Atmospheeic Influence on Indian Liee. 
99 
the loreliest fruit, must have proved as heart-breakiug for iiim as it did 
for us, because we liad beeu mauj a time surprised iu watcLiiug tlie pro- 
gress tiiat tlie people, already collected around liim iu such numbers, had 
made under his excellent leadership. The suggestion forwarded from 
London that the brave missionary might induce the inhabitants of Pirara 
and its neighbourhood to accompany him to Waraputa, could not be car- 
ried out unless he were to sacrifice the lives of those who had given him 
their absolute trust. Strange, however, as it may appear, experience had 
already shewn that the Indian of the savannah succumbs to the influences 
of the moist and musty atmosphere of the virgin forest, just as the occu- 
pant of the latter and of the mountains pines away and declines wlieu 
he changes his native habitat with that of the free open and damp savan- 
nah. Here, like there, fatal pulmonary complaints result from such a 
transfer. A^'hen Mr. Youd was driven away by the Brazilians, several 
families followed him to Waraputa, where, after a short stay the majority 
succumbed to the change : the remainder had to be sent back into the 
savannah. After such experiences it would have been more than un- 
scrupulous if he had wanted to invite his wards to accompany him. The 
re-established village with its pretty houses, and inhabitants eager to 
learn, saw its destruction looming ahead once more if it did not belong 
to England. The large house that Mr. Youd's restless activity had 
transformed into an uncommionly pleasant church where the inhabitants 
of Pirara were daily summoned at morn and eve by the shrill notes of a 
trumpet, for want of a bell, and where those of all the neighbouring set- 
tlements were gathered on Sundays for divine service, and which also 
served as an instructlon-rooni for grown-ups and children, must soon 
become desolate again. Anyone who had been present at the drawling and 
screeching funereal and festive-songs of the Indians would believe that he 
was among quite a different set of people, if, during tlie Sunday congre- 
gations he were to hear the English hymns, in the singing of which the 
men, like the women, had made such progress. The voices of the women 
especially have infinitely more body than, judging ])y our experiences, 
we hardly expected to be the case : at the same time they possess a truly 
wonderful gift for ])icking up even the most diflicult melodies. If such a 
tune be sung iK^fore them only two or three times, tbe women and girls 
sing it after witliout a mistake, Avhile the men will ]>lay it on their simple 
flutes upon which they had previously only been able to strike the inhar- 
monic and monotonous notes of their folk songs. The gi-own-u])s, especi- 
ally the women, took the trouble to learn reading and writing. As at 
Bartika Grove, so at Pirara, the Indians living in the neighbourhood, even 
those from Nappi, which lay over 20 miles distant, came every Sunday 
evening to the service which, in solemn silence, they attended with the 
keenest attention : serious sickness was the only thing that kept them 
away. On the Monday, they returned to their village. It had certainly 
cost Mr. Youd a great deal of trouble before he could make the wards 
committed to his charge forget their old habits. When he opened his 
church and school at Pirara, the children generally appeared painted from 
head to foot, as if they were going to a drinking-party : they chatted and 
laughed among themselves as often as they felt inclined, and ran away 
2 G, 
