several baptisms—visit papara again—coldness of the people—bitter efforts of the protestant ministers—natives visit me in secret—anti-mormon mass meeting—foolish and vicious scheme to ensnare the writer—it is easily defeated—return to papeete—more baptisms—departure of elder dunn—i am left alone—brethren come from tubuoi—elders appointed to labor in different islands—the writer assigned to the tuamotu group—leave on the elders' schooner, the ravai or fisher—meet with contrary winds—driven to various islands—encounter a violent storm—in great peril—vessel beyond control—storm calms down—reach tubuoi—first preaching of the gospel there, in 1844.
we reached our home at huaua on the 20th of march, and found all well. on the 23rd i baptized tereino and maioa, and on the 24th brother dunn baptized two other persons besides brother hamatua and two of his children. then i sailed for papara, after providing myself with the permit that i lacked on our previous visit. we stopped at taunua the first night, the 25th, having had to row all the way.
on the 26th we reached papara, where the people acted very coolly towards us. there was one friend, however, who dared invite us in and provide us with food and lodging. on inquiry, we learned that the young lady who had been ill and was healed at her baptism was sound and well, and had been so from the time she was baptized. we also learned that messrs. howe, chisholm, baff and davis had called the people together after the baptism, inquired of them where i was, had the town searched for me, and had sought diligently to learn if i had spoken against them or against the french government; but they failed to learn anything of this kind on which to base an accusation against me and had to content themselves by telling the people all the foul slanders they had heard against the mormons and joseph smith, and by warning the people against us, saying that if they took us in or bade us godspeed they would not be permitted to partake of the sacrament in their church, and if they went to hear us preach they would be excommunicated. they sent a delegation to the young lady whom i had baptized, to see if she had been healed, and through being intimidated she said no. her relatives had quarreled over the matter, some being in favor of her saying that she was not, while others said that she was healed. the report that the delegation made to their masters, however, was that she said she had not been healed; when i went to see her, she ran out to meet me, and told me that she had not been sick one day since she had been baptized.
by such means as those i have named, the ministers sought to turn the people against us, and strongly forbade them to show us any favors whatever; and when the natives could come secretly and talk with us they would explain, "now, if we come openly and investigate your doctrine and are not satisfied with it, then we will be turned out of society. for that reason we dare not receive you or come and talk openly with you. our hearts are good towards you, but we are watched by the police, so that we dare not be friendly with you where we can be seen."
as soon as the ministers learned that we had returned, they called another meeting, at which they seemed to take delight in abusing and vilifying the mormons in general and me in particular. when the meeting was over, they called two pretty young women, and privately told them to dress themselves as nicely as they could and perfume themselves and make themselves as attractive as possible, then to take their bibles and hymn books and get into conversation with the mormon missionary, iatobo (james). they were to be very sociable and friendly to me. they had been told also that they would learn that the mormons were licentious deceivers, and that my actions would show that i was a licentious rascal and would lead them astray. orders were also given them that when they had proved this they were to return and report to the ministers. i came into possession of this information regarding the scheme through the spirit of discernment, and by the confession of the parties themselves.
the young ladies came as instructed, and the moment they entered the door and i inhaled the perfumes i had the discernment of their mission and the instructions they were under from their ministers. nevertheless they were welcomed in and took seats just in front of and close to the writer, on a mat. in the blandest and most pleasant manner they began to make scripture inquiries, accepting every answer as final, and assenting to all i had to say. they became more and more sociable and bold, until at length one of them raised on her knees, and placing her open bible upon the writer's knee, at the same time looked him squarely in the face with her most pleasant smile. he at once moved his chair back, and said to them, "you have not come here with the object that you profess to come with, but your mission is a deceptive one, and you have been sent here by your ministers to try to deceive me, thinking to lead me into lewd and wicked practices that i am a stranger to. now, if you wish anything of that kind you must return to your masters who sent you, and tell them that if they wish you to be accommodated in that way, they will have to do it themselves, for mormon elders are not guilty of such practices, though they have proofs that the ministers are. and i exhort you to be ashamed and to repent of your sins, and be baptized for their remission, and you will know that what i have told you is true."
at this rebuke, they both confessed openly that every word i had said was true, and that they had been sent for no other purpose than the one i have stated. as they had come straight from the minister's house, they wondered how the writer could tell them so directly what their ministers had ordered them to do, and how he came to read their mission so accurately. they said, "no te varua tera" (that is of the spirit); for no one else could have told him so correctly. at that they took their leave, and i heard no more of them or their mission.
the ministers called another meeting on march 29th. i attended that, and after service asked permission to speak a few moments. this being granted by mr. davis, i merely gave notice that i was a minister of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, there on a mission to teach the true gospel, and if any wished to hear me i was at their service, if they would permit. there was no response, so a hymn was sung, and the people dispersed. at night a few came to hear me, but seemed to be under such restraint that there was no pleasure in talking to them.
we spent several days at the place without any success, owing to the great prejudice of the people, and the unwarranted hatred of their ministers. then we left for papeete, starting on april 2nd, and arriving at our destination at daylight on the 3rd. having had to row all the way, we were very tired, so stopped to get some needed rest. in the evening we baptized one person, maua. on the 6th we attended meeting with about twenty of the tuamotu saints, then the boat and the others of the party went home while i tarried till the next day, going home by land to hapape, where i found a boat bound direct for huaua, so i took passage on it, and was wafted there speedily.
it was on april 19th that i started for otumaro. on the 21st we got to that place, where i stayed while the others of the party made a visit to papara. on their return i joined them and proceeded to papeete, where i left the boat again and walked the remainder of the journey. the next day the rest of the party came up by sea; and on the 29th we baptized three more persons.
