first sabbath in tahiti—meet several persons whom i knew over forty years before—how they remembered me—seek permission to hold public meetings—widow of my old friend, john layton, calls on me—other friends—preach to the josephites—governor refuses to permit us to hold public meetings—get advice of the united states consul—a lawyer's counsel—josephites tell of b. f. grouard—i explain how he had turned into the wrong path—the church never disorganized—missionary labors—greeting a french admiral—early missionaries to tahiti—their severe experiences—sixty-fourth anniversary of my birth—learn of mormons who were hanged for having killed a policeman in the trouble when i was arrested on my first mission to the islands—meet a native of pitcairn's island—his story—visit tautila—severe voyage—a baptism—sail for tubuoi—among strangers—celebration of a french fete day—dine with the governor—people become less unfriendly to us—breaking of the clouds—baptize twenty-four persons—encouraging results of missionary efforts.
our first sabbath in tahiti (june 5, 1892,) we attended the josephite meeting. the service was very brief, and the people seemed worried. next day several of the josephites called on me, and after a lengthy conversation told me they knew i spoke the truth to them. i was also visited by a number of friends who were young when i was on the islands before, but who remembered me. one who came from anaa said he was present when i first landed on that island, and he knew of my labors and my having been arrested by the french. he remembered me by my voice, and said the people who heard me then would know me in the same way, if they did not by seeing me. many natives came and said they were glad to see and hear me, though they had been born since i left the country.
a mr. henry, a son of a former minister of the church of england, called, and i loaned him a voice of warning. he invited me to spend the evening with himself and wife, but i had an appointment. i went next evening, however, and passed a very enjoyable time, as i did on several occasions afterwards. during that week i was visited by very many people. mr. atwater gave us the privilege of holding public meetings in his house, but we understood it was necessary to get the permission of the director and secretary of the interior for the province, so mr. atwater and i called. that official said we were to submit the application to the governor, and he would notify mr. atwater of the reply. on saturday evening i talked on the market grounds to a large number of people, several of whom recognized me as having been on the island forty years before. that evening, at the wharf, i also met with an aged man from anaa, who had known me on my former mission, and who said that if i would go there the people would follow my teachings.
on sunday, the 12th, who should come to see me but mrs. layton, a native, the widow of my old friend john layton. i had seen her in san francisco. my own sister could not have been more pleased to see me, and i was very glad to meet her. she gave me the best history of my former friends on the islands that i was able to obtain. next morning i took a short stroll, then returned to the house. the other elders distributed tracts among the english-speaking residents of papeete, and i received another call from mrs. layton, who brought her little granddaughters and also a man—the son of an old friend of mine—who said that on my former visit to the island i had named him iatobo, after my own tahitian name.
it was while taking breakfast, on the 14th, with a mr. mervin, some of whose children had been blessed in the church, that an old lady who came up, recognized me, and shook hands so persistently that it seemed as if she did not intend to let go, and did not do so for some minutes. she had seen the french officers take me away from anaa. the old lady had known me on sight, though forty years had passed. the same day i met an aged man who also recognized me from having known me before. that same evening i was given the privilege of addressing the josephite meeting and told them how and by whom the gospel had been brought to them, and which was the true church. i tendered my services to preach in their meeting house, but my offer was not accepted.
on the 16th i started with elder seegmiller to visit the old prison where i had been incarcerated by the french, but the distance being too great i had to give up the journey. next day we received from the governor a reply to our application for permission to hold public meetings. our request was denied, the reason assigned being that we believed in polygamy. we had no disposition to let the matter rest there, so we called on the united states consul for advice. he told us to make application in writing for permission to preach, and if refused to submit it to him. this we did on the 20th, and next day received an unfavorable answer. the governor asked what we taught, and we told him. we stated that we did not teach polygamy. the reason he then gave for refusing us the permission desired was that there were enough religions there and he did not want another established. mr. atwater suggested that we consult with mr. bonett, formerly director and secretary of the interior, and an able lawyer. we did so, and he informed us that it was not necessary to get permission to preach, but that we must notify the mayor or justice of the peace of the time and place of our meetings.
to return a few days: on sunday, the 19th of june, we attended a josephite meeting, where all were friendly but the presiding officer; yet after meeting he told us to come and eat, sent a half-caste to wait on us, and otherwise was quite attentive. after dinner we talked to the audience, who appeared well pleased. they said b. f. grouard had set native songs to american tunes, and that he had also sent letters endorsing the josephite church; he had been one of the first to preach the true gospel to their fathers, as i had been, and they were confused at my coming, for they could not refute what i had said. i was under the necessity of telling them how that grouard had turned into the wrong path—an action which they admitted was quite possible. after our talk this day we felt that we had done our full duty towards those josephites in explaining to them the true condition of affairs.
