Chalmers and His Cannibal Friends
“THE heroic spirit of Chalmers, the martyr of New Guinea, is illustrated by a passage in one of his letters, just brought to light, in which he refers to his purpose to visit those whom he calls ‘my cannibal friends in the Namau district.’ He says: ‘The Akerave friends of that district killed eleven Maiupuans lately, and left nothing but their bones. We must get among them as soon as possible.’ There are those whose first thought in view of the savage nature of these cannibals would have been to get well away from them. The Christian zeal of Chalmers led him to exactly the opposite conclusion. Men so wicked and cruel must be reached as soon as possible.”