ERROMANGA

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 406, 13 September 1861, Page 3

ERROMANGA

MURDER OF A MISSIONARY AND HIS WIFE ( To the Editor of the Sydney Herald.)

Sir—Would you kindly permit me, through your columns, to communicate the very distressing intelligence received by me to-day, of the barbarous double murder, by the natives of Erromanga, of the Rev. G. N. and Mrs. Gordon, of the Nova Scotian Mission.

The letters accompanying this will afford full information concerning this most painful event. One of the letters is from the Rev. L. M'Farlane, of Lifu, an agent of the London Missionary Society. The other is from a gentleman, whose name I withhold at his own request, but whose testimony may be fully relied upou.

Yours respectfully, Wm, Cuthbertson. 19, Stanley street, July 22nd.

Erromanga, 7th June, 1861 Rev. Wm. Cuthbertson,

Rev. Sir—lt is with feelings of deep melancholy that I now have to communicate to you the distressing intelligence of the massacre by the natives here of our worthy missionary and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon.

This mournful event took place on the 20th ultimo, about one o'clook in the afternoon, and I proc3ed to detail to you the circumstances connected with it.

On the afternoon of the twentieth I was in the act of writing a note to Mr. Gordon, when I was startled by a native (David-uti), followed by O'lers of the mission boys, rushing across the river and shouting that the Bunkhill natives had killed the ' Missi.' I immediately armed myself, and the few foreigu natives which I have, and started in pursuit of the murderers, but unsuccessfully. I found the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon lying on the ground horribly mangle^ and I saw at once that anything iv the shape of surgical assistance was out of the question, as, from the nature of the wounds, death must have been instantaneous. I went and locked up the mission-house, and set a guard of ten natives, well armed, to defend the property. I then went and selected a spot for the grave; it is situated on the right bank of the river, near the spot where Williams was killed, and overshadowed by cocoanut and 1 banana trees. In the morning I made two coffins, in which the bodies were placed, and at two o'clook we cartied them to the buryingplace. There, at my request, a native named ' Mana,' who had been for some time at the Sanioan Institution, and who acted as a teacher under Mr. Gordon, conducted the services. A hymn having been sung, he gave an address, which, to judge from the effeots visibly produced, must have been deeply felt; and a prayer having been offered up to Almighty JGod, the bodies were consigned to the earth. It was deeply interesting for me to witness the emotion exhibited by the native standing next to me, who seemed utterly overcome by grief; yet this very man, 1839, murdered another of God's labourers, John Williams. The tears and lamentations of all preseut at the interment it was painful to witness.

From the accounts which I have gathered from the natives you may rely on the correctness of the following description of the murderous attack. .

About noon of the 20th, a party of nine Bunkhill natives, of whom the chief Lova was the leader, called at the mission -house, and enquired for Mr. Gordon. They were informed that ha was working a little further down the hill, at a house which he was building as a winter residence. They went towards the place, but in passing through a grove near the house, eight of the men concealed themselves, while the ninth, named Nara-bu-leot, went further down to inveigle Mr. Gordon into the trap thus laid for his destruction. Mr. Gordon had, unfortunately, sent all his boys away to gather grass for the roof of the new house, and waß unattended when Nara-bu;leet walked up to him and asked for some calico for himself and the others of the party, who, he said, were waiting at the missionhouse. Mr. Gordon took up a

piece of board, and wrote on it with a piece of charcoal, " Give these men a yard of cotton each." This he gave to the savage and told him to take it to Mrs Gorden, who would give him what he wanted. This however would not have suited the intentions of Nara-buleet. He told the missionary that Lova wished particularly to see him, and to get some medicine for a sick man, and that he had, therefore, better go up to his own house. Mr. Gordon, pointing to a plate containing some food which Mrs. Gordon had sent him, said, "I have not yet eaten, but never miud ! I can do so as well at the house." And wrapping up the plate in his handkerchief, he started up the hill, followed by the native. On arriving at the ambush Naru-bu-leet buried his tomahawk in Mr. Gordeu's spine. He immediately fell, uttering a loud cry. Naru-bu-leet gave him another stroke on the right side of the neck, which almost severed the head from the body; and the others, rushiDg from their concealment, quickly cut their poor victim to pieces. While this tragedy was being enacted, another native, whose Dame was Ouben, ran towards the mission-house, and Mrs. Gordon, who had been alarmed by the fiendish yells and laughter of the savages, had run out, aad was standing near an out-house. She asked Ouben what all that noise was about ? He laughed, and said ' Nothing : it is ODly the boys amusing themselves.' She said, * where are the boys ?' and turned round. Ouben then, with the tomahawk, which he carried concealed behind his back, struck her a blow below the shoulder--blade ; and on her failing on a heap of grass, he nearly cut the head off, and otherwise mutilated her in various parts of the body. Such was the fate of two of God's most zealous servants. It is now four ye >rs siace Mr. Gordon and his wife arrived here, viz., siuce June 14, 1857, aod during this time they have laboured hard among the rude and ferocious Erromangans with' little apparent success. Privations of the most distressing kind have been cheerfully and uncomplainedly borne, aud the many attempts made agaiust their lives, although hitherto unsuccessful, have rendered their residence here continually full of anxiety and alarm. -... The cause of the murder I am informed, and from my own experience I am certain to be the case, is as follows:—

