7 7 . 116 + ix . A$6 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 3 2 X

Bougainvi l le in Transition , T . K . Moulik , 19 7 7 . 200 + xi i pp . S $ 6 . 00 . I SBN 0 909 150 2 6 5

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Appetite for Education in Contemporary Asia , K . Orr , ed . , 19 7 7 . 166 + ix pp . A$6 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 5 2 4

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1 96

No 1 7 Forestry in Nationa l Deve lopment : production systems, conserva­tion, foreign trade and aid , K . R . Shepherd and H . V . Richter , eds , 19 79 . 2 4 6 + x pp . A$ 9 . 00 . I SBN 0 7 0 8 1 18224

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No 32 Women ' s Work an d Women 's Ro les : economics and everday life in Indonesia, Ma laysia and Singapore , Lenore Manderson , ed . , 1983 . 258 + x pp . A$12 . 00 . ISBN 0 8 6 7 8 4 409 4

The Aboriginal Component in the Aus tral ian Economy

No 1 Triba Z Communi ties in Rura Z Areas , Elspeth Young , 198 1 . 280 + xxii pp . A$ 9 . 00 . I SBN 0 909150 4 5 1

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Pac i f i c Research Monographs

No 1 TechnicaZ Training and Deve Zopment in Papua 1984- 1 94 1 , Tony Austin , 1 9 7 8 . 204 + xiv pp . A$8 . 00 . ISBN 0 7081 1003 7

No 2 Vi Z Zagers at War : some Papua New Guinea experiences in WorZd War II , Neville K . Robinson , 19 7 9 . 2 2 4 + xix pp . ISBN 0 908160 29 1

No 3 A Thousand Graduates : confZict in university deve Zopment in Papua New Guinea, 1 96 1 - 1 9 ?6 , Ian Howie Willis , 1980 . 362 + xiv pp . A$8 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 0 1 X

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No 7 The Fijian Co ZoniaZ Experience : a study of the neotraditionaZ order under British Co Zonia Z ruZe prior to WorZd War II , Timothy J . Macnaught , 198 2 . 204 + xviii pp . A$ 10 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 4 9 4

No 8 The Hiri in History : further aspects of Zong distance Motu trade in Centra Z Papua , Tom Dutton ed . , 1982 . A$12 . 00 . ISBN 0 909 150 6 3 x

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198

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No 1 The Dynamic Rep lacement Prob lem in the Rubber Indus try of Sri Lanka , S . K . W . Jayasuriya , 1 9 76 . 113 + xii pp . A$5 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 04 4

No 2 Rational Farm Plans for Land Resett lement in Indonesia , M . A . Wardhani , 1 9 7 6 . 1 3 6 + xiv pp . A$5 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 1 6 8

No 3 The Evaluation of Agricul tural Loans : a case study of Deve lopment Bank financed cattle projects in the Markham Va l ley of Papua New Guinea , Desmond P . Brunton , 1980 . 1 5 7 + xii pp . A$5 . 00 . I SBN 0 909 150 05 2

No 4 The Intercropping of Smal lho lder Coconuts in Western Samoa : an ana lysis using multi-stage linear programming , R . J . Burgess , 1981 . 260 + xiv pp . A$ 5 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 2 1 4

No 5 The Austra lian Rice Industry in Re lation to the Internationa l Rice Trade and its Imp lications for Southeast Asian Rice Export­ing Countries , Khin San May , 1981 . 144 + xii pp . A$5 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 3 1 1

No 6 The Rehabilitation of the Economy of Uganda : interna l and externa l balance , Fulgence K . Byamugisha , 1982 . 149 + xviii pp . ISBN 0 909150 57 5

Thesis Abstracts

No 1 Studies in the Economics of Agricu ltura l Deve lopment , D . M . Etherington and B . Carrad , eds , 19 7 6 . 4 6 + vi i i pp . A$3 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 0 6 0

No 2 Studies in the Economics of Agricultura l Deve lopment , D . M . Ethering ton and B . C . F . Boucher , eds , 1 9 7 9 . 5 5 + x pp . A$3 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 7 2 9

No 3 Studies in the Economics of Agricultura l Deve lopment , D . M . Ethering ton and B . C . F . Boucher , eds , 1982 . 5 1 + x pp . A$3 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 6 7 2

MA in Demography Research Series

No 1 An Ex-p loratory Demographic Study of the Nupe of Niger State : the case of Sakpe Vi l lage , Abubakar Ka tcha , 1978 . 116 + x pp . A$5 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 6 0 5

No 2 The Va lue of Chi ldren Among Tea Estate Workers ' Fami lies : a case study of a vi l lage of West Java, Indonesia , Asep Dj adj a Saefullah , 19 7 9 . 128 + xiii pp . A$5 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 74 5

