LONELY MISSIONARIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15551, 7 March 1914, Page 8

LONELY MISSIONARIES.

WORK ON MOTA ISLAND.

Romance and unostentatious heroism are blended in the story of the work of two lady missionariesnow in Auckland on furlough—among the Me lanes of the Islands of Mota. The only white women living on the island, Miss Coomb and Miss Cooper—the latter was at one time a parishioner of St. Sepulchre's, Auckland— have devot their lives to a ministry which includes the healing of the physical ills of the people under their spiritual charge, who number gome 400.

Miss Coomb, who has written a book descriptive «' the islands in which her life is spent, is an admirer of the Meluneeian character which, though occasionally revealing its original barbaric traits, is generally speaking, amiable, tractable, and attractive. That honesty is one of the conspicuous virtues of these native races would appear from Miss Coomb's statement that the missionary never dreams of locking the door at night, and that the trustful spirit is mutual. In countenance more dusky than the Maori, they are yet little related to the negroid type, being more akin to the Asiatic than the African. Miss Coomb declared last .evening that though sometimes feeling lonely, she and her fellow-worker are quite happy in their work, so much so that they are returning to it about the end of this month. The climate, though tropical in character, and therefore somewhat trying, does not affect them very injuriously, as their house is situated on hilly ground. The object of the visitors presence in Auckland is to collect funds to enable them to procure simple drugs and medicines for the natives.