I was
instantly dragged up the beach by the natives; who, on finding I had
nothing worth having upon me, let me alone. I then made signs to my
friends in the ship to leave me; which they did. At first the natives
listened to me in silence, but laughed at what I said while I preached
the Gospel of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ to them. Afterwards they
treated me ill sometimes; but I persevered, and continued to dwell
among them, and dispute, and exhort them to give up their sinful ways
of life, burn their idols, and come to Jesus.
"About a month after I landed, I heard that the chief was dead. He was
the father of the present chief, who is now a most consistent member of
the Church. It is a custom here that when a chief dies his wives are
strangled and buried with him. Knowing this, I hastened to his house to
endeavour to prevent such cruelty if possible. When I arrived, I found
two of the wives had already been killed, while another was in the act
of being strangled. I pleaded hard for her, but it was too late; she
was already dead. I then entreated the son to spare the fourth wife,
and after much hesitation my prayer was granted; but in half-an-hour
afterwards this poor woman repented of being unfaithful, as she termed
it, to her husband, and insisted on being strangled; which was
accordingly done.
"All this time the chief's son was walking up and down before his
father's house with a brow black as thunder.
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