Teaching Notes Series

No 1 Basic Mathematics for Demographers , S . K . Jain , 1 9 7 9 . 128 + viii pp . A$7 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 80 x

No 2 Beginning Popu lation Studies , David Lucas , ed . , 1980 . 2 3 6 + viii pp . A$ 7 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 7 8 8

No 3 Women, Demography and Deve lopment , Helen Ware , 1981 . 242 + viii pp . A$7 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 3 7 0

199

No 4 Demographi� Evaluation of Fami ly Planning Programs , John Laing , 1982 . 158 + vi i i pp . A$ 7 . 00 . I S BN 0 909150 3 7 0

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Food Dependency in the Pacific : a pre liminary statement , T . G . McGee , 19 7 5 , 1 9 pp . A$2 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 1 2 8

Burma 's Rice Surp luses : accounting for the dec line , R . V . Richter , 1 9 7 6 , 52 pp . A$2 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 0 8 7

The Fading of Earthbound Compulsion in a Hongkong Vi l lage : popu lation mobi lity and i ts economic imp lications , Rance Pui­leung Lee , 197 6 , 16 pp . A$2 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 1 2 5

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Social and Economic A spects of Tida l Swamp Land Deve lopment in Indonesia , William L . Collier , 1 9 7 9 , 70 pp . A$2 . 00 . ISBN 0 909 150 90 7

Survey s of Free Resources : i s there a ro le in p lanning and project imp lementation ? , Rodney C . Hills , 1980 , 30 pp . A$2 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 9 2 3

200

No 17 Replacing Imported Food Supp lies to Port Moresby , Papua New Guinea , Geo f f . T . Harris , 1980 , 22 pp . A$2 . 00 . I SBN 0 909150 98 2

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No 1 9 Internationa l Civi l Aviation in We s t Afri ca : a perspective , C . C . Ki ssl ing , 1 980 , 62 pp . A$2 . 00 . I SBN 0 909 1 5 0 09 5

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No 2 3 Tourism, Dependency and Deve lopment : migration, dependency and race , Stephen C . Britton , 1981 , 22 pp . A$ 2 . 00 . ISBN 0 909 150 2 7 3

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No 26 Mu l ti-period Budge ting and the Economic Assessment of Perennial Crop Intercropping Systems , Dan M. Etherington , 1981 , 42 pp . A$ 2 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 5 1 6

No 2 7 Posi tive Me thods o f Agricu l tura l Deci sion Ana lysis , James A . Roumas set , 1981 , 2 6 pp . A$2 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 5 3 2

No 28 Power Structure in Rura l Bang ladesh : some reflections from a v i l lage in Cami l la , Barkat-e-Khuda , Nurul I s lam Khan and Sunil Kumar Saha , 1981 , 4 9 pp . A$2 . 00 . I SBN 0 909 150 55 9

No 29 · Digraphs and the Managemen t of Comp lex Deve lopment Projects , Rodney C . Hills and Sy s tems Theory : uncertainty in the design and management of comp lex deve lopment projects , Tom Beer and Rodney C . Hills , 198 1 , 34 pp . A$2 . 00 . I SBN 0 909150 2 9 X

No 30 A Review of the Integration of Popu lation and Deve lopment Po lici es and Programs in Asia , Gavin W. Jone s , 1982 , 54 pp . A$ 2 . 00 . I SBN 0 909 150 8 3 4

No 31 Towards the Mone tary Va luation o f Abso lute Poverty , Dodo J . Thampap illai , 1982 , 1 6 pp . A$ 2 . 00 . ISBN 0 90 9 1 5 0 8 7 7

No 32 Economic Eva luation of Minera l Processing Projects , Craig �merson and Peter G. Warr , 1982 . A$ 3 . 00 . ISBN 0 909150 91 5

No 33 Nearly at t h e Crossroads ? A review of some issues raised i n recent work on the Ma laysian padi sector , P . P . Cour tenay , 1 98 3 . 48 pp . A$ 3 . 00 . ISBN 0 86 784 4 1 7 5

No 34 The Occupationa l Adjustment of Inda -Chinese Refuge es in Aus tra l ia , Robyn R . Iredale , 1 9 83 . 66 pp . A$3 . 00 . I SBN 0 86 784 4 3 3 7

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No 36 Korea 's Masan Free Export Zone : benefits and cos ts , Pe ter G . War r , 1984 . 2 8 pp . I SBN 0 86 784 4 4 9 3

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The price s l i s ted above are the reconunended re tail prices .

201

The Development S tudies Centre Monographs , Aboriginal Monographs , Atoll Economy Monographs , Pac i f i c Research Monographs , Teaching No tes Series and Occas ional Papers can be ob t ained from ANU Press , GPO Box 4 , Canberra , ACT , 2601 , Australia , and the balance of the pub l ications from the Development S tudies Centre at the same address .

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