AT THE SOLOMONS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 427, 9 February 1909, Page 8

AT THE SOLOMONS.

WsMssM* go An ufs,:, 1 ;^ v :. ;; PiVSSj ■■• WeUingtoniat. present; is_: Dr. P ;Dockj : .wlio'isi Ksi : ;s■>;ary::wprk;on Malaytay'tie'least-civilised and |ft}y 5/most dangerous^-island'.-.::in vthc Solomon. p§l-:;-v- Group! Ahich; really;:means ihd ; inost::unsafe; Ipayj^island./iri;-the Iri;: ; tho, course, of. an vSSKinterview^pr.^llcck , ;said: i -T;; ':■■;:"■'.' ■':•■: : ■■■'. ftfts3H : ::tilev'sei:&r^dmb\(MO.niiles/: ; close^upi.to;the ; ancT foiiv '"days'; stoaitf'.east". of -New: j Sif-K : : :; '.islands, v ?wliei« J pHr; niissiduys-.Working, !£|"; ; ;Kanaka's,:arid^o&anuts;; ; ;v ;/;V:; ; ';'''■■;; :":.:.,-: •.'.';■ ■;fc§;Cy;;d J£&£ t^j-vTradd , - In ?:'A'-M : -; : & i':For;;abou£ ; SO s years ;'a v'siream : pf : : ,yeßsels' Ws ; ;set : iput ■ .froim-mote'civilisedi lands /look- '. yS&v/Ving yfprVmeir rjwhb'j \the tropical. siSi ; ?3 : feejSsi;far}away, Queensland,'.-;which ; :Ycried.! aloud: for; p;fe;i : siin iKj?<;^teing;no f .whites;.. Qfchers'eailed'Boutli' KJSlfs from-;Fiii;\and;':caWedv off ! ;.workv lisi ,¥'■•■■ theOworld'ej. sugar-thefe/:!-Ott,er. : veasels' ! again' M:% W flew'theltncolour •of hailed'frphV l tef gi'Q NewACqledpnia , J which; ; th6ugb :a ; . ; cbnyict' set^ fai '%spi areaa*. ti/b'e r 'oultivatedi' ■•:■ The from'pver • ;in.two!raain/Btreamsy oner .'Hebrides,-further. spiithV: ;. : j3iE':Tuppn"thfl; : ;'Solomphs,Vnearer ;the;' sS9j AtuTnVladeri ..withfoheering jEanakaß. lining, .the S<©g?|yards:^^md;obuJwarks>;l:^i;:l;There:.: were '.some' |2?i?fe. -ahusej3 ,'-'in ;>the'. 'early '}, days; V.bttt, ■ these.«. were ii?-;SS .i?6p6u rigKte.d,,and m 'bpatß. carried.a. Govern/SffSS mentiagent: to Eeo) that carried. s;:!y^'on : lwith v ' justice ;and;kindness.A : But; this, &£, "ft' ijjjf port : of' Kanakas;' has f been'; I gradually"••'' re?4&:i3 ■'Btribte'd. -'-i First thcm.piitj('and.pSv?s?.'"Vail fih'. ;that: co ( uiitr^fJ7e|e"rjsfiirn^d"^',-t^ojr 1 v/---, !.>}.C-'island.,horneß.v. Since '>tiien v ''tlie.;CQmniisßioner ;!*pjv ca'ri'jediO.utjypf-i.the ?v'-'.-- : ? : ':'grp^ '101 :^;7flieireaspii:'.of ;•: i/,f«:.i': station's*'in'ibe'Soloyan>t^ > ein^'e^Te^' i i'|vViV;'.ihe : labour 'obtainable, H ; ended. ': >}'■'■?}■: ';!''-f.-' , .-?S,' ; :-;. -vj.;-;. : • ;

