A Boat Needed for the Eastern Polynesian Mission
By B. J. Cady
MANY who read this have heard of Pitcairn Island, an isolated spot of land in the Southern Pacific Ocean. It is 300 miles from there to Mangareva, which is the nearest inhabited island, and 1,200 miles to Tahiti. The island has about 150 inhabitants. They can grow the tropical fruits and vegetables in abundance, but there are many of the necessaries of life which must be obtained from the outside world, such as clothing, soap, coal-oil, flour, sugar, books, etc. On account of their isolated condition they often lack for such things as these. About all the market they have for their produce is on passing ships, and that is all the way they have of getting money or any foreign goods, excepting when they are visited by a trading vessel from Tahiti, which is very seldom. Sometimes we have had to wait two or three years for an opportunity to send mail to them from here. They raise and prepare arrowroot, and find a ready sale for it here in Tahiti when they can manage to get it here. They have been quite faithful in setting apart a tithe of their arrowroot and other products for the Lord. The tithe of their bananas they dry, so as to be able to keep them until some way is found for selling them. They have sometimes had tithe arrowroot and dried bananas on hand for three or four years waiting for a chance to dispose of them. Now, if they had a way to market their produce, it would be a great encouragement to them, and would be an inducement to lead them to greater industry. They raise a great many sweet potatoes, melons, and pumpkins, for which they might find a market here in these islands. As it has been, they are never sure of a boat calling at their island, and often have considerably more fruit and vegetables than they can use, and have it spoil on their hands because no boat happens to come along for months at a time. What they need is a small schooner to make about two trips a year from Tahiti to Pitcairn, to take them what they need, and to get their produce and bring it to Tahiti and these other islands to sell. A few years ago, the British Government helped them to get a very small cutter, which they had about a year, and with which they made one trip to Tahiti and several to the island of Mangareva. They were planning to make a second trip with it to Tahiti, but were forbidden to come by the British consul, as the boat was then not considered strong enough to undertake such a long voyage. At last it went down in a storm near Pitcairn, and one young man was lost with it. Then they began to think of getting another boat. A Captain Stubbs of England, a friend and acquaintance of the Pitcairn people, began to solicit funds for this purpose. While we were away in Australia, another boat was bought for them, which was small and also very old. After two trips between Tahiti and Pitcairn it was condemned as unseaworthy, and was sold for about $292. Now we believe that our Pitcairn friends need help in this line. If we had a small schooner belonging to the Eastern Polynesian Mission, it could not only be used for Pitcairn, but with it we could also reach other isolated islands in this field which are very difficult of access, and could take to them the truth. As it is now, if we should have a chance to go to some of the out-of-the-way islands, we might be compelled to remain there a year or so before we could get away or hear anything from the outside world. We have so few workers in our field, we can not afford to have one of them shut up on one little island for so long. He might find, after being there a while, that it would not be profitable to stay more than one month, and yet he might have to remain much longer. If we have a boat, we can take our workers to such places, and bring them away again when they are ready to come. There are a great many islands in this field: the Society, Cook, Austral, Tuamotu, Marquesas, and Gambier groups, besides Pitcairn and a few other isolated islands. Only a few of the largest of these are easily accessible. Now if we had a boat of our own, we believe it might be made self-supporting thru what it could make in carrying freight and passengers. We have a twenty-five-ton schooner which is five years old offered to us for the sum of $1,600. This is a strong boat and in good order. We have some money on hand which we can use for this purpose, and enough more promised to make up $1,000, but we shall need $600 more, and we do not know where that will come from unless our friends will help us. We have just put up a meeting-house on the island of Huahine, and are working hard to get enough money to build a church on Raiatea, which we hope to have finished by next June, so as to hold our conference meetings in it. Our people here are taking hold well and helping in the church for Raiatea, but times have been very hard in these islands since the tornado of two years ago, and most of the people are unable to help very much financially, besides that, our numbers are small. So we find it hard to do so much alone, and we would like very much to get the schooner in time to make one trip to Pitcairn before our conference in June, and bring some of our Pitcairn people out to attend the meeting. They have very few opportunities for getting such help as we shall have at this meeting, as we expect Brother O. A. Olsen will be with us at this time. We only have a conference like this once in two years, and to us it is what the camp-meeting is to our people in the States. Because of our needs as briefly set forth here, we ask that if any who are able to do so feel called upon to help in this line, they may send their donations to the Pacific Press, asking them to apply it on this boat fund, and we who are in the field and know the need will be very grateful for any help received.