20 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
obstinate and determined ferocity. Horrid deeds of cruelty 
and cannibalism were indulged in by the party who gained 
a temporary triumph, but there was no decisive result. 
“The dangers and sufferings of the missionaries were in 
no degree diminished. They were indeed befriended by 
some of the natives, but others seemed bent on taking their 
lives, some insulting them with the accounts of the part they 
had taken in the murder of their beloved companions, while 
others were exulting in the expectation of their speedy de- 
struction. 
“Three days after leaving their hiding place among the 
rocks, they learned that their death had been determined 
upon, and would probably take place speedily. Some of the 
chiefs, however, interposed and interceded for them, and they 
were spared. They had taken refuge in the camp of the 
Ahifuans, where they were exposed to the insults and re- 
proaches of the living, and to the noxious state of the atmos- 
phere arising from the bodies of the slain which lay un- 
buried around. What a horrid situation was theirs! Yet 
all seems to have been patiently and heroically borne. We 
hear of no murmuring or complaining. True to the spirit 
and example of Him whose they were and whom they served, 
they took submissively, if not joyfully, the spoiling of their 
goods, knowing that they had in heaven a better and an en- 
during substance. 
“The war ended in the complete defeat of the Ahifuans, 
in whose district the missionaries resided. They fled to 
Mafanga, a district which had taken no part in the war, and 
where, on that account, the refugees would be in comparative 
safety. ... But they found the people there scarcely more 
friendly than the Ahifuans had been. The chief of the dis- 
trict professed to be their friend, but he seemed influenced 
by mercenary motives only. 
“Their connection with him led to one deeply interesting 
movement. He proposed to them that they should go to 
Ardeo to search for some things which he had been informed 