on the afternoon of the 20th my old friend mahana toro called, but did not seem so friendly as in former times. he was about seventy years of age, and very much broken in health. he also had joined the josephites under the misapprehension that they were of the same church as i was. i told him the difference, that the josephite organization was distinct, and was not the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, which never had been disorganized. he then seemed to feel more kindly towards me, and visited me on subsequent occasions, bringing gifts of oranges.
my health was very poor, and at times i was quite ill. i was able most of the time, however, to get around, and to preach to the people, either those who called on me, or those i had the privilege of visiting. my missionary companions were also energetic in their labors. occasionally we had the opportunity to extend our acquaintance into prominent circles of society. for instance, on june 27th, we attended a select party in honor of the french admiral. there was a grand illumination. i also visited captains of vessels engaged in traffic between the islands, and had pleasant chats with them on the principles of the gospel. i did not fail to talk to the natives whenever occasion offered, and this was frequent. on july 2nd, in the market square, a large crowd gathered around me as i preached, and most of them acknowledged the truth of the principles i taught. then, lest the police stop me for raising an excitement, i changed to asking questions, as in conversation, so no offense could be taken by the officers.
i learned an interesting bit of missionary history on july 3rd. this day, i met mr. j. s. henry, who said his father was one of the first christian missionaries on the islands, having come to tahiti in 1797. they had a very hard time of it. for years their clothing was made of the bark of the bread-fruit tree, and they had gone barefooted for a long time, their shoes and clothing having worn out. they had been five years without receiving any supply from their society. my informant was born on the island. i loaned him a copy of the deseret news, which contained sermons by president wilford woodruff and by elder c. w. penrose, who was editor of the paper at that time.
monday, july 4, 1892, was the sixty-fourth anniversary of my birth, and i was spending it in far off tahiti. i had but few callers that day, and consequently but few congratulations. i continued my efforts to make myself more proficient in the tahitian language, and from day to day proceeded with the duties that rested on me. july 12th an aged man tematu called on me, saying that he was from the island of anaa, and had been my servant on the occasion of my former visit. he told me of the four members of the church that were hanged by the french; for in the trouble then they had killed a policeman and had wounded severely a catholic priest. the names of the executed men were tefaitina, reifara, maru, mafeuta and temutu.
among the very aged people i met was one who called on me on july 18, timou, aged one hundred and three years. i also met, at a blacksmith shop, on july 21st, a native of pitcairn's island, william christenson. he was a descendant of one of the mutineers of the british ship bounty. he told the story as follows: the bounty sailed from england in the year 1689, the company intending to collect plants from the south sea islands. they called at tahiti, and made their collection, then got some natives and their wives and some other women on board, and put out to sea. fletcher christenson, first mate, and some of the crew mutinied, getting control of the vessel. they put the captain, whose name was blythe, and those who wished to go with him, into the best boat, supplied them with such articles as they desired which were at hand, and set them adrift. this party subsequently reached england, while the first mate and crew ran the ship into a small bay at pitcairn's island, where they wrecked the vessel, taking the supplies on shore. all went well for a time, till the native men became jealous of the white men and killed most of them. afterwards, at the instance of the remaining white men, the women killed the native men who had escaped in the former trouble, so there were left but two of the white men and the women. these, and after them, their descendants, lived on the island, which was but a few miles in circumference. the population increased to about four hundred souls, when the british government moved them to norfolk island. some of them returned to pitcairn's, and at that time (1892) there were one hundred and thirty-six souls on the island, every one belonging to the seventh day adventists, and all speaking the english language. mr. christenson said that the only names of the mutinous crew he remembered besides those of the captain and his own progenitor, were john adams, —— mckay, john mills, isaac brown and —— yindle. christenson's story does not harmonize precisely with the generally accepted history of the affair, but i have given it as he related it.
for a considerable time we had endeavored to get passage for some of the elders to the island of tuamotu, but were unsuccessful, so we divided papeete into missionary districts, elder damron and my son elando taking the east side, and elders seegmiller and jones the western district. during the latter part of july and the greater portion of august, i was quite ill, and was troubled greatly with neuralgia. on august 14th, we applied to the josephites for permission to speak in their house, but it was refused, resulting in quite a discussion among the members of the josephite congregation, some of whom were quite friendly to us. on the 23rd my son elando and i left papeete, by invitation, for tautila, going in a boat in which there were four other men and a woman, the latter being a sister of the owner of the craft. when we got off haapape the wind became so high that the men were obliged to row for the shore, and we found refuge in the home of terumana, a native, who fed us on native food and gave each of us a good bed.
