Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/402

 372 FIJI AND THE FIJIANS. consequences may be serious to himself; and so did Mr. Malrem for a while longer, not forgetting that, during the hot seas^on of the past year, he was totally incapacitated for work for some weeks, " In the Rewa Circuit we have twenty-one thousand professing Christians ; and every week brings its additional numbers. Some thousands have lotued since our last District Meeting. "We fear that the Papists will take advantage of our weakness. We regret to say, in a dispute which has lately occurred at Nandi, some hundreds, in oppo- sition to our people, declared themselves Papists ; and now they have a Priest among them. Whether this will be a permanent change, remains to be proved. It is impos- sible, in this Circuit, with the present staff of men, to visit more than once in six months some important towns which have lately embraced Christianity." The following are extracts from a letter to the Rev. J. Calvert after his return to England, from Mr. Moore, dated " March 18th, 1857 : — I wrote jou some time ago, telling you of Mrs. Moore's going to the colony for the benefit of her health. I have l^eard of her safe landing, but nothing since. Our son Marshall reached Sydney from Auckland School two days before her arrival ; so Mrs. Moore will have all the children together. This will be nice. The children are now becoming a difficulty. I trust something will be done to make us easy in this matter. This has been a most trying year to me, one of the greatest trials in my life ; but the Lord has been increasingly precious, and grace has been given according to my day. I have little time to study ; go, go, go, is the order of the day. The work extends on every hand, and we want a thousand bodies to be in a thousand places at once, to do the great work of this Circuit. The fruit begins to appear ; many are perparing for baptism. We feel the benefit of the Church. The Lord is present with us. "We still feel the great want of labourers. Tlie schooner-boat I purchased is kept constantly going, and is one of the best speculations of my life. By her we have been able to get nineteen men do-wn from ]fatuku and Totoya for Kandavu ; and I have been over again, and placed them all round the island, so that we have the whole of Kandavu under instruction, except Ngaloa, where Thangilevu, the Chief, still remains heathen. Kanda i needs a Missionary at once. I spent a month there, going every day until I could go no longer ; and then I could not do all I wanted. I got the Classes into order ; examined fifteen men for becoming Exhorters and Local Preachers ; and left them in good spirits. Paula Vea is doing well ; but he is getting old, and failing. Watson is a fine fellow, right-hearted, and very useful. At Mbengga the work prospers. All are lotu at Yatulele Nandronga is moving. They wish me to go down. Serua and Navua are still fighting. The same old horrid customs go together, — Heathenism, war, and cannibalism. Twenty persons were killed