October 27, 1852, we sailed for Tahiti. On the 29th we encountered a very heavy storm, so severe that we lost all of our sails, and had to lash two of our strong men on deck with slack rope so that they might fasten down the hatch and companion ways. The rest of us had to go below, for the sea was lashed into a foamy mass as white as snow. It did not seem possible for us to survive the terrible ordeal. As in almost all similar cases, the wicked will pray—that is in times of great danger, if at no other time—so the natives who went below, some fifty-nine in number, divided themselves into three praying parties. One of these occupied the bow, one stationed itself amidships, and one was in the stern of the vessel. Then a man in one party would pray at the top of his voice, and so on with each party in turn. Thus they prayed, passing the word back and forth, as long as the sea raged in its fury.
In all of our travels together, those in charge of the vessel had never honored me with a request to attend prayers, or once called me to ask a blessing, but now, in our great peril, one of the old priests found his way in the dense darkness to my berth, and said: "Iatobo, you pray to your God of power, to spare us, that we may not die in this great sea." I told him no, for I had done my praying on land, before I had boarded the schooner, and now I had all that I could do to hold myself in the berth, that I might not be thrown out and killed. He returned with a grunt, and commanded the rest to pray. These conditions continued for six or seven hours, when the wind abated, and the little schooner pitched and rolled as if she would go to the bottom.
November 1, 1852, we sighted a reef called Hereheretue. On the 9th we came in view of Metia, and on the 10th we went into the harbor of Papeete, Tahiti. It was on the 11th when, through the intervention of Mr. Kelly, American consul, I got permission to land. The same gentleman gave me an introduction to one Charles Hill, a carpenter, who was rather a backslider from the Mormon Church. Still, he was very friendly, and said that if I would assist him in carpenter work he would board and lodge me until I could get a passage home. Mr. Kelly counseled me not to be alone anywhere, as a watch would be kept over me every minute I was on the island. He said he would not be responsible if I preached or traveled out of the town, as I was liable to be shot the moment that I was found alone. Said he, "The French are more bitter towards you than ever. They seem to think you would turn everything upside down if you were allowed to run at large. I have never seen them so excited over anything as they are about you. They are actually afraid of you, for fear that if you were permitted to go among the people again they would revolt at once, and there would be another war." He also said that he would arrange matters so that I could go with Mr. Hill to and from his work, and if we kept close together, he thought it all safe, as Mr. Hill was well known; but that I had better stop in his office till he could see the governor, and I could go out to Mr. Hill's in the evening with him, as he lived in the suburbs of the town. Mr. Kelly also told me there had been more trouble at Anaa, and a number of our people from there were in prison on Tahiti; and further, that I was held responsible for all the trouble on that island.
It having been arranged for me to stop with Mr. Hill, he called for me in the evening, and next morning I went to work with him at his business. In the meantime the news of my arrival on Tahiti spread very fast, and the sons of the prisoners from Anaa, who had followed their parents in disguise, and could visit the prisoners one at a time, put pencil and paper into their hands on the sly, so that they could write to me. Five or six of the young men dressed themselves as the regular "toughs" of the town, and met Mr. Hill and me, one of them bearing a note in his hand. When they got near us they began to dance and sing in a very rude manner, acting as if they would not give any of the road to us. Then they pushed the one with the note against me, and as he passed it into my hand the rest circled clear around so as to obscure me from two gen d' armes who followed us day and night. Then the young men would shout and laugh as if they had done it to annoy me in particular. Thus I received letters from the natives. The young men would meet us again, and I would pass to them the answers, while they would appear to the looker-on to be running against me purposely, to insult and annoy me. Sometimes I would try to show my displeasure by scolding at them. In this way a regular correspondence was carried on between the unfortunate prisoners and myself, during my stay. In that manner I learned that there were twenty-three of them in prison, there being ten Elders, five Priests, four Teachers and four Deacons. On the 12th there were eight more prisoners brought from the island of Anaa, six brethren and two sisters. All of the thirty-one were put to work on the steep side of a mountain, to make a road up to a fort. The hillside was so steep that some of them fell and were hurt quite seriously. Sometimes the prisoners were beaten by the guards that attended them. Their provisions were very poor, and they had not even enough of that.
