JOURNAL
OF RESIDENCE IN THE NEW HEBRIDES,
S.W. PACIFIC OCEAN.
WRITTEN DURING THE YEAR 1886,
BY
Revds. C. BICE AND A. BRITTAIN.
TRURO:
NETHERTON AND WORTH, LEMON STREET.
1887.
PREFACE.
I have been induced to publish the following Journals at the request ofsome friends who have perused them, and think they will proveinteresting to others. The Journal of the Rev. A. Brittain arrived toolate for insertion in the ‘Island Voyage’ for this year, and I have beenrequested by the Rev. William Selwyn, the Secretary of the MelanesianMission, to print it with my own. I do this with the greater pleasure,because his report will not only supply me with a good excuse forrushing into print, but will furnish others with a more full andcomplete account of the work of the Melanesian Mission in the NewHebrides.
The three islands herein spoken of are the Northernmost of theabove-mentioned group—the New Hebrides—and form the Southern boundaryof the Melanesian Mission work in the islands of the South-west PacificOcean.
Araga (or Pentecost) and Maewo (or Aurora) are long and mountainousislands running almost North and South, about forty miles each inlength, and separated by a narrow channel three miles wide. Opa (orLeper’s Island) runs at right angles to these, a broad, massive, grandlooking country, resembling in appearance a huge whale, the hump ofwhich rises to a height of over 4000 feet.
Araga and Opa are thickly populated, but Maewo has a scattered andsparse population. Opa is about sixteen miles from Araga, but a channelof only five miles in width separates it from Maewo.
The languages and dispositions of these neighbouring lands are much morevaried and dissimilar than would naturally be inferred from their closepropinquity. And the majority of the{vi} people, too, seem to prefer aninland situation, all which serve to make the work of the Missionary themore arduous and difficult. On these islands every outward prospect ispleasing, and the inhabitants themselves not so far gone in vileness asto be incapable of improvement, as I hope the following pages will show.The work of the Melanesian Mission has been established in these islandsa good many years now, with more or less success, and schools are inactive operation as follows:—
At Araga—Wonor, on the Southern face of the island, and Lamoru andQatvenua on the North.
At Maewo—Tanrig, Tasmouri, Tasmate, Mandurvat, Naruru, and Uta. Allthese stations are on the North of the island.
At Opa—Tavolavola, Lobaha, Walurigi, the most flourishing of which isthat first mentioned.
With these few preliminary remarks and explanations I leave thefollowing simple pages to tell their own story.
CHARLES BICE.
N.B.—The vowels in the Melanesian languages are pronounced as inItalian: a = ah, e = a, i = e.
The letter written n̈ = ng in singer; d = nd, b = mb.
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