134 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
spine was severed, and also the principal arteries of the 
neck. 
“Another of the savages, named Ubel, rushed on toward 
the house to complete the dreadful tragedy. Mrs. Gordon 
had heard a noise, and she and the girl had gone outside the 
house in consequence. She asked the girl what the noise 
was, whether it was the lads who had gone to cut thatch 
returning. Ubel then passed round behind some outbuild- 
ings that were in the rear of the dwelling house, and came 
stealthily behind Mrs. Gordon, and struck her a blow in the 
side with a hatchet; he struck her a second blow in the neck, 
and all was over. 
“The servant girl witnessed the murder of Mrs. Gordon. 
Terror-stricken, she fled down to the bay, where the young 
men were at work, with the fearful intelligence. They felt 
as if paralyzed. They made all possible haste homeward, 
lest the bodies should be carried off to the oven. They found 
Mr. Gordon’s body at the steep place in the road where he 
fell. Four of them returned with that to the bay, and the 
other four went and brought the body of Mrs. Gordon. 
“An extract from a letter which was written by a gentle- 
man who was residing in Dillon’s Bay at the time of the oc- 
currence, and who acted a very kind part, will reveal that 
their labor had not been in vain: 
“ ‘T chose a spot of ground near the bank of the river for 
their graves, and made, in the best manner I could, two 
coffins, in which the bodies were inclosed, and about two 
o’clock on the following day, amid the tears and lamentations 
of all around, the bodies of the missionary and his wife were 
consigned to the earth. At my request one of the natives, 
Mana, who had been for some time in Samoa, conducted serv- 
ices suitable to the occasion, consisting of a hymn, which the 
deceased had composed, an address which, to judge from the 
effects produced, was most powerfully felt, and a prayer to 
Almighty God. I also exhorted them to show, in their sub- 
sequent conduct, the depth of their sorrow at the loss they 
