562 mage, and the whole ceremony a species of Ever 'Captain Cook allowed himself to be worshipped as a god. The people of Kealakeakua declined trading with him, and loaded his ship freely with the best productions of the island. The priests approached him in a crouching attitude, uttering prayers, and exhibiting all the formalities of worship. When he went on shore, most of the people fled for fear of him, and others bowed down before He was conhim with solemn reverence. ducted to the house of the gods, and into the 'I shall speak here of the death of Capt. Cook, as it developes some traits of the heathen character, and the influence under which the heathen suffer from foreign inter course. 'After Capt. Cook had thoroughly recruited his ship, he put out to sea; but after a day's sail, he found that one of his masts was defective, and returned to refit it. On his return, the people were friendly, but not so cordial as before. An uneasiness existed in the minds of the natives, from the loss of provisions, bestowed without compensation, and on account of the alienation of their wives, occasioned by the protracted stay of the ship's crew. There was then a sensitiveness which bordered on hostility, and needed only a fit occasion to become so. 'Some men of Capt. Cook used violence to the canoe of a certain young chief, whose name was Palea. A skirmish ensued, and Palea was struck with the paddle of a canoe, and levelled with the ground. Soon after, Palea stole a boat from Capt. Cook's ship. The theft is imputed to revenge. Capt. Cook commanded Kalaniopu, the king of the island, to make search for the boat, and restore it. The king could not restore it, for the natives had already broken it in pieces to obtain the nails, which were to them the articles of the greatest value. 'Capt. Cook came on shore with armed men, to take the king on board, and to keep him there as security till the boat should be restored. In the meantime, a canoe came from an adjoining district, and passed near the ship. In the canoe were two chiefs of some rank, Kekuhaupio and Kalimu. From some misunderstanding, not distinctly known, the canoe was fired upon from the ship, and Kalimu was killed. Kekuhaupio made the his sword, whose name was Kalaimanokahoowaha. The chief instinctively seized Capt. Cook with a strong hand, designing merely to hold him, and not to take his life, for he supposed him to be a god. Capt. Cook struggled to free himself from the grasp, and was thrown upon the earth. As he fell, he uttered a groan, and the people immediately exclaimed, "He groans! he is not a god!" and instantly slew him. Such was the melancholy death of Capt. Cook.'History of the Sandwich Islands, by S. Dibble, pp. 27-31. greatest speed till he reached the place of the king, where Capt. Cook also was, and communicated the intelligence of the death of the chief. The attendants of the king were enraged, and showed signs of hostility; but were restrained by the thought that Capt. Cook was a god. At that instant, a warrior, with a spear in his hand, approached Capt. Cook, but not in a hostile attitude; but Capt. Cook, from the enraged appearance of the multitude, was suspicious of him, and fired upon him with his pistol. Then followed a scene of confusion, and in the midst of it, Capt. Cook struck a certain chief with "Painful though it be to entertain the idea of an enlightened man so to degrade himself, yet the evidence is too clear to admit of a doubt. It could arise from no mistake, on his part, as to the meaning of such ceremonies. He was not so ignorant of the language, nor of the customs of the natives, as to make him misunderstand the intentions of those who offered the gifts. If so, how like to one of old: The people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man; and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory.'" INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY LIFE IN SAMOA. (Continued from our Number of November, Dancing was a common entertainment on festive occasions, such as a marriage; it is practised still, but principally among people who are professedly heathen. Some of their dances are in the daytime, and, like certain dress balls of other countries, are accompanied with a display of fancy mats and other Samoan finery. At the night assemblies, the men dress in their short leaf aprons. Sometimes only the men dance, at other times women, and occasionally the parties are mixed. They dance in parties of two, three, and upwards, on either side. If the one party moves in one direction, the other party takes the opposite. They have also various gesticulations, which they practise with some regularity. If, for example, the one party moves along with the right arm raised, the other does precisely the same. Singing, clapping the hands, beating time on the floor mats, and drumming, are the usual musical accompaniments. For a drum, they have two or three contrivances. One is, a log of wood six or eight feet long, hollowed out from a narrow elongated opening on the upper surface; and this they beat with a short stick or mallet. Another is, a set of bamboos, four feet long and downwards, arranged like a Pan's-pipe, having the open ends inclosed in a mat bag, and this bag they beat with a stick. A third kind of drumming is effected by four or five men, each with a bamboo open at the top and closed at the bottom, with which, holding vertically, they beat the ground, or a stone, or any hard substance, and, as the bamboos are of various lengths, they emit a variety of sounds. At these night dances, all kinds of improprieties in looks, language, and gesture prevail; and often they dance and revel till daylight. "Court buffoons furnish some amusement at dancing and other festivals. If a chief of importance goes to any of these assemblies, he has in his train one or two merry andrews, who, by oddity in dress, gait, or gesture, or by foolish jokes, try to excite