Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/553

 MBTJA. 515 one night with them, and preached to them very early on the following morning. I was deeply affected at their condition ; for they could not sit comfortably to listen to the word, but were obliged at times to go out and see whether the enemy were about ; for they are generally annoyed on the Sabbath. After preaching at Xa Nganga, the people conducted me to Xa Sau, all being armed, where I preached to a great number of Heathen and Christians ; and then passed on to Tavulomo, and preached to a great number in the open air. The Heathen listened very attentively, and several promised to lotu. At this last place they had just been called to mourn the death of their Teacher. He was a good man, and died well. Xo doubt his death had been hastened by his troubles : for, in all these three places, they have but little to eat, and very little rest. The Tavulomo people begged for another Teacher, but we cannot get another to go at present. I gave the peo- ple our usual advice, not to love war, — only to stand on the defensive, — and by all means to try and bring about a peace. " A few days after my return from Ndama, I went to see the enemy at their towns, to talk to them on the all-important matters of eternity, and also to know their mind about the war. I found the old Chief at home, at Naruai ; he received me kindly, or- dered some food to be prepared, and we sat down to converse. The old man said that matters had gone so far that the war could not be stopped ; so many towns were now engaged that he could not interfere ; and that the only thing the Ndama people could do, in order to save their lives, was to leave Ndama, and flee to Mbua and Tiliva, By this means Ndama would be left empty ; he would then go in and take possession ; and, after some time, they might return and settle in their own land. For my own part, I believe, under present circumstances, this would be the best ; but it is a very difficult matter for us to advise in, as the Ndama people fear, should they leave Ndama and go to Tiliva or Mbua, the He.^then would only make slaves of them : and they choose death rather than submit to that " After spending tliree or four hours with the old Chief, Mbuli i Tavulomo, I wished him to take me to fvo other towns in his dominions. I reached the first, Nambuna, about nine o'clock in the evening, delivered my report, telling them of Jesus and His great love to a lost world, to which they listened with deep attention, and said, as soon as the Ndama war was over, they would lotu. Being fatigued, I asked for a place to sleep ; and was shown a house with scarcely any grass on the floor, and only an old torn mat, I was rather surprised at this ; for the natives generally find us a clean mat. I inquired how it was that they were so poor in mats, and soon learned the cause. The day before, a dead body had been brought to them from Nawatha, (the body of a Ndama woman,) which had been eaten in their town ; and, when the Nawatha people returned, they took with them every mat they could find. The Fijian custom is, when a body is brought to a town, the parties are allowed to go and take anything they can lay their hands on. I warned them of their sins, spent a sleepless night among them, got them together very early in the morning, and read the first chapter of Romans, making a few remarks on it, and left to visit Nawaile. At this place I found a few who had professed Christianity, but had gone back during the war. Having made arrangement for Mr. Hazlewood to send one of the horses from Nandi, after waiting a few hours it came, on which I mount- ed, and found it much more comfortable than walking, and by night made my way back to Mbua. I have visited several other towns since I came to Mbua, and find the work steadily going on. I find abundance of work, a wide field of labour, and spend as much of my time as possible in the school." Greatly to the disappointment of the Missionaries, it was found that Tiii Mbua was acting a double part, and that, while he professed to keep the compact to remain neutral, which he had made with his Christian brother at Tiliva, he was actually helping the heathen party in the