18 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
and some unripe bananas, which they had obtained from a 
company of men whom they met, and from whom they re- 
ceived the sad intelligence that their brethren at Ardeo had 
been murdered. After eating part of their scanty supply of 
food, they passed the night in a cave among the rocks, which 
was so small as to afford but partial covering from the rain. 
What a sad night it must have been! 
“The chief of the district of Ardeo, under whose protec- 
tion the missionaries had settled there, had joined the in- 
surgents. They were defeated by the Ahifuans, who rushed 
on with savage triumph toward Ardeo. When they ap- 
proached the dwelling of the missionaries, they came out, 
apprehending no danger, as they had taken no part with 
either side in the war. Whether as the friends of the chief 
of the now-vanquished district they would have been in 
danger, does not now appear; but among the Ahifuans, 
who were at this time the conquerors, was a man who had 
once asked them for some article which they had refused. 
Seizing the opportunity which was now offered for revenge, 
he rushed upon them, and was joined by others. Two of 
the three missionaries who occupied the station, Messrs. 
Bowell and Harper, and a seaman named Burnham, who 
resided with them, were struck down at once and murdered. 
The third missionary, Gaulton, fled at first, but looking back 
and seeing his companions fall, he returned and immediately 
shared their fate. The savages, leaving the mangled bodies 
on the ground, hastened to the mission house, which they 
plundered of everything they desired, and then hurried off 
again to the fight. 
“Such was the tragical end of these good men, of whom 
Mr. Ellis says: “They were eminently pious, industrious, and 
devoted men. . . . Their course, though brief, was irre- 
proachable and honorable; they were faithful unto death; 
and though the early and violent termination of their lives 
was permitted in accordance with the will of Him whose 
ways are past finding out, there is reason to hope that for 
