Life of a Pioneer: Being the Autobiography of James S. Brown

by James S. Brown

I turned and gave my attention to some writing that was necessary, and the crowd became unusually quiet. In a few minutes a strong rushing or movement among the people attracted my attention, and as I turned to face the people there appeared to be an ashy paleness over the faces of the whole assembly. All seemed terrified and speechless. At that moment an aged couple, a man and his wife, entered the door and went straightway to where the sleeping infant lay. They bowed down over it and kissed it, and then went through some ancient heathen ceremony that I could not understand. Then they walked direct to their canoes and sailed across the lake to where they had come from. From that moment the relatives of the child began to mourn and say that it would die; and sure enough, inside of an hour it was a corpse. The parents were asked why they had lost faith and given up the child. They said the old people who had kissed the babe had power with evil spirits, and had afflicted it in the first place; that their power had been broken by the Priesthood, and they could not reunite it with the babe until they could come and touch it; and when they had done that, the parents and all concerned lost faith, and could not resist the influence that came with the old pair of witches, as we think they would be called by some civilized people. I must confess it was a strange thing to me. I had never before witnessed anything so strange.

It was on the 27th of September that the child died. On the same day a Scotchman came and brought me a few sea biscuits. I was very thankful to him for the favor, for bread was such a rarity in that part of the country as to give a man some satisfaction in seeing it, even though he might not have the pleasure of eating it. Thanks to the benevolent Scotchman. I regret that I have forgotten his name. The next day I preached on the resurrection of the dead, and baptized and confirmed eighteen persons into the Church.

Before leaving my reminiscences of this place, I will narrate two incidents of some note to me. In one, we were called to see a man who had been confined to his room the greater part of a year with a swelling in his hip and thigh. On examination it was found that his whole hip and thigh were filled with a thick and very noxious pus. No one in the village dared to lance it, but when I told him his condition he insisted that I should cut it whether it killed or cured. I hesitated to comply with his wish until all his immediate relatives had been consulted, and had given their assent. Otherwise, the superstition of the people was so great that if in the operation the patient succumbed the operator would have the gravest responsibility to meet. But when all concerned had given sanction, and each had assumed his or her responsibility, I performed the operation most successfully, the wound discharging at least six pints of the most offensive matter, and the patient being greatly relieved from his terrible suffering. The operation was performed with a penknife, for in that country at that time the only surgical instrument ever used for cutting was a shark's tooth or a scale from a broken bottle.

In this case the operation seemed to the people very little less than a miracle. The news thereof spread all over the island, insomuch that the operator acquired much practice in similar cases, such as swollen jaws, boils, carbuncles, etc., and though he performed many operations, he never received one cent as pay. If the people had toothache, he was called on and performed the operation of extraction, in some instances using a rusty nail, or any kind of an old iron, in place of a hammer or mallet, to punch the tooth out. His best dentist tool was his rifle bullet mold, using both ends for forceps. He never failed to give satisfaction, for there were neither dentists nor surgeons in that part of the world.

The other incident, and a very singular one, which occurred at that place was this: On one occasion seven very rough characters came into our sacrament meeting. Some of them were said to be from an adjacent island. They came, took seats at the back of the hall, and behaved very rudely, making loud remarks and threats about the young ladies of the choir. When they partook of the sacrament they said that when the meeting was out they would administer ihe sacrament in a very different manner to that in which the Mormons did it. Sure enough, at the close of the meeting they pushed along through the congregation till they came to the young ladies, and made wicked propositions to them, which were very quickly spurned. Then they passed on, still making their boasts of what they would do at nightfall. But they failed in carrying out their threats, for in a very short time three of them were stricken down with violent cramps, so terrible that all three were corpses before the next morning. The other four had strong symptoms of the same complaint, and inside of a week they were dead also. The people said it was the power of evil spirits that had been sent to destroy them, that they might not be permitted to carry out their wicked purposes. The whole people were so excited that they shot off guns, blew horns, built large fires, prayed and shouted in wild confusion, to drive away the evil spirits; and many people were smitten with sickness and some died.

On the 29th of September we sailed for Putuhara. The wind blew a gale, and we had a fearful passage, but succeeded in reaching our destination in safety, and in time for evening meeting, when we preached to a large congregation. October 1st, I baptized and confirmed three persons. On the same day the roughest people of the island assembled to feast and dance. It seemed that to quarrel and fight was the principal number on their program, and they appeared to indulge in everything that was wicked. They killed pigs, chickens and dogs, roasted all alike, and ate them with great relish. They also ran through the streets with torchlights and firebrands, and the confusion was so great and turbulent that it looked more like an actual battle of savages than a dance. All ages participated, from the child of tender years up to the old grayheaded man and woman, all of them two-thirds naked, and some of the children entirely nude.

I had seen Indians in their warpaint and dances, but this excelled in confused savage deeds anything I ever beheld before. It seemed that they never knew what order meant. Yet, strange to say, at the first tap of the church bell they reminded me of a turkey gobbler which, when in full strut, seeing a dog run at him, drops his feathers so suddenly that he does not look like the same bird. So it was with that savage-looking lot. At the first tap of the bell they became as silent as if dead, then retreated to their hiding places, and not another yell was heard from any of them, so great was their reverence for religious services. At one time, though, it did seem that they could not be silenced short of bloodshed, for there were two opposing parties mixed up together.

When the confusion was straightened out and peace apparently restored, the parties separated, only to come together again later, with more roast pigs, chickens and dogs. Then they ate of their feast until full, when some unwise person of one party made an insulting remark about the other party. Quickly the participants in the feast formed for battle, armed with clubs and stones. At that moment one man from each party ran for the ormatua (missionary). I went out and stepped up on to a large chest, at the same time calling aloud for peace. Strange as it may seem, although their clubs and stones were raised to strike fatal blows, and the women and children were shrieking and crying, the moment the natives recognized me among them they dropped their ugly weapons and listened, and the spokesman of each party came forward to plead his particular case. I caught the spirit of the situation and addressed them briefly on the subject of peace, order and good will to all, and exhorted them to leave their grievances to two or more of their cooler and wiser men to settle. This they agreed to do; then they joined forces and made an attack on the writer, not for blood, but of love and respect. Men and women seized on to him, embracing him and shaking his hands until he was nearly smothered and almost borne to the ground.

I would not have it understood that this great reverence and respect was shown to me for any superiority that I would claim; but it was a man's calling as a minister of the Gospel which they held sacred before the Lord. So long as he did not betray their confidence, the minister's influence was almost unbounded, and with all their faults the natives had many most estimable qualities.

From this great excitement, and the accounts that he had heard from time to time, the writer was led to inquire into the manner of warfare, the traditions and the superstitions, as also into the causes for and cannibalism of the islanders. Their wars usually had an origin in very trivial causes, such as family quarrels, thefts, politics and disputes over land or over fishing waters. At one time the islands had a dense population, and the strong would go on the warpath for conquest, one village or island being pitted against another. Their ariis (kings), as they call them—I think it would be more proper to designate them as chiefs, as the Indians do—attain power through brave and heroic acts, and the great havoc they make among their adversaries. Their weapons consisted chiefly of spears made from fish bone and hard wood, stones and slings, clubs, and a rudely fashioned glove made by winding bark and shark's teeth together in such a way as to have the teeth stand out thickly on the inside of the hand. With this latter weapon they would grapple with and tear out each other's entrails. They had rude drums and some kind of whistles for musical instruments.