THE BISHOP OF MELANESIA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5191, 25 February 1895, Page 2

THE BISHOP OF MELANESIA.

AN INTERVIEW. The Bishop of Melanesia arrived in ' Christshurch from the West Coaet on Saturday, and is ab present staying at BiehopECOurfc as the guest of the Bishop of Christchurch. On the evening of the day. of his arrival he supplied a representative of this journal with some interesting information concerning the work of the Helanesion Mission and the state of the islands he haß just left. Bishop Wilson, who' is apparently come thirty-five years of ag£ impresses the visitor at the outset by bis courteous manners and attractive presence, and half an hour's conversation with him is not only instructive, but very entertaining. HISTORY OF TKK MIBSIONT. ! Inferring to this subject, the Bißhop 1 said that the Melanesian Mission was a ; mission to the South Sea Islands lying to , the west of Fiji, and the east of Australia. | It was commenced by the first Bishop I rielsvyu in 1649, and handed over by him to | the Bey J. C. Patteson, who was consej crated a, bishop in 1855. He was killed by I the natives of the Santa Cruz group in ; 1871. The younger Bishop Selwyn then • undertook. the work, and retained it until 1883, when he was invalided through rheumatism and sciatica, and obliged to roßign his office. He (Bishop Wilson) had then been aaked to fill the vacant place, and, after being consecrated last St Barnabas' Day, had proceeded to Norfolk Island, where the head-quarters of the mission were ctationed. THK METHOD OF WORK. The principal islands and groups of islands which form the field of the mission work are, be&kleß Norfolk Island, the New j Hebrides, the Banks Islands, the Torres I Islands, the Santa Cruz Group, and the i Solomon Group. The method of the , mission was not to settle white clergy over , all the different islands, but to pick up • boys and train them for mission work . among their own people. Ab the inhabit* j ants of every island spoke a dialect dis- | tinct from that of their neighbours, any ! other course than this would be impracticable. As a rule it was found that the I natives took readily to European culture. Many of the islands were already Christian, and living was aa safe in them as it waa in New Zealand, but the further one went from Norfolk Island, the darker the light seemed to grow. In the Solomon Islands, for instance, there were only one or two Christians, and' the rest of the people were still in a barbarous state. In dealing with heathen tribes, the first step in the work of civilisation was to get one of the native boys. The mission steamer proceeded to one of the heathen islands, where its arrival was always the cause of great excitement, and if the natives seemed sufficiently friendly, they were asked for a boy, who generally came on board entirely destitute of clothing. In three or four months the boy not only became accustomed to the European dress, bnt knew the"Mota" language well enough, to receive lessons at the Norfolk Island, school. This " Mota," the Bishop explained, was the language adopted aa the medium of conversation between the whites and the islanders. It was impossible for the white clergy to learn all the different dialects or for all the natives to learn English, so the language of the island of Mota had been taken as the Lingua Franca of all the groups; All communications between the whites and the natives were carried on in this tongue. At Norfolk Island the boys were taught, in addition to the Scriptures, reading, writing, cooking and farming, ' and everything, in fact, calculated to make \ them useful men.' After eight or ten yeajs they were considered fit to te»^ n an( j werfl ; sent back to their oW g people. It waa , f°ULa HeGgas&fy to keep them for that length of time in order that they might J be thoroughly imbued (vith the spirit [ of the Christian teaching. . In all, some ( three hundred and ninety-five teachers ! had passed through the College in Norfolk Island, and were now acting aa mfa< \ sionariss in their own islands. There ' were one hundred and twenty-four mis- ( sion schools in ihe archipelago, giving instruction to come twelve thousand men, r women and children. The character o! 9 the natives varied greatly, the extreme ol barbarity being reached in the Island ol \ Malayta, in the Solomon Group. There j was a small band of Christian workers or that island, but their existence waa a verj [ precarious one owing to the bloodthirsty naturo of the savages, the bulk of whoir j were yet untouched by any civilising anc refining influence. There was great need ' of more Christian workers to carry some > light to islands like these. The coming ; week was to be observed as a week of selfdenial for the purpoko of aiding the mission I work, and on board the Southern Cross was a collection of curios which had been given by the natives of the various islands as their contribution to the self 'denial effort. They had given about .£l5O worth of goods in all. One island gave all its war material, including Bpears and arrowheads 'made of human bones. Another island gave 6000 cocoanuts, another two boat- loads of food, all showing themselves very anxious to take a .share in the selfdenial work. A SOUTH SEA ISLAND. The Bishop gave a glowing description of Norfolk Island, the head-quarteivj of the minion, which he described as a veritable "Garden cf Eden." Until 1855 it had been a convict station, and was knows as the "Ocean Hell," because the worst and most hardened convicts were sent there. There were then 2000 convicts and nearly 2000 soldiers wereernployed to keep them in order. Mutinies were common and hangings very freqnent. In 1855 the convict settlement waa given up, and some of the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty, who bad been living at Fitcairn Island, were moved , there by tho English Government, Pitcairn Island having become too email for them. In 1866 Bishop Patteeon moved the mission from Auckland to Norfolk Island, chiefly because of the magnificent climate, which was warm enough for blacks and temperate enough for Europeans. The island lay in 30deg south latitude, and was five and a half miles long by three, broad. The scenery wss exquisite, a chief feature of the landscape being the beautiful tree known as the Norfolk Island pine. The* inhabitants of the island were of a singularly mild and pleasant disposition. Most of them were descendants of English sailors and South Sea Island women, and the tinge ot native blood seemed to have had a softening and refining influence on ~ their character. The island itself was a solitary spot on the ocean, and waa four hundred miles from any other settlement. Living was extremely cheap, and the Chief Magistrate, who was paid by the Sydney Government, received only £25 a year. An income of .filGO a year would be a munificent salary to the receiver. The training college was a picturesque and commodious building, and at present contained 225 scholars, who were being trained under the direction of five English clergy and two native teachers. The Bishop added that he had brought with him in the Southern Cross a number of views of Norfolk Island scenery, which would be exhibited on Thursday evening, and would speak more eloquently for the beauties of the place than any description could poseibly do. THE NATIVE BOffS. In reply to a question about the native boys who had come over with him, the Bishop said they had been selected from fourteen different islands, bo were originally strangers to one another, but they had all learnt the "Mota" language. They had been brought to New Zealand with a view of widening their experience, and making them better fitted for the mission work. They were some of the best singers among the islanders, .and sang hymnß in " Mota " to English lunee. They had been immensely interested in what they had seen in Uevr Zealand, the railway especially being a Eourcn of astonishment. The hoys at first hsd f«>lt the cold rather soverely, but had been given plenty of warm clothing, and had suffered no ill effects. The people of New