I will again mention my former persecutors of the island of Raivavai, with whom I traveled to Tahiti, for they came to me in great trouble, and said their schooner had been so badly damaged in the storm we had been in that the French had condemned it, and would not allow them to go to sea again. They were four hundred miles from home, without money, provisions or friends. They very humbly asked my advice, which I gave freely, telling them to state their case to the French authorities, and these would be bound to find a way to have them returned home and give them support until they did so. This pleased them very much; they seemed to appreciate the counsel of one whom they had sat in judgment and helped to pass sentence upon, ordering him to be burned. Doubtless some of them had aided in gathering the fuel to make the fire for the burning. I condoled with them as much as the conditions would admit of; and when I came to part with them they seemed to feel, and in fact said, that I had been a true friend to them. They wept as though they were my near relatives. Thus returning good for evil brought blessings.
CHAPTER XXXV.
WATCHED CLOSELY BY GEN D' ARMES—EXPERIENCE WHEN AT PRAYER—TAKE DINNER WITH REV. MR. HOWE—DINING WITH A CATHOLIC BISHOP—IMPATIENCE OF THE GOVERNOR—LEAVE TAHITI ON THE ABYSSINIA—CURIOSITY OF PASSENGERS AND SAILORS—DIFFICULTY IN GETTING OUT OF THE HARBOR—HEAR OF MORE TROUBLE AT ANAA—CAPTAIN'S COMMENT ON MORMON BOOKS—A WATERSPOUT—CROSSING THE EQUATOR—ENCOUNTER A TERRIBLE STORM—A TIDAL WAVE—SHIP SPRINGS A LEAK—PANIC ON BOARD—ALL BANDS TO THE PUMPS—STOPPING A LEAK—FAIR WEATHER AGAIN.
SO far as my own conduct was concerned, now that I was again on the island of Tahiti, I continued with Mr. Hill. Two gen d' armes followed us or hung around where we were at work all day, and at night tramped about the house where we lived. At daylight the night guards disappeared in the brush. One morning I stepped three or four rods into the brush, for my morning devotions, and as I was engaged with my eyes closed I heard a rustling in the leaves. Supposing it was the hogs that ran around there, I paid no attention until I was through, when I saw two officers standing within fifteen feet of and in front of me, gazing straight into my face. They were heavily armed, but did not interfere with me, so I returned to the house, while they mounted the fence and sat there till we went to work, when they followed us up as usual.
During this time I met with Mr. Howe, the presiding official of the Protestant mission on the islands. He appeared to feel very sympathetic toward me, and invited me to take dinner with him and his good old lady. I accepted the invitation, and he made me a present of a Tahitian Bible, also of a Tahitian and English dictionary. He is the same Mr. Howe spoken of before, when he was so radically opposed to me, but now he seemed charitable and kind. After I left his house, and was passing along in sight of the Catholic bishop's office, the bishop sent a servant after me, inviting me in to dine and wine. Accordingly, I called, finding him a very polite gentleman. He met me at the door of his library, took me by the hand and courteously led me to a seat, then set out some wine, saying he was very sorry that he had but one glass of wine in the room, though he set out two glasses, but poured all the wine into one, which he presented to me. At that moment the saying of the Lord Jesus came to my mind, to be harmless as doves but wise as serpents. I adopted as much French politeness as I was capable of, divided the wine into the two glasses, presented him the one with the most wine in, telling him that I could not think of drinking alone—that he must join me or I should decline his very kind offer. I thought that if he could stand to drink the largest half of the wine, I could afford to try the least half, and as I preferred him to drink his first, I delayed until he had swallowed it, when I drank to his health. We had a sociable chat, and he insisted on my stopping to supper, when he would have plenty of wine. I told him I could not, as my attendants, the gen d' armes, were waiting patiently for me. He next presented me two books, telling me that they would show how the priesthood had descended from Peter down to the present pope. The books being in the French language, were of no use to me, so I bade him good-bye.
I learned from Mr. Kelly that the governor was impatient at my stay on the island, so I disposed of everything that I could spare, raised sixty dollars thereby, and prepared to sail on the English ship Abyssinia, from Sydney, Australia, and commanded by Captain George Gordon.