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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



could proclaim their prohibitions, and 

 with their troops enforce a certain out- 

 ward obedience in a few villages, but the 

 natives as a whole have clung with sullen 

 desperation to the customs of the past. 



HOW KIKELA SAVED AN AMERICAN FROM 

 THE CANNIBALS' POT 



I have mentioned the missionary Ki- 

 kela, and no account of the islands should 

 overlook one incident of his career. Him- 

 self a full-blooded Polynesian and sin- 

 cerely intent upon the conversion of the 

 Marquesans to Christianity, he came to 

 the Bay of Puamau about 1858, and la- 

 bored faithfully, although futilely, with 

 the fierce tribe which inhabited the valley. 



The savages have never been partial to 

 "white meat," and it is probably due to 

 this fact that many whalers and traders 

 escaped the oven. But during Kikela's 

 residence at Puamau a blackbirder had 

 succeeded in carrying off several men and 

 women, and the warriors swore ven- 

 geance on the next ship which entered 

 the bay. 



This chanced to be an American 

 whaler. The first mate, a man named 

 Whalen, went ashore with a boat for 

 water and food. The crew succeeded in 

 getting back to the ship, but Whalen was 

 captured, and preparations were at once 

 begun for converting him into "long pig." 

 Kikela protested loudly and long, but the 

 king and his warriors gave him scant at- 

 tention. The combination of revenge and 

 food was too seductive to be overcome 

 by. religious argument. Finding his plead- 

 ing and wrath of no avail, Kikela rushed 

 to his hut, returning shortly with his two 

 most cherished possessions, a muzzle- 

 loading rifle and an old black frock coat, 

 the treasured badge of his clerical office. 



the missionary's last trump 



These he offered as a ransom for 

 Whalen. The king wavered. He had 

 long coveted that coat, but "long pig" was 

 scarce and revenge was sweet. Kikela 

 had one last trump, a large, ornately 

 carved canoe recently completed by the 

 best boat-builder of the bay. In despera- 

 tion he offered it also — and won. 



Garbed in Kikela's frock coat, the gun 

 on his shoulder, the king ordered 

 Whalen released, and with much cere- 



mony escorted him to the beach. Kikela 

 restored the mate to his schooner with a 

 suggestion that a speedy departure from 

 the bay would be the part of wisdom. 

 Needless to say, the advice was instantly 

 acted upon. 



On his return to the United States, 

 Whalen made public his thrilling experi- 

 ence; whereupon President Lincoln, in 

 the name of the American people, sent 

 Kikela a written testimony of their ap- 

 preciation of his act and a handsome gold 

 watch appropriately engraved. 



Kikela has long since gone to his re- 

 ward, but the watch, no longer a time- 

 piece, is still an object of admiring ven- 

 eration in the hut of a brother who later 

 followed him from Hawaii and now lives 

 on Uapu, where I saw the interesting 

 souvenir a few months ago. 



A MAROUESAN MIRACLE THE LEGEND OE 



UAPU'S SAND-ELIES 



It was on this island of Uapu that a 

 latter-day miracle occurred some fifty 

 years ago. In some unknown way two 

 bays in the Marquesas, that of Hatiheu 

 on Nukuhiva and Hakahetou on Uapu, 

 became infested with a tiny but ex- 

 tremely vicious sand-fly whose bite when 

 scratched becomes an ulcerous sore. The 

 natives suffered constantly from the pest 

 and could find no relief. 



Finally, the king of the tribe, when he 

 was about to die, called his few remain- 

 ing warriors about him and announced 

 that, although he had not been able to 

 spare them from sickness and misery 

 during his life, 'owing to the greater 

 power of the white man's gods, he could 

 by his death reestablish his prowess, and 

 he would demonstrate it by taking with 

 him all the sand-flies on Uapu. 



That night he died, and by morning 

 every sand-fly had disappeared ! 



Not only the Marquesans, but the white 

 traders and French officials, vouch for 

 the fact that there were sand-flies on 

 Uapu; that the king did say he would 

 take them with him, and / know that thev 

 are not there now ; and further, deponent 

 sayeth not. 



. Unfortunately, Hatiheu was not in- 

 cluded in the king's domain, and I have 

 unforgettable recollections of the diminu- 

 tive pests in that bay. 



