184 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
“The skull was found to be shattered, and the top of the 
head was cloven by some sharp instrument, while about the 
body were numerous arrow wounds. Death must have been 
almost instantaneous, so there could not have been much 
suffering.” 
Many times his death had been planned, but always he 
had been kept from destruction till now. Some time before, 
he had landed on an unnamed island in fulfillment of a prom- 
ise that he had made to call on a friendly chief. He was 
met on the beach by ten men, and when he asked for his 
friend, they replied, “We will guide you to him.” Farther 
and farther they led him inland, till a long distance had been 
passed, and then he became convinced by their looks and 
manner that they meant to kill him. 
As they came to a hut by the way, he told the natives that 
he would go in there for a little while out of the hot sun. 
He entered the hut, knelt down, and committed himself to 
God. His fear of death departed, and he left the hut con- 
scious that God would deliver him. The natives looked at 
him with apparent wonder, and pointed at him while talking 
to each other. Then they stopped, consulted, and decided to 
return to the beach. 
They took the bishop back to his boat, and stood watching 
till he had regained the ship. It was afterward learned that 
a man belonging to their tribe had been murdered by a white 
man during the interval of his visits, and that they had de- 
termined to kill the first white man who might visit their 
island, to avenge the death of their relative. The bishop was 
to have been taken to a place farther inland than where the 
hut stood, and there murdered; “but when he came forth 
from his brief act of worship, with his countenance calm and 
peaceful, they looked upon him and said among themselves, 
‘He does not look like a murderer ; he is not afraid of us; he 
cannot have been a party to our brother’s death. We will 
not hurt him, but take him back in safety to his ship.’ ” 