Several months ago the measles, which had previously raged in Sydney, made its appearance ia New Caledonia, and there, notwithstanding the exertions of the Governor and the other officials, it rapidly made progress, and a serious mortality was the result. The infection was thence carried by the various trading vessels calling there to all the surrounding islands, and fearful wera the ravages of the distemper amongst the natives. At Lefu, Mare, Aniteuin, Tana, Sandwich, Espirito Santo, and Erromauga, thouands and thousands died--in fact, some of those plaoea have been nearly depopulated. Strange to say, a similar disease has never before made its appearance among the natives, and they at once attributed it to their connection with the white men, and called it " the white man's curse." The consequence of this idea, especially among the more savage tribes, was naturally a bitter hostility against foreigners, and. singularly enough, against the only clasa who had had nothing-to. do with the introduction of the disease, but on tho contrary, who had tried all the means in their power to avert the oalamity—l mean the missionaries. At Aniteum, where the mortality waa dreadful, the natives repeatedly threatened to take the life of Mr. and Mrs. Geddie, and they burnt down tho two handsome churches there. At Tana matters were equal'y bad; repeated attacks were made on Mr. Paton and his property; and I myself, on one occasiou, heard Miaki, the chief at Port Resolution, threaten to take his life if he would not go away in the vessel which brought me there. He refused to go, amd hitherto his life has been spared, but I much fear that unless be has left before the tidings of the Erromangau massacre reaches Tana, he will also fall a victim. Here, however, the malady being so virulent as to threaten the extermination of the natives, and their character being so savagely ferocious, the greatest animosity existed towards the whites; and notwithstanding that Mr. Gordon went daily from morning to night amongst the people, administering medicine, and endeavouring to alleviate, as far as lay in his power, their misery, he became the object of their extreme hatred. Nuivan, a chief, having been prostrated by the disease, when almost dying, sent for Mr. Gordon, who gave him some mediciue. tfuivan died next day; the" tribe said the missionary had poisoned him,'and: it was resolved to kill all the whites. Apian was laid, and so ingeniously artful was the scheme, that bad it not been divulged by a friendly native, about ten minutes before the time appointed for its execution, we would almost certainiy have all perished. Of course, when the party came to carry their intentions into effect, we were prepared, and they went off disappointed. To add to their feelings of enmity towards Mr. Gordon, there was yet another reason, and to illustrate this I copy the following entry in his diary. Speaking of this singular disease, which is strange and alarming to all. he writes, ' It was preceded by a universaL^pp position to tho. gospel, and muoh murder and idolatry-. I felt sure that God wou d visit them in judgment, and warned them most solemnly but a few days before they were attacked. The chiefs, who maintain that,.to give up their idols is the cessation of their rule, can hardly now persuade their people that this is not the finger of Jehovah.' ' I warned them to flee from the wrath to come, but they took; no warninglill too late/ From the disease following close on these warnings, the natives believed that the missionary had prayed to God to send it on them; and this belief readily accorded with the fixed ideas of witchcraft which obtained universally in this island. About two. months ago he writes :•—•* It seems that I was nearly shot two sabbaths ago, near Bunk-bill as I was getting on ray horse. Some circumstances prevented—. perhaps the torrents of rain which fell, while 1 was engaged as Paul and Silas by the Macedonian river side. It is almost impossible for a missionary to fall into greater perils among such a people, for their belief iv witchcraft is universal, and they seem to look upon me as their destroyer.' About a fortnight before bis death he preached at Bunk hill, rebuking his hearers sharply for their idolatry and wickedness. This offended their tribe; they resolved on his murder ; and how well they succeeded in their devilish designs the event has shown

Amidst the gloom and grief whiobthe tidings of this dreadful event will occasion to the relatives and friendß of these martyrs, and indeed to all Christians who aro interested in the cause of missions; it must be cheering to know that in all their troubles and anxieties Mr. Gordon and bia wife steadfastly rested their trust on the Bock of Ages, at all times submissively bent to

His will, Toe last words'in Mr. Gordon's diary are :—••Thanks be to God forthe measure of faith granted to us in these troublesome and, perilous times.' ' Bless the Lord* oh, uiy soul! who redeemeth thy life from destruction.' Uuweariedly they laboured ia the cause of Christ, and now they have been called upon to receive the orown of martyrdom, and to* enjoy in Hia presence the fulness of reward.

We were highly delighted yesterday by a visit from Bishop Patteson, of New Zealaud. All the mission boys wept at the sight of him, as they recalled his last visit here to their remembrance. We crossed over to. the grave, which has been enclosed by a fence by the boys. The Bishop read, with much fervour and feeling,'.the beautiful service of the English Church over the tomb, and immediately afterwards proceeded on his voyage to the Northern islands.

He informed me that the, John Williams might be expected here daily, and I shall put Mr. Gordon's property ou board of her.

I have written you a !oug letter, but I am affraid it is rather unconnected and diffuse, as I have been so often interrupted, and I have been much hurried when writing it,j.o_ please excuse faults.

With sentiments of the deepest respect, I remain, Rev. Sir, Your very obedient servant, V