and they are too sure When they came within and let arrows fly, none of them hit, marksmen to miss their aim if taken. sight of the boats they saw that one had pushed off towards the vessel, while the other was surrounded with natives, who where brandishing their clubs about Nelson Hector, and making all sorts of bragging and threatening gestures, in short, as the Bishop said, "Hectoring Hector," while he sat unmoved, a worthy disciple of the Bishop, only quietly resisting their attempts to take the oars from him. The Bishop and his train of water-bearers made their way steadily onwards to the water's edge; he said, "Go on," and they walked on into the water, lifting their casks higher and higher as they advanced, till he saw Siapo marching on with his till he was lifting it above his head and the waves dashing into it, when he called to him to empty it, as the water was spoiled, but even then he was very unwilling to lighten his burden. As they approached the boat the natives around it made off, and in a few minutes more they were on their way to the "BorderMaid," with only one cask missing; one of the sailors had let it fall and it rolled down the hill, and the Bishop would not let him go back for it. As they went they could plainly see the two parties on the shore, the friendly natives and the adverse ones, disputing still; and after they reached the vessel they saw a party of their friends bringing their missing cask after them. They had no sooner received these on board than they were followed by the mischief makers, but they kept them from entering the vessel; the Bishop kept his eye upon the leader, and seeing, by a look of his at the chains, that he thought they could get up them, he ordered the tomahawks to be brought up, and let them see that they could resist any force. friendly set, at sight of the weapons, were going to jump overboard, but a sign and a touch from the Bishop made them understand that they were not for them, and they sat down quite content, and took a friendly leave, with the presents given them. The We have given the details of this adventure, because it seems to illustrate the nature of the difficulties attending the work of this Mission, and the peculiar fitness of the Bishop to cope with them-his quick-sighted reading of countenance, appre July 1, 1867. THE MELANESIAN MISSION. 199 hension of gestures, his habits of order and forethought, besides his calmness and courage, have always, humanly speaking, contributed greatly to his safety, and often enabled him to walk unscathed where others would have been in danger. If you read the account of Williams's death, you will see that he and his party acted in every respect differently from the Bishop; in a similar adventure at Malicolo they separated one from another, they ran when alarmed, they threw stones and fired when attacked. Some of his friends at home have thought him rash; they would not if they heard the details; though he is bold and fearless, his thought for every one, and preparation for every contingency, and selection of persons for different trusts, is wonderful; for instance, no one, perhaps, but Nelson Hector would have kept his post with the boat as he did. He and the sailor had waited till he saw the natives coming down with menacing gestures, he then ordered the sailor to put off towards the vessel, and be free to come back to the Bishop's aid if his boat should be taken; he stayed himself where he was placed. They came up, got into his boat, felt him all over, and bullied and threatened in all ways, and he passively suffered them to do anything but take the oars; sometimes he thought they were going to dash the club at his head, but more often that it was bravado, and so he kept them in play till the Bishop returned, and no doubt their safety was in a great measure owing to his not failing them. The Bishop of Newcastle, who had been left in the ship with the mates and one sailor, and two or three native boys from other islands, was in no little anxiety. In a letter written to a friend in England shortly afterwards, he gives the following interesting account of the occurrence : * "The natives had probably observed the evening before how many sailors were in the ship, and perhaps had been annoyed that they had not all been allowed to come on board. When therefore they saw the boats go away with so many hands in them, they would know how few must be left in the ship, and feel assured that if some ten or twelve of them could get on board under pretence of merely seeing the ship, they could watch their opportunity, overpower the few in charge, take * See the 'Gospel Missionary,' vol. ii, p. 150. July 1, 1867. possession of the ship, and then have also the whole party in the boats at their mercy. Within an hour after the boats had left the ship two or three canoes came off to the ship, filled with huge men, most of whom were armed with their clubs and bows and spears. In the first canoe the chief man was such a ferocious-looking ruffian, with a formidable club, that I at once determined he should not come on board. I refused to allow them, but made them understand, by pointing to the sun and tracing its cause in the heavens, that they might come on board about noon, when it was over our heads. By that time I knew the boats would have returned, and then if we only admitted a few on board at a time, making them leave their arms in their canoes, there would probably be no great risk. They seemed much disappointed, and in order to keep them in a good humour I talked to them, asked their name for different things, and wrote down the words in a book. I thus got them to tell me their names, and in order to carry on this amusement and pass the time I pointed to an old man in the canoe, and made signs that he might come and sit on the bulwarks, and tell me the names of things which I wanted to know. The old man came, and seated himself beside me and as I wrote down the first word he gave me I saw him looking most anxiously all over the ship, and as I wrote down the second word I detected him making signs to the ferocious chief with a look that said distinctly, 'It's all right, only one or two left in the ship; let us get quickly on deck, and the ship is ours, and the white men in our power.' I immediately sent the old man back to the canoe, and made them understand that no one could come on deck till the sun was over our heads. Five or six other canoes had by this time come off to the ship, and there must have been at least fifty of these huge men in them, many armed, and some five or six looking as if they could do anything. "For more than two hours they kept close to the ship, asking again and again to come on deck, which I again and again refused. Every now and then, one more forward than the rest would take hold of the ship, and plant his foot on a slight projection, so that one good spring would bring him on deck. No sooner had he planted his foot and looked up, than he saw me just over him, directing him very calmly but decidedly to get back into his canoe. All this time the native boys from the other islands who were on board were in the greatest terror; one came to me with a countenance of livid paleness and said, " Those very bad men, they want kill you and me; they no come on ship, you no let them come.' Another of the biggest boys, a |