WITH THE PIONEERS ON ERROMANGO 127 
of his savage countrymen. Surely he has had his reward 
from a higher hand. 
“We had very great difficulty in getting the other teacher 
out of the hands of the natives. Why they made so much 
difficulty about giving him up we could only conjecture; but 
the treatment the teachers had received and the appearance 
of things now clearly enough indicated that the time had not 
yet come for the evangelization of Erromango. We had been 
four hours away from the ship, and our friends on board 
were in no small alarm, and great was the joy of all when 
we were seen returning in safety with the teachers. Sad- 
ness, however, was largely mingled with our joy. It was 
grievous, indeed, to see the door of hope that had been 
opened for Erromango again shut, and the little light 
that had begun to glimmer upon its gloomy shore ex- 
tinguished, and the dark night of heathenism again close in 
upon it.” 
Twelve years then passed by before an effective attempt 
was made to evangelize Erromango. Although efforts were 
frequently made to open the doors of opportunity there, no 
success came, until two natives of Rarotonga landed at Dil- 
lon’s Bay, and resumed mission work under circumstances 
of brighter promise. When the island was again visited, 
two years later, so encouraging was the work found to be 
that two new mission stations were established and the work 
thus extended. 
This eventually led the missionary society to decide to 
place a European missionary family on the island, and Mr. 
George Nichol Gordon, of Canada, and his young wife were 
chosen to take up their abode on savage Erromango. They 
were accompanied by two Rarotongan teachers and one na- 
tive Erromangon who had been some years in Samoa, and 
had given satisfactory evidence that he was a true disciple 
of Christ. 
“The friends of poor benighted Erromango rejoiced with 
great joy when at length a foreign missionary was settled 
