Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/256

226 FIJI AKD THE FIJIANS. General attention was thus thoroughly roused to the Missionaries and their teachings, and the people began, at the same time, to canvass the claims of their own priests. The many failures which these in- spired prophets made were collected and discussed; and the many promises of cure to the sick, or fine weather or winds to the people generally, which had never been fulfilled, now constituted the subject of grave inquiry. To increase the danger in which the priestly system stood, the Missionaries were daily gaining influence of the most solid kind. The Mission-houses were more often visited by the people, who got there so many things to improve their condition and increase their comfort. And by this time the Missionaries could talk to them in their own language, which greatly enlarged the opportunity of doing good. Thus the work became settled, and struck root quietly but firmly. Preaching was held regularly in the houses of converts, in four towns on the -coast. Day-schools, held for an hour and a half at daybreak, were also established, and written books added to the scanty supply coming from the Tongan press. Scripture-Readers, Exhorters, and Class-Leaders were raised up ; the Missionaries regularly visited each town, and the number of converts gradually increased. At the end of this first year of the Mission, seventy-nine adults, and seventeen children were received into the Christian church by baptism, and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered to two hundred and eighty persons, eighty of whom had lately come from Tonga. In the mean time the domestic condition of the Mission families became somewhat painful. The supply of "trade" — articles of barter — ^^vhich they had brought, proved too small. Everything they re- quired had to be obtained by this means, and the expense was hea^y. Houses and fences were not unfrequently bloAvn down or greatly damaged by hurricanes. Servants were not very bright, and had to be multiplied accordingly, while their clumsiness destroyed many things that could not be replaced. Before the year's supply was otit, the Missionaries and their families had to use musty flour for months, and suflTered many privations, which, no doubt, affected the health of some. The frequent visits of the natives, whom they were careful not to offend, proved also a severe tax on their store, as well as their time. In June, 1836, the "Active," have taken five Missionaries to the Friendly Islands, went forward with supplies and letters to Fiji. All were landed safely, to the great joy and relief of those to whom they came. On leaving for the Friendly Islands, this vessel was wrecked within forty miles of Lakemba, but all hands were saved. This and