EBAMANGA. Sll 



only were they received and treated witli kindness, l^ut 

 they were assured by the captains of two traders lying in 

 the harbonr, tliat foreigners might travel anywhere with 

 safety, one spot only excepted (Cook's Bay), and tliat the 

 natives aronnd could be justly praised for their ' harmless- 

 ness, docihty, honesty,' ' &c. Three years later, in 1857, Mr. 

 Gordon and his wife were landed at Dillon's Bay. The 

 tribes around had been at war with each other; but, in spite 

 of the excitement which would, more or less, survive such 

 a state of things, so manifest was the peaceful disposition 

 of the natives, that, after a long deliberation, the ' New 

 Hebrides Missionaries,' who had accompanied the Gordons, 

 came unanimously to the conclusion, that the moment was 

 propitious for the commencement of missionary labours. 

 It is clear that the explanatory change required to justify 

 Mr. Inghs's policy of retribution had not yet taken place. 

 Again, in 1859, another missionary, Mr. Turner, visited the 

 island, and, though he discovered nothing alarming, he 

 found that, as far as missionary success was concerned, 

 ' there had been a reaction.' Eeports were current ' that 

 the Anatom people were all dying, and that the scourge 

 was ascribed to the new religion.'^ Now here was un- 

 questionably a most dangerous source of excitement, angry 

 remembrance of ravages caused by epidemics introduced 

 by the whites, embittered by an infusion of religious hate! 

 And what was the result? Nothing more serious than an 

 order from the chiefs to their people not to attend ' the 

 • Ibid. p. 104. » Tbifl p. 224. 