Zealand had everywhere shown them thegreatest kindness. PBRSONAL. With regard to hia own movements the * Bishop said that) ho had only arrived in Christchurch that day, and had seen little of the town itself, but he bad admired* theßconery on the West Coast very much.. He had benefited in health from the com* paralive coldness of the New Zealand climate, which was very refreshing after the enervating heat of the South Seae. He purposed going south at the end of. the week, leaving Ofcago for tho North Island about the middle of March. After leaving New Zealand he intended going to Queensland to inquire into the condition of I<ho> Kanakas in that country. These Kanakas were islanders who had been drafted off to work in the sugar plantations and were a very neglected and barbarous class, most of them being drawn from the wild Solomon Islands. The Melanesian Mission deßired to do something for these men, and fot this purpose hs was going to Queensland to inquire into the possibility of starting' a college for their education-.'. He--, hoped to be back in Norfolk Island-, about the middle of June next. The mission steamer Southern Cross, in which he had come from the Island?, was at' present lying in Lyttelton harbour, and the captain and crew would be pleased to see any Chri&tchurch people who oared to visit her. She was a small vessel of 205. tons burden, and had boon built, in England for the mission work. The Bishop mentioned that he was desirous of taking back with him from Now Zealand one or two volunteers who would be capable of teaching the bnya in tho methodical way necessary in public Echoole. He had been glad of the opportunity of visiting New Zealand, and grateful for the reception afforded him, and hoped before returning to convince the people of the greatness of the cause that he had come to advocate. MISSION SERVICES AT THE CATHEDRAL. The Bishop of Christohnrch preached at the Cathedral yesterday morning, taking as his text "The Influence of Christian Missions." The Bishop of Melanesiapreached in the evening to a very large congregation, many pers ns being unable to obtain admission. The lessons were' read by Bishop Julius and Canon Harper, The collections for the evening, whioh were wholly devoted to the Mission Fund,,, amounted to £25 18a Gd.