THE NEW GUINEA MISSION.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 726, 17 October 1876, Page 3

THE NEW GUINEA MISSION.

Narrative by a Missionary.—A Bade of Men with Tails! (New Zealand Herald.) The following extracts from a letter received from the Eev George Brown, the pioneer missionary to the Duke of York Island and the adjacent islands, will doubtless be read with interest. It is nearly twelve months since any intelligence of Mr Brown was received, and, for all that his friends knew, he might have long since shared the fate of the human thigh referred to in his letter. Mr Brown writes under date, February 4th, and his letter reached here by the Hero last week. He writes as follows : “The Coeran arrived here on Saturday last, 29th ultimo, and right glad we were to tow her into port. Captain Herusheine told us that he had had a long and tedious passage of forty days from Sydney. He has been very kind indeed in supplying us with a few stores, which were much needed, so now we shall be able to manage pretty well until Captain Fergusson arrives. He offered me a passage by way of China, but the journey would be so long, and the expense bo great, that I am unwilling to entertain it. I can only give you now the following items. I have been seven times over to New Ireland since I wrote you three months ago by the Coeran. On one trip I made the discovery that the island is only about a quarter of a mile wide at a place called Rurnmah, about fifty miles north of this place. That the natives need a missionary is very certain, for while I was sitting talking to the chief at one of the villages there, one of our lads went into a house, about ten yards distant, to light his pipe, and found the women engaged in roasting the leg and thigh of a man who had been killed the day before by the chief whom I was talking to. This place, Kural, is the farthest point north to which we have been. On another of my journeys we went round Cape St George, and paid a visit to King Tom in his own village, about six miles up the opposite side of the island. I cannot give you the particulars of this long trip and our intercourse with Tom and his people. You know, of course that it was in Port Raslin that the Lavinia was taken, and nearly ail her crew murdered, about two years ago, and that King Tom and his people are accused of the murder; Tom denied to me that he ordered the massacre, or that he had anything to do with it. He accuses the people of a village about two miles away. No one here, however, believes him. I succeeded in getting the captain’s quadrant, tho ship’s articles, and a savings bank deposit book from the natives, which I now have in my possession, I was well received by them. Tom and his principal chief came on board, and I went on shore,

spent several hours amongst them, took their photographs, and came away loaded with {provisions. I’ll tell you the whole tale another day. “ On November 9th, Captain Milne, of the firm of Capella and Milne, arrived here in the Susanne. He has stationed two traders at Nodap or New Britain. The natives have tried to fire their house, but did not succeed. On the 30th Timoti, one of our teachers died. He had been ill since the day we landed here, and gradually sank under a complication of diseases. He was unmarried. He was fully prepared, and his death was a very peaceful one. “We have stationed teachers at Kaere, New Ireland, and one of them, Clemotama, has begun to preach. “ The stations at Nodup and Matupi (New Britain) are both occupied. The teachers have had fever and ague several times, but it {has yielded each time to proper treatment, and they now have faith in the virtues of quinine. “ I have explored a long line of coast on New Britain, from a point about 12 miles beyond Cape Palliser right down to Man Island. We have been twice round Cape Palliser; the other parts we have often visited. There is a large population on all that coast, and they seem quite friendly. By the way, the natives here are most positive in their assertions that there is a race of men with tails at a place called Kalili, quite close to where we were. They say they are dwarfs, and that the tail, which they represent as being hard and stiff, is an extension of the spinal bone, and that if the people wish to sit down they must first dig a hole to receive this caudal appendage. They quite scout the assertion that they must be monkeys. They ask, ‘Do monkeys talk ? or make taro plantations ? or fight with spears, as these men do V I tell the tale as it is told <o me, I shall be most happy to be introduced to one of them, and have promised no end of good things to anyone who will secure me that honor.

“ On Christmas day, we gave a feast of two pigs, taro, &c, &c, to the people here, and I took the opportunity of asking them to build a church. They don’t like work, and it has been a most difficult job to accomplish, but on the 28th January I had the pleasure of opening the first church to the new mission. We have now another ready for opening at Nodup and another is being erected at Matupi. They are not very grand buildings but it is a good beginning and I feel very thankful. We have had several cases of fever and ague amongst the teachers, and at one time I was afraid that wo were going to lose Mijieli, from a severe attack of fever. “ When I shall see you again is very doubtful, as I know of no opportunity unles Captain Fergusson calls. My mind, however, is quite easy, as I feel sure we are under Divine guidance and protection. I should, of course, like to go away now, but must wait and work.”