ON THE ISLAND OF VATE 149 
they were baffled, however, and returned to their own land 
ashamed, hardly knowing why they had failed. The people 
of another district, who heard of their failure, derided them, 
and determined that they would go and see whether they 
could not succeed; and as if to guard against the possibility 
of failure, sixty armed men, in three large canoes, started 
to accomplish the mighty feat of putting to death three or 
four defenseless men. They had got about two thirds on 
their way when a strong wind arose, with a heavy sea, and 
their canoes were dashed to pieces on a point of land, and 
they were forced to return home without even reaching their 
destination. The result was a conviction, in the minds of 
the natives generally, that the teachers were true men, and 
that their God was a God of power, and able to protect those 
who put their trust in Him. 
“This may have had something to do with bringing about 
the change which followed. At all events a reaction soon 
took place, and when the next visit was made in May, 1852, 
the prospects were much more favorable. Two hundred 
people in the district in which the teachers resided had em- 
braced Christianity, and the Sabbath and other services were 
being well attended. Those parts where teachers formerly 
resided, had been visited more or less regularly, and in these 
Christianity had taken root. 
“At one of the earliest places occupied by teachers, Pango 
Pango, as many as 200 continued to call themselves Chris- 
tians. At Eratap, another place where teachers had for- 
merly resided, two boats’ crews who had gone ashore te trade 
were saved from being massacred by a Christian chief named 
Talipoa. The teachers, also, assisted by the chief under 
whose protection they were, had succeeded in saving a poor 
woman and her daughter from being buried alive. So it 
appears that, at this time, some of the Vatése were some- 
thing more than merely nominal Christians. 
“The next visit was made in October, 1853, and during 
that visit a step was taken, the particulars of which must 
