1888 - Pompallier, J. Early History of the Catholic Church in Oceania - CHAPTER III

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CHAPTER III.

ALTHOUGH this island is in the northern hemisphere, where I did not propose to extend my missionary labour at first until I had commenced in the southern hemisphere in the centre of my mission at the Friendly Islands, or even in New Zealand, where I knew communications with the interior of Oceania and Europe were more frequent and more easy; nevertheless, I decided to begin with the northern islands, commencing with Ascension, seeing that the means of proceeding south were wanting, and that, besides, we had received at Valparaiso, from a European who had lived on the island, information which inspired us with great hope. Besides, after so many delays, I preferred waiting at the Sandwich Islands, which are about eight hundred leagues from Ascension, and which would offer us a much greater chance for an early departure for that island than waiting at Valparaiso, which is more than fifteen hundred leagues from the eastern limits of my jurisdiction, and where two months' sojourn without the prospect of an early departure seemed already too long.

We embarked then on board the Europa at Valparaiso in the middle of the month of August, 1837. We made sail for Gambier. We had on board, besides my own companions, two priests and a catechist from Pic-pus, who were going to the Sandwich Islands, touching at Gambier and Tahiti. We arrived at Gambier on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14th September. We were much edified at the infant Christianity there, which was under the jurisdiction of Monseigneur Rouchouse; and I congratulated that worthy prelate and his clergy on the blessings which God had bestowed upon their labours. Our stay on this island was very short; we left on the 16th September for Tahiti, where we arrived four or five days afterwards, having been favoured both by wind and sea.

Tahiti, that beautiful island, whose interesting inhabitants might so easily at first have been cultivated in the fruits of Faith and Christian virtue, had, alas! exchanged infidelity for Protestantism, with its commerce, politics, corruption, and intolerance. A little more than two years before, two Catholic priests of the Society of Pic-pus had, at the instigation of the Protestant missionaries, been outraged by the natives and expelled from the country by their Queen. Notwithstanding this, I did not hesitate to visit this sovereign and the American Consul, who was the only consul on the island, and who was far from sharing the intolerance of the Protestants. I was accompanied by M. Maigret, pro-Vicar of Monseigneur Rouchouse, and by nearly all my own companions. Permission was given us to land every day for a walk during our stay, which lasted about two weeks. The Europa was a merchant vessel, and the owner, who was on board, wished to pass this time in attending to his business affairs. As to ourselves, we profited by the permission of the Queen, and we went morning and evening, sometimes one, sometimes another, to take a walk on land. Many of the natives welcomed us, and the Europeans, then few in number in the country, received our visits with respect and politeness. The day after that on which I had visited Queen Pomare, all the royal family and their

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ministers, excepting the Queen herself, came on board to visit me. They were well received, and returned content.

During my stay at Tahiti I had the consolation of celebrating Holy Mass on shore in the house of Mr. Mouernhout, the American Consul, and of baptising a New Zealand-born child, whose father, a European Catholic and a sailor, had brought him to this island. M. Maigret thus offered me in this child the first-fruits of my mission, which seemed to have come to meet me.

Divine Providence, which I endeavour to follow step by step, provided me with an excellent opportunity of going to the Friendly Islands, and wherever I wished in the bounds of my jurisdiction. It was a small schooner of about sixty tons burden, called the Raiatea. She was built in the port of Tahiti, and belonged to the American Consul. After having consulted with the priests of my party, I decided to come to some economical arrangement with the captain of the Europa for leaving his vessel, and to charter the schooner Raiatea, which was all ready for sea. Everything was settled as I wished. This schooner was at my disposal to go to the central islands of Oceania, and even to Ascension, if I should desire it. By this arrangement, so unexpected, and which rejoiced us all, we should go straight to our mission, and our voyage by these means would be quicker, cheaper, more free, and less uncertain. At Tahiti I learnt two things which it was necessary for me to know, viz., that for some years Protestant missionaries of various sects were scattered over the islands under my jurisdiction, and that in nearly all the archipelagoes of Polynesia there were safe harbours that were visited from time to time by European and American vessels. They told me particularly of Vavau as being a place pretty regularly frequented. The harbour at this place is called the harbour of refuge. Now, to commence my missionary labours prudently, my intention was to choose some islands from whence I could establish communication with the various stations to be founded, and with my correspondents in Europe, and where there would be no Protestants, but only heathens; for it was notorious that the former, acquainted with the language of the people, among whom they preceded us, instigated by the means of calumny, fanaticism, and intolerance, all kinds of troubles and persecutions against the newly arrived Catholic missionaries, who could not speak the language, either to defend the truth or themselves. In cases like these their fate is necessarily death, or at the very least, dismissal. Nothing then was more needful for the mission than the commencement of the study of languages amongst some heathen tribes, who receive fairly well any inoffensive stranger when they have not been prejudiced by the ill-disposed, and when the missionary has at the beginning an interpreter who is able to make himself understood. It is important from the outset not to teach religion, nor to make known your intention of changing that of the country. You can only succeed in the ministry of teaching when you are sufficiently conversant with the language of the people. It is enough in the beginning that they receive you with hospitality, and only recognise you as well instructed travellers belonging to some great and civilized nation, desirous of learning their language to enable you to establish with them friendly and social relations. Generally the natives are flattered by these proposals. Such were the reflections that occupied my thoughts when upon the point of entering the place of my jurisdiction.

We left Tahiti on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi and with lovely weather. The captain and the mate of the schooner Raiatea, on which we were, were English, and the six others of the crew of various nationalities. Nothing but English was spoken on board, which caused some difficulty to us who had a very imperfect knowledge of the language. During the first days of the voyage I was obliged to use a dictionary in talking to the captain about the affairs of my companions and about the islands where I desired the schooner should touch. I wrote down what I had to say to him, and he answered me also with his pen on the same sheet of paper, for I could understand English a little when it was written, but not at all when it was spoken. We applied ourselves all the voyage endeavouring to learn the difficult pronunciation of this language, a language almost indispensable to any one travelling or working in Oceania.