we had to remain there till 11 p.m. on the 25th, when we started to sea again, the night being pitch dark. the woman made me as comfortable as was possible in the small boat, and all went well for a time with the exception of seasickness. then it came on to rain very hard, and we were all wet. early in the morning we ran into shore, and the men in charge of the boat asked us to pray, which i did. we then proceeded on our way with a cocoanut each for breakfast, and at half-past eight p.m., on the 26th, reached the mouth of a river on tautila.
our host was mr. hiotina, and his wife's name was teumere. she was an invalid, her frame almost a skeleton, but she was a very bright woman intellectually. her memorizing of scripture passages was truly a marvel. the next day after our arrival was saturday, and many people came out of curiosity to see us. on sunday, the 28th, about sixty people assembled, and our host requested us to hold religious services, which we did. while i was preaching on faith, repentance, and baptism, taking my text from the third chapter of matthew, an old lady went over to my son, who was near the door, and requested baptism. this was the first application of the kind made to us on the island. the lady had been a member of the church, but had become negligent. at 5 p.m. that day she was baptized by elder elando brown, and i confirmed her a member of the church, there being many people present, among them a protestant minister.
we stayed on tautila until september 9th, visiting among the people and preaching and talking to them, as opportunity afforded, though we could not get a house to preach in. on the 9th we returned to papeete, the voyage being very rough and trying. i could hardly stand on my crutches when we landed, at 10 p.m.
on the 11th we arranged for four of us to go to tubuoi, but the governor informed the captain that he could take but two white passengers, so on august 15th elder seegmiller and i left on a vessel bound for the island named. the voyage lasted till the 20th and was decidedly uncomfortable. we did not have sufficient food, there was no bedding, and the water on board was filthy. worn and exhausted, we were glad to get ashore at tapuai, where we were coldly greeted. we secured a comfortable lodging room, so far as appearances were concerned, and plenty of fleas for bed-fellows. our room-mate was a young man named alexander drolett, interpreter for the french captain of a government schooner that was lying in the harbor. there we met tapuni, a native josephite preacher who had been on the island about five months. he tried to be sociable, but was ill at ease, apparently being discomfited by our arrival. we found the people generally very distant, as if they did not wish us there. mr. drolett, however, was kind and sociable, and we had the privilege of explaining to him the nature of our calling on the islands.
september 22, 1892, was the one hundredth anniversary of the first french republic, and a feast and holiday had been proclaimed. flags were hoisted, and the people gathered to the feast. we were among those invited, and were seated at the table with the captain of the french schooner and his interpreter, and the governor and his wife, also tapuni. about ninety persons were at the feast. dinner was served in french and native styles blended. this was followed by singing, and by dancing and contortions of the old heathen fashion, until i was worn out.
the following day the french schooner left, and elder seegmiller and i sent a letter to our brethren at papeete. as we were in the house a policeman called and gazed at us for a time, then left without speaking. next came the native governor, tahuhuetoma, who entered without noticing me, but i slapped him on the shoulder and asked him if he had eyes, whereat he spoke, but had little to say. then came a native, tehaheatihi, from the village of mahu, on the south side of the island. he was very friendly, and said he had joined the josephites but had discovered his mistake. i was quite ill, so could not accept his invitation to accompany him to mahu, except on the condition that he furnish a conveyance, which he promised to try to do. our landlord, however, told us not to trouble, but to remain till sunday, when we would all go to mahu, and could speak to the people there. he said tapuni was not pleased, but that made little difference.
next day was saturday, the 24th—the occasion of greater kindness to us from the natives than previously; for two children aged ten and twelve years brought us some food, as did also the governor's wife. on sunday further friendship was displayed, and the people came to ask us questions; but we were unable to go to mahu, and were refused the privilege of speaking at the religious services in the place where we were. on monday, however, we went to mahu, where we met twelve to fifteen men, with whom we had a pleasant visit, talking to them quite freely.
during that week we met a number of people who exhibited a kindly feeling towards us in conversation. some applied for baptism, but i advised them to wait. by the end of the week the clouds over the mission began to break. when sunday came there was a religious feast, but we were not allowed to take part, so, with about five natives, held services of singing, prayer and conversation. again in the afternoon we had a meeting at which about thirty persons were present, and i explained how the authority had continued in the church from the prophet joseph to the present organization. at that meeting elder seegmiller spoke publicly in the native tongue for the first time. there were several applications for baptism, and on the following tuesday, october 4th, elder seegmiller baptized twenty-four persons, whom i confirmed members of the church. thus the missionary work on the island was opened up again, with a fair start for prosperity.
