THE QUEENSLAND LABOR TRADE. 231 
visit to Fiji for the express purpose of devoting himself to the laborers 
there; but his death quite put Fiji out of the Mission’s thoughts. In 
1876 Rev. Edward Wogale went to Fiji and started teaching there, but 
stayed only a year or two and no one succeeded him. Bishop John 
Selwyn visited Fiji in 1880 and made arrangements for teaching some 
of the laborers on Sundays. Dr. Comins and Luke Masuraa visited 
Fiji in 1894 and obtained some excellent teachers who eventually were 
responsible for the opening of mission work in the Lau district of north 
Malaita. It was not until the first year of Bishop Wilson’s episcopate 
that any of the authorities visited Queensland with the definite idea of 
seeing to the Christian teaching of the Melanesians there. The church 
in Queensland as a whole did practically nothing for them, and with the 
exception of Mrs. Robinson’s excellent school at Mackay and Mrs. 
Clayton’s at Bundaberg, whatever teaching was given to the Melane- 
sian laborers was undenominational and much of it was in the hands of 
the Queensland Kanaka Mission, the officials of which were Plymouth 
Brethren. In 1896 Rev. P. ‘T. Williams went to Queensland to organize 
work there for the Melanesian Mission among the laborers on the Isis, 
and Mr. Pritt was also at work on the Herbert River (called by the 
Melanesians the Albert River). 
The return from Queensland of so great a number of Kanakas, 9,000 
in all, was likely to have varied results. The actual Christian element 
among them would be sure to affect the Christian life in the Mission 
villages. “The Heathen element was likely to be a cause of ferment and 
excitement and to give considerable trouble, both to their fellows and 
also to the whites. There were some who, in their ignorance of native 
life, looked for a great material advance in the status of the people of 
the islands, owing to the return of so many thousands of men who had 
been taught regular habits of industry; others feared that a great out- 
break of crime might follow and that endless feuds and desolating 
hatreds would be stirred up, and that murders would be rife. The 
missionaries themselves were glad that the trade had ceased, but knew 
that a great unsettlement of conditions would follow the repatriation. 
The work of landing the returns was very well done and all were 
landed at their own proper “‘passages,”’ as the landing-places were 
termed. Where possible they were encouraged to attend the Christian 
schools. The government station at Tulagi was open to any who feared 
to return to their own homes. However, the leavening effect on the 
island people as a whole has been practically nil. Even those who 
had been most industrious in Queensland made but little attempt to 
improve the agricultural methods of their countrymen. For months 
after landing none of them, of course, did any work. ‘The condi- 
tions were so totally different, the restraint of the plantation life was 
relaxed, all competition had ceased, and all that was now required was 
to get enough food for the day’s needs. Besides, to a man who had 
