EX-CANNIBALS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 813, 6 November 1929, Page 16

EX-CANNIBALS

Island of Martyrs and Docile Natives “SAFER THAN SYDNEY” On his return by the La Perouse, from Erromanga, New Hebrides, which has been described as “the island of martyrs,” the Rev. J. C. Rae, an Australian Presbyterian missionary, declared that the once dangerous natives are now so docile that Erromanga is a safer place to live in than Sydney. Twelve years were spent by Mr. Rae and his wife at Erromanga, and now they are bound for their native Scotland, says the Sydney “Daily News.” Erromanga is aptly named “the island of martyrs,” said the Rev. Mr. Rae. There, in the mid-’eighties, the famous Presbyterian, John Williams, and a companion, were hideously murdered and eaten, and a similar fate befell Mr. and Mrs. George Gordon in 1871. The Rev. Rae’s predecessor, Er. Robertson, had several narrow escapes from death, and the Rev. Rae said that he and his wife had been unsuccessfully cursed by witchcraft four years ago to make them leave.

Situated about 100 miles from Port Vila, Erromanga is the only wool-pro-ducing centre in the Hebrides. A Queensland man has a large flock on a grassy tableland, and there is never a water shortage. A large consignment of his wool was in the holds of the La Perouse.

In the past couple of years there has been a noticeable decline in the native population owing to disease, but the mission staff has proved an invaluable aid. A recent visitation of measles resulted in six deaths at Erromanga, -while at the neighbouring island of Tanna there were 500 fatal cases.