I Wealth In Cocoanuts. ' ' i "With cocnanutSiit is different Vast t (Sieas bought from natives, who were not oc-1 i Bupjms the ground are being clearedj as fabt as labour can bo obtained, to be. planted with ' coooanuts, the ground between being sown nith sweet potatoes to keep down the grass,' which springs up . directly the> forest •is ,-j cleared These plantations will not bear for ' eoveral vears yet, seven jeais being the time F a cocoanut takes before tho nuts form * Meanwhile planters, to keep things going, N < send round traders in slims to buy up all the native nuts on the islands around for calico, beads, or tobacco As a rule, each plantation lias a Eohooner, which cruises from island to island recruiting 'boys/ and buying nuts i Most of the libour comes from Malayta—an } island so warlike, inhabited by a people so J bloodthirsty and treacherous that for buni dreds of miles around largo areas of land have been depopulated bj liead-hunting expeditions m war ciuiocs But the verj qualities which make Mahjta people so fierce and i their island dreaded male them thq best workmen and the finest ChriEtians when won In consequence most of the labour comes , from Malayta, but, on the other hand, ell ! the cocoanuts oxpoited come from the other [ islands of the group, tho Malajtans having f been to busily engaged m fighting to have , had timo to plint many cocoanuts However, tho export of cocoanuts, which arc J essential in the process of soap-making, comtinues to mcreise rapidly, and settlement in ' } the group,on all lslanOs by Malayta goes ou * epapo. L ~ ' Planting the Gospel. t hgw our mission camo to begin ] work in Malayta, jou must go back 23' i J ears, p |At, tliat time there wore thousands « of Kanakas m Queensland, but no Christian work was being done amongst them On my *" uncle* s, plantation/ Fairjmead, there weie , hundreds emnlojed, and Miss Young, my f aunt, felt impelled to attempt something ' Disregarding educational work, sho began i with tho simplo story of tho Old Gospel ! ' Somehow it seemed to meet a need in tho , men's hearts, and'their lives began to bo i chaneed, and within a few years planters w ho had ridiculed tho idoa of Kanakas hav- ' ing souls began to ask for tho Christian j 'boys' .finding them better workmen. And , so the won grew steadily jear after jear, r spreading Ike a giant creeper all over . Queensland, tiUitho far away northern plantations wero roiched and won, aud in every ( plantation and" sugar district in Queensland reverent groups of one timo Bivages met ' morning and'night to worship tno one true ■■ God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven For 21 years tho work grew and multiplied till there were 19 white missionaries emplojed m Queensland, and 2400 men and women had r been baptised after evidenco of a changed j life Then camo tho great oxodus, when ' Austraba cast out tho Kanakas, and these X thousands of Christians were forced back into 1 savagery. About half of thorn belonged to t tho New Ilebridos, whore there is a etrong Prosbjtenan mission working, and on ar- | Tival in tho islands tho 'boys' wcro taken f chargo of by that mission. Strenuous Native Christians. > I "Tho other half mostly came from the ' Binglo island of Malayta, in the Solomon. t group No trader can lwo on this island, !■ Lfo is'so unsafe The coast is fairly quiet. '• for missionaries, but inland thero is a surg- \ ing, seething mass of murderers and cani mbals, and no white man has ever yet crossed [ tho island , Here, then,' tho returning Christians from Queensland foil like a deluge 1 Many went inland, and for the present have I boon lost sight of, but all round the coast, groups collected hero and tjiero m villages, built churches, and began to teach In all thero aro about forty of these schools, all 1 taught by nativo Christians, nono of whom ' ' nro paid Thov work m their gardens b> , daj t and in tho school night and mo'rnS ing In addition to theso wo have three staX tions for white missionaries, with European r houses, nine white missionaries, and tho [ auxiliary mission schooner Evangel, on j which I have lived tho Inst eight months, visiting constantly round the island l r Churches Wo also have stations on tho.isf lands of Guadalcanar and San Chnstoval, ; manned by mtive Christians." ' [ Dr Deck will givo a lantern Ikturoj'iilusj trated by tho latest island nens, i at , tho i Vivian Street Baptist Church this evening, , at which Mies Young, director of the South > Bca Evangelical Mission, will also speak