THE NOBLE SAVAGE OF THE NEW HEBRIDES.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 3624, 15 November 1897, Page 6

THE NOBLE SAVAGE OF THE NEW HEBRIDES.

The mubdeb, at Aoba. The new Hebrides, where for more than half a century the missionaries have worked, still yield evidence of their barbarity. A great deal has been accomplished since 1 855, the days of the John Knox, the first of. the Presbyterian missionary schooners. At that time the 50 islands of the group were in the clutches of a wild barbarity, which Dr Paton, the veteran missionary, declared, whpn he was driven from the island of Tanna, he had never dreamt possible. The latest contribution to the scroll of New Hebrides massacres comes from Aoba, an island overrun by fierce bush tribes. It was here that in 1879 the Wolverene landed a party and found the natives so inhospitable that the boats left suddenly only just in time to avoid a shower of poisoned arrows. The island records gives Aoba a bad name, and speaking generally it is one of the most avoided places in that part of the Pacific. But a trader went there some time since to establish himself, and if possible ingratiate himself into the good opinion of the Aoba natives, with the melancholy resnlt that he was brutally murdered. The statements of the natives are conflicting, but our Noumea correspondent recently wired that H.M.S. Tauranga has arrived there with one of the Aoba chiefs and his two sons on board as prisoners. This is the eleventh murder which the New Hebrides to its discredit within the past score of years. The Tauranga on being informed of the outrage went to Aoba, and at the village close to which Mr England's (the murdered man's) station was, landed a party. A hot pursuit took place, for the Tauranga men were determined to something more than firing of deserted shanties. They made things so warm that the natives surrended, and the chief and his two sons were taken. Several villages were fired, and it is said that this villainous and unapproachable island has received a much needed lesson. The chief and his boys will be tried by the joint (British and French) commission, and will probably be deported to some other island. Mr England had settled in the group several years ago, and had, in spite of advice, decided to try Aoba, believing that he would find as loyal natives as he had traded with in Aneityum. He was well-known in Sydney, where he formerly resided. Aoba Island was named Lepers Island by Bougainville, though the native name is Aoba. Bougainville, is believed to have seen some natives afflicted with a disease which he believed to be leprosy, hence the name. H.M.S. Basilisk, as far back as 1872, found the natives numerous and apparently friendly, though io a footnote to the Basilisk's report it is remarked that ' though they appear friendly it is not safe to land unarmed, and they must be approached with great caution. It would be unsafe for an unarmed vessel to approach Aoba. They are (at that date) unblushing cannibals, and go about quite nude.'- Sydney Morning Herald. While bathing at Scarborough recently, a youth dived into shnllo/r water and inadvertently buried bis head in the soft sand. bis legs sticking up in the air. Had it not been for bis father, who was close by, the youth would have been drowned, as it was, the sand crept into his and burst the drums, making him stone deaf. The old Chapel -of - Ease at Tonbridge Wells stands partly in Kent and partly in Sussex ; but more than that, it also stands in three parishes. When the clergyman leaves the vestry, he comes out of the parish of Frant, !in Sussex ; and if he is goiog te officiate at the altar, ho walks into the parish of Tunbridge, in Kent. If, on the other band, be is going to preach the sermon, he walks from Frant into the parish of Speldhuret.