Among Cannibals on Fotuna 
Earty in November, 1839, the mission ship “Camden,” 
with a party of ten native Samoan missionaries led by John 
Williams, sailed along the shores of the island of Fotuna, 
the easternmost island of the New Hebrides group. It had 
come to introduce the gospel to the New Hebrides. The 
voyage was to open a way for the introduction of Christian- 
ity to barbarous, cannibal tribes of the western Pacific, but 
was to end sorrowfully in the martyrdom of that great 
“Apostle to the South Seas,” John Williams, on the shores 
of Erromango. 
As soon as the island was sighted, the missionary party 
held a prayer meeting, and asked God to protect their per- 
sons, and make possible the evangelization of these wild 
tribes. The anxiety that filled Mr. Williams’ soul, was ex- 
pressed in the following journal entry which he made a short © 
time before his death: 
“Oh, how much depends upon our efforts tomorrow! Will 
the savages receive us? ... The approaching week is to me 
the most important of my life.” 
Next morning the vessel lay to in a beautiful bay on the 
most populous side of the island. A vast crowd of the sav- 
ages gathered on the shore, and soon two canoes were seen 
coming from the land. These contained four men “well 
made and good-looking, but disfigured by red paint on their 
faces and numerous turtle shell rings in their ears.” 
A boat was lowered over the ship’s side, and proceeded to 
meet the canoes. As it approached the canoes, one of the 
savages signified that he desired to enter the boat and go 
aboard. As he stepped into the boat, he announced that he 
was a chief. On reaching the “Camden,” the chief went 
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