laughter. "Boring and fencing were common formerly on festive days, and often led to serious quarrels. In fencing, they used the stalk of the cocoa-nut leaf as a substitute for a club. Women as well as men entered the ring, and strove for the fame of a pugilist. Some "Wrestling is another amusement. times they choose sides, say four against four; and the party who have the most thrown have to furnish their opponents with a cooked pig served up with taro, or supply any other kind of food that may be staked at the outset of the game. A supply of some kind of food is the usual forfeit in all their games. "Throwing the spear is also common. The young men of one street or village will match against those of another; and, after fixing a mark in the distance, throw a small wooden javelin so that it may first strike the ground and then spring upwards and onwards in the direction of the mark. They who throw farthest win the game, and have a repast of food at the expense of those who lose it. In more direct spear-throwing, they set up the stem of a young cocoa-nut tree, with the base upwards, which is soft and spongy. One party throw at it, and fill it with spears. The other party throw, and try to knock them down. If any remain after all have thrown, they are counted until they reach the number fixed for the game. In another of these amusements, at which they may be said to learn war,' a man stands in the distance and allows another to throw spears at him. He has no shield, but merely a club; and with this he shows surprising dexterity in hitting off spear after spear as it approaches him. "Fishing matches are in vogue at particular seasons. The party who takes the most fish win, and are treated with cooked pigs and other viands by those who lose. "Pigeon catching is another amusement, and one in which the chiefs especially delight. The principal season sets in about June. Great preparations are made for it; all the pigs of a settlement will be slaughtered and baked for the occasion; and, laden with all kinds of food, the whole population of the place go off to certain pigeon-grounds in the bush. There they put up huts, and remain sometimes for months at the sport. The ground being cleared, the chiefs station themselves at distances all round a large circular space, each concealed under a low shed or covering of brushwood, having by his side a net attached to a long bamboo, and in his hand a stick with a tame pigeon on a crook at the end of it. This pigeon is trained to fly round and round, as directed by its owner, with a string at its foot thirty feet long, attached to the end of the stick. Every man flies his pigeon, and then the whole circle looks like a place where pigeons are flocking round food or water. The scene soon attracts some wild pigeon; and, as it approaches the spot, whoever is next to it raises his net, and tries to entangle it. He who gets the greatest number of pigeons is the hero of the day, and honoured by his friends with various kinds of food, with which he treats his less successful competitors. Some of the pigeons are baked, others are distributed about and tamed for further use. Taming and exercising them for the sporting season is a common pastime. Of all the Samoan sports, none, perhaps, is a greater hindrance to Missionary work than pigeon catching. Schools are deserted, and whole villages scattered by it on a career of dissipation for many weeks at a time. But, happily, it is fast becoming unpopular. fowling-piece is taking the place of the pigeonnet. Few, comparatively, now go to the grounds; and, ere long, fewer still, perhaps, will follow in the train of those who go. 66 The Spinning the cocoa-nut is another amusement. A party sit down in a circle, and one in the centre spins a cocoa-nut. When it rests, they see to whom the three black marks or eyes on the end of the shell point, and impose upon him some little service to the whole, such as unhusking chestnuts, or going for a load of cocoa-nuts for them. This is especially worthy of remark, as it is the Samoan method of casting lots. If a number of people are unwilling to go on a message, or do a piece of work, they will decide the matter by wheeling round the cocoa-nut to see to whom it turns its face, as they call it, when it rests. Formerly, they would sometimes appeal to this lot, and fix the charge of stealing on a person towards whom the face of the cocoanut pointed. "They have also a game of Hide-and-seek, with the addition that those who hide try to escape those who seek, and run to a given post or mark. All who reach the post are counted towards making up the game. "Pitching small cocoa-nut shells to the end of a mat, is a favourite amusement of the chiefs. They try to knock each other's shells off the given spot. They play in parties of two and two, with five shells each. They who have most shells left on the place, after all have thrown, win. They have also guessing sports. One party hide; the other bundle up one of their number in a large basket covered over with a cloth. Then they, too, hide, all but three, who carry the basket to the other party, for them to guess who is in it. If they guess correctly, then they in turn get the basket to do the same. The successful guesses are counted for the game. "They have sundry other amusements. Swimming in the surf on a board, and steering little canoes while borne along on the crest of a wave towards the shore, are favourite juvenile sports. Canoe-racing, races with one party in a canoe and another along the beach, races with both parties on land, climbing cocoa-nut trees, to see who can go up quickest, reviews and sham fighting, cock fighting, tossing up oranges and keeping three, four, or more of them on the move; these, and many other things, were of old, and are still, numbered among Samoan sports. "Our juvenile friends at the antipodes will be sure to recognize some of their favourite amusements in the description we have given, and will, perhaps, feel inclined to try the novelty of some of these Samoan variations. What a surprising unity of thought and feeling is discoverable among the various races of mankind from a comparison with such customs as these! These illustrations also suffice to show, that, while in their heathen state, the Samoans found plenty to occupy their leisure hours, day and night, all through the year. Now, however, many of them find in Christianity other and better occupations, and have neither time nor inclination to follow after the 'childish things' in which they were wont to revel in bygone days."