while at otumaro, some matia brethren came from hitia after a missionary or two. matia is a small island about ninety miles north of tahiti. brother dunn, being very tired of huaua, concluded that he would go with them, they taking his trunk and bedding on their shoulders and marching off, apparently in triumph. they insisted that i should go with them as well, but having been left in charge of the mission on tahiti, i did not feel at liberty to leave, as brother pratt had told me to remain there until the new schooner should arrive. therefore i turned alone to my missionary labors. on the 29th i baptized tuane; and at huaua on may 4th i baptized tafatua and tafai, who had been baptized by brother pratt; they confessed that they had been led astray, but desired to return to the true fold. the same day i administered the sacrament to twenty-one souls.
just at dark on may 12th, 1851, we heard a gun fired at sea. we hastened to the beach, and, sure enough, it was our long-looked-for brethren on their new schooner, which was named the ravai (fisher.) brother john hawkins having joined us, he and hamatua went off in a canoe to get the news. they found all well. next day we joined them in the harbor of papeete, and remained with them on board the schooner and wrote letters.
on the 15th brothers pratt, john layton, hawkins and the wives of the last two, as well as some of the native brethren, sailed in a whaleboat for huaua, while we stopped at hapape and took a nap, and at 2 o'clock a.m. started back, reaching our destination at daylight on the 16th. we rested on the 17th, and on the 18th, in council, elders thomas whitaker, julian moses and two native brethren were appointed to labor as missionaries on tahiti; elders john hawkins, alviras hanks, simeon a. dunn and james s. brown were appointed to labor among the inhabitants of the tuamotu group of islands.
on may 19th, brothers pratt, layton and hawkins set out for papeete, and at 3 p.m. brothers t. whitaker and pohe, with their families, started for pueu in a boat belonging to some of their relatives. on the 21st, the schooner—the new one built at tubuoi, and commanded by benjamin f. grouard—called with the brethren who went down the day before on board. she was bound for anaa, two hundred and ten miles east, or nearly so. when they got opposite huaua, captain grouard came ashore and said they desired me to accompany them, as they intended to call by tubuoi before returning to tahiti.
in fifteen or twenty minutes i was ready, and we soon boarded the little vessel. she was thirty-five or forty tons burden, had poor accommodations on board, and was insufficiently supplied with provisions. we started, but the wind being contrary, we soon had to change our course, so that on the 24th we sighted riroa, and on the 25th we touched at uratua and got some cocoanuts. in consequence of the strong current there, we could not make much headway, but in trying to beat around it we sighted anutua. on the next tack we came to aunua, where we went ashore and found a small branch of the church. the saints were very kind to us, showing every favor they could, and pressing us to allow one of our number to remain with them. but it was not considered proper to grant the request, so we held two meetings and preached to them, giving them all the cheer and comfort that we could, and then left. they seemed to appreciate our visit and counsel as only latter-day saints can.
again we sailed for anaa, but the strong wind and waves prevailed against us, so that we were driven so far from our course that we sighted faraua on may 31st, and on june 1st we encountered a very heavy storm, commencing at 5:30 and continuing till 11 p.m. when it seemed to abate a little. at 7 p.m. all sails had been taken in save the foresail, which was close-reefed, and as the vessel was beyond our control, our best seamen being willing to admit that they could do nothing for us, the helm was lashed down, and all hands went below. the hatch was securely fastened down, leaving only two of our best and bravest men lashed on deck with slack rope. everyone seemed to realize our peril, and that we must rely alone on the almighty to save us from destruction. there was land all around, and the wind and currents were so strong that it was impossible, with the means at our command, to direct the course of our little fisher. i must leave the friendly reader to draw his own conclusions as to the condition we were in, for i have not the ability to describe it. suffice it to say that through the mercies of the lord we were spared to find ourselves perfectly landlocked by three islands, namely, anutua, apatai and aunua. again getting control of the vessel, we put into the harbor at apatai, that being considered the safest place. there we found some church members, and were treated very kindly. we remained there until the 6th, holding meetings and preaching to the people.
apatai is one of the islands of poison fish, and we felt the effects of these slightly before we left. we had a fair wind for anaa on the 6th, when we started, but it soon died away and we were left to drift with a very strong current. on the 7th we found ourselves drifted down by the side of anutua. having some natives of that island on board they were sent ashore. jonathan crosby went with them, and returned with the boat. from thence we had a pleasant voyage to anutua. there we went ashore and preached to the people. brothers grouard's and hawkins' wives also landed.
we left them on the 9th. and sailed for tubuoi. having a fair and strong wind, we were wafted to matia, where we left some passengers belonging to that island. we also took in a small supply of provisions, as our store was very scanty. then we continued towards tubuoi, having a favorable wind till we got within eighty miles of our destination. then a strong headwind forced us to change our course, so that we put into a small island called loivivi. this was on the 17th. the island does not exceed four miles in length and two in width; there were three hundred and eighty-three people living on it. they had the wildest and fiercest look of any that we had met on our cruise, yet they behaved very well to us. on the 18th we sailed again for tubuoi, and on the 20th we cast anchor at that island, which lies between the twenty-third and twenty-fourth parallels, south latitude. it is only twelve or fifteen miles in length, and from a distance resembles the tops of mountains in a plain. its inhabitants numbered four hundred, all told.
it was on this island that the gospel was first preached in this dispensation, in the islands of the pacific ocean. this preaching was by elder addison pratt, july 12, 1844. he was accompanied by elders noah rogers and b. f. grouard, they having been sent by the prophet joseph smith, from nauvoo, hancock county, illinois, u.s.a., in the year 1843. knowlton hanks was one of the missionaries who left nauvoo, but he died on the voyage from boston to tubuoi, after the vessel had rounded cape horn.