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The first islands under my jurisdiction that we saw, were the Palmerston Islands. They are uninhabited. We passed close to, but did not land. They are covered with trees and shrubs, and form a small archipelago of three or four islands with an enclosed space in the middle which appeared very well suited for the anchorage of vessels. A fairly large population could live comfortably on these abandoned islands. They are situated about two hundred and eighty leagues from Tahiti and two hundred from Vavau, which is the first of the Friendly Islands one meets coming from the east as we were.

After about twenty days' sail, dating our departure from Tahiti, we came in sight of Vavau. The captain sailed close in to find the harbour of refuge, where I proposed staying for some days, and even establishing there a point of communication--a sort of provisional depot--on account of the frequent calling in there of vessels. After rounding several rocky points which surround this island, we directed our course towards the port, which was about five or six miles from us. The sea was calm, the breeze favourable, and the weather fine; but the horizon in front of us towards the west began to cloud over. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. Alas! in going towards the port, where we thought soon to arrive, we were going also to meet the storm. Nevertheless, we should have reached there safe and sound that day had not the wind, which had hitherto been favourable, veered round and become contrary. It drove us into a small bay between two rocky points, on which we should have infallibly struck had not the captain, by dint of tacking for several hours, managed to get out into the open. During these dangerous manoeuvres the storm reached us, the rain fell in torrents the wind was strong and the sea heavy; the night was very dark, the thunder rolled with fearful noise, and the lightning flashing frequently added to the horrors of our position, dissipating the profound darkness which enveloped us, only to show us that we were nearer to the reefs, our striking on which seemed inevitable. However, we escaped from this great danger, which we little thought was soon to be followed by one still more serious.

When at length we were at a safe distance from shore the storm, the rain, and the wind suddenly ceased, but the sea remained stormy. As far as the wind went, we were becalmed. Not a breath of air was to be felt, but strong currents were carrying us towards the rocks of the island, which are perpendicular. It appeared impossible to escape the danger which threatened our ship and our lives; there was safety for no one. It was half-past eleven at night. The storm being over, the darkness was no longer so profound; we could plainly see ourselves going into the jaws of death. The only hope we had was that a providential breeze might spring up and enable us to make head against the current. This, then, was the object of our vows and prayers which we addressed to the Lord through the intercession of her who is called Star of the Sea, and who is the patroness of the sailor. But, alas! the wished-for wind came not, and there was nothing left but to submit ourselves to the impenetrable designs of God. The schooner was already amidst the foam caused by the sea dashing itself against the rocks. We were surprised that the keel did not strike against some ridge; but just at the moment when we were awaiting all the horrors of shipwreck and death, a breeze sprang up from the direction of the very rock upon which we were drifting; it filled our sails, we gained the open sea, and in less than half an hour were out of all danger. The life which had been preserved to us seemed a resurrection. Our deliverance we at once attributed to Mary and to the power of God. The captain, a Protestant, fell on his knees, joined his hands, and lifting his eyes towards Heaven seemed beside himself. He knew not how to give utterance to his sentiments of gratitude before God. He was trembling and overcome with emotion, and cried out unceasingly, "Good God! Good God!"

We remained out at sea all night, away from Vavau, although the breeze was favourable for entering the harbour of refuge. But it was imprudent to do so at night-time. As soon as it was daylight we were not long in getting to the entrance of this long port. A canoe full of natives came to meet us; among them was the minister of the king of the island. We received him and all his companions on board; he could

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speak a little English, and we were able to converse. He had come to learn who we were, and to offer his services as pilot. We learnt from him, during the two hours we were obliged to spend in manoeuvring in order to reach the anchorage, that there was in the neighbourhood of the king's residence, the house of two Protestant missionaries, who for the last six or seven years had been evangelizing this island; that the entire population, comprising about two thousand souls, had embraced their religion, and that for a short while these missionaries were away, but were expected back daily.

At all events, Providence furnished me in this island with two excellent means of commencing a mission. These were two interpreters in place of the one I had got. The first was a Frenchman and a Catholic; he had been for twelve years a blacksmith at Vavau. The second was an American and a Protestant, who spoke the languages of Wallis and Futuna. He had been a sailor, but had given up a seafaring life on account of bad health. The first was very useful to me at Vavau. Through his means I established social communications with the king of the island, who, in the absence of the two Protestant missionaries, showed me both cordiality and kindness. He allowed me to leave two of my company in his island to live there and take care of my stores, and to keep up correspondence with those among us who were going to other islands still plunged in the darkness of ignorance. The king of Vavau, who was called King George, returned the visits I paid him and came to dine with me on board the schooner. He manifested confidence and frendship. But two or three days afterwards, when the Protestant missionaries had returned to the island, the king, quite saddened, told me on a visit that I was paying him that my stay in the country must not be prolonged, as the missionaries had so decided. In fact, I had learned from my interpreter and others, that since their return these missionaries had done nothing but beset the mind of the king in order to constrain him not to receive any member from my company on his island. Although it was only a question on this occasion of a purely civil matter, that is to say, the reception or the rejection of two of my people to guard my stores and to correspond with my missionary stations to be established elsewhere, I was unwilling to make many objections, being unacquainted with the language of Vavau. I remained on good terms with the king, bade him farewell, and promised him that when I had learned the language of the Friendly Islands, I would find an opportunity in my travels to see him again, and that then he would understand all things better, according to my wishes and hopes for the happiness of himself and his country. At these words we shook hands; I then quitted his house, and went on board the schooner.