-Samoan Reporter. JAMAICA. A LAMB OF CHRIST'S FOLD MADE PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS. THE following interesting narrative is communicated by the Rev. James Milne, of First Hill Station, under date January ultimo: "Anne Morris, the subject of the following brief memoir, was one of the coloured natives of Jamaica. She was born on Arcadia Estate, in the parish of Trelawny, on the 5th of April, 1831. At that time the condition of the children of Jamaica was very deplorable. No man cared for their souls, and they were suffered to grow up nearly as ignorant as the beasts that perish. But when Anne was a child of only five years of age, it pleased God to send the Rev. John Vine and his excellent wife into the neighbourhood of the place where she lived; and soon after their settlement there her mother was received as a domestic servant into their family. By the blessing of God on their instructions, and the example of piety which she witnessed in their daily conduct, her mother first believed the gospel, and afterwards her two eldest sisters, all of whom continue to maintain an unblemished and consistent profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Anne was the youngest of the family; and when I first be She was She was came acquainted with her, eleven years ago, rate. after I first knew her, she was seized with an insidious, lingering, and incurable disease. During the long course of ten years that disease preyed upon her frame, causing her the greatest sufferings, till at last it did its work, and laid her in the grave. Soon after she was taken ill, and when she was laid upon a bed of pain, she was first awakened to a sense of her condition as a sinner. She became deeply convinced that she was by nature a child of wrath; that she had broken the law of God, and was in danger of the wrath to come; and her whole anxiety and concern were thenceforth directed to the salvation of her soul. In her deep concern for that absorbing object she seemed often to forget her pains. Her mental distress overpowered the sense of her bodily sufferings. I have often sat beside her bed endeavouring to lead her to Christ, and have heard her exclaim in the bitterness of her soul, 'I am a lost sinner!' Her distress of mind consequent on this conviction continued, with only short periods of remission, seven years, all of which time the disease with which she was afflicted made slow but certain progress. "About three years ago she became very ill, and her convictions at the same time increased in intensity. She was truly in deep waters of affliction, both of body and of mind. I was often with her, at her earnest request, reading the word of God, and praying for her. I also lent her books suited to her case; and it pleased God, in his great mercy, to bless these means of grace to her soul. She was enabled to believe the gospel, and to lay hold on the simple truth, that Christ died for her sins, as the sole and sufficient ground of her hope, Her fears then gave place to hope, and her sorrow to joy, She had peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and she rested, in quiet expectation of salvation, on the truth and faithfulness of God's promise. I well remember the smile of gladness with which she first told me she had found peace. The change which had passed upon her was, to my mind, another proof of the power of the gospel to save the lost, and to comfort the distressed. During the three latter years of her afflicted life, her peace and hope continued with little intermission. "Lately she had been failing very fast; but a speedy termination to her sufferings was not anticipated. However, I was suddenly called on the 30th of December, 1851, to see her. When I went into her room, I saw at once that her end was near. The stamp of death was already on her forehead. She was very restless, in great pain, and occasionally wandering in mind. She knew me, and seemed glad to see me; but could scarcely speak. Her faith in Christ, however, was unshaken. She trusted in him in her last hours, because she knew in whom she had believed,' &c. A little before she died, she called me to her bed-side from the next room, saying she wanted to see me. I asked her if she felt Christ precious. She said, 'O yes;' and then desired me to pray with her. These were her last words. She lay down, and, after a severe and painful struggle of about two hours, she closed her eyes in death, and her happy spirit took its flight from her diseased and afflicted body, and entered, I verily believe, into the regions of joy and bliss." DEATH OF MRS. SCOTT. Ir is our mournful duty to record the decease of Mrs. Scott, the wife of our esteemed Missionary, the Rev. James Scott, of Demerara. Mr. Scott, on his return to the field of labour, in November, 1850, after a visit to his native country, was under the painful necessity of leaving his excellent wife in Scotland, on account of the impaired state of her health. From that period she continued to linger, amidst the alternate hopes and fears of her endeared family and friends, until Tuesday, August 10th, when she departed this life, at Leith, bearing testimony to the grace and goodness of the Saviour in whom she trusted, and whom she had faithfully served, and rejoicing in a hope full of immortality. |