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The Missionary

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International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 16, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 48.

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The Missionary.

SAMOA.

THE Samoan Islands, which, owing to German aggression, have lately attracted such widespread attention, are no less interesting to those who anxiously await the gathering of the "isles of the sea" under the blood-stained banner. They lie in the great Pacific Ocean, about six or seven hundred miles northeast of Fiji and three thousand east of Australia. They are of volcanic origin, lofty, productive, and beautiful, while their climate rivals that of Italy in its balmy loveliness. They have been known since 1722, when Roggeivein visited them and gave them the name "Navigators' Islands." Other navigators also visited them, one of whom, La Perouse, in 1787, lost twelve of his men by the hands of the natives, thus giving rise to the appellation "blood-thirsty savages," which, whatever the cause of the massacre, certainly does not describe their natural propensities now.
The population is estimated at from 35,000 to 40,000, of which one-third live on Savaii, the most important island.
The natives are of a superior class, have a fine physique, and are rather prepossessing in appearance. They are hospitable to a fault, peaceful and cleanly, while their rigid conscientiousness and forgiving disposition may well be copied by more favored nations.
Some of the Samoan customs are at least interesting; for example, the gathering of all marriageable maidens in each village into separate communities; the tattooing of the men, without which no young man can expect to be successful in winning for himself a wife; and the obligation on all ladies to chew kava at the invitation of any man.
In former times their dead were buried near their lately-occupied abodes, and their spirits were supposed to travel to the extreme end of the island of Savaii, and there, from a stone, leap into a circular pool, which they believed to be the entrance to their hades.
Their houses are built in a bee-hive shape, and consist of one room—often very large. They cook in a separate house, and still prefer their ancient custom of a fire in a hole in the ground to the more modern method of civilization.
The London Missionary Society was the first to carry to these islanders the gospel, though early missionaries are said to have visited them from New Zealand.
In 1830, John Williams, the "martyr missionary," accompanied by Mr. Barff and eight Society Island native teachers, in The Messenger of Peace, touched at Samoa. Their advent was hailed with delight by the Samoans, who greatly desired teachers, with which they were then supplied.
Two years later Williams again visited the islands and was astonished to find the extent of the gospel's influence. Having no strongly-defined religious convictions, and being favored with dispositions more susceptible to divine virtues than the aborigines of many of the South Sea islands, the hearts of these simple people formed fruitful soil for the gospel seed, and far and wide the blessed tidings had been spread, and everywhere received with joy.
In 1836 Mr. Murray, with five others, arrived, and the work of translating the Scriptures began. Within thirty years from the landing of Williams and Barff, idolatry had entirely disappeared, and the natives were all nominally Christians, possessing a beautiful reference Bible in their own language.
On the island of Upola, forty-five years ago, the late Rev. Charles Hardie and the Rev. G. Turner, LL.D., under the direction of the London Missionary Society, laid the foundations of Malua, the Samoan missionary seminary of the society.
They began by selecting thirty acres of land, which they begged to be allowed to pay for, put up temporary houses, selected twenty-five youths for instruction, gave each a plot of ground for his support, and began work.
Now they have 22 stone cottages, a classroom 60 feet by 30, with all necessary appurtenances, 300 acres of land, a hundred students, and a glorious record of self-support. One day a week is set aside for industrial pursuits; thus the building and repairing is done by the students.
At the seminary they observe the "week of prayer," and have a monthly missionary prayer-meeting, at which a collection is taken from the students.
The course of study occupies four years, which is often supplemented by another four years, when students are placed on the teacher's staff.
These students are the men who shepherd the flocks in the two hundred Christian villages on the islands, and some of them are even doing missionary work in New Guinea.
Besides the London Missionary Society, the Wesleyans and Roman Catholics have missions in Samoa, with some thousands of adherents.
The Samoans are strict Sabbath observers. They are a Bible-loving people, and their children are early trained in its precepts. Their sympathies are not confined to themselves, and for the last twenty years, besides supporting their own pastors, they have contributed to the funds of the London Missionary Society annually an average of $6,000, while the only expense that society has in connection with the islands is the support of the sevenmissionaries who have not yet been withdrawn.
To sum up in the words of the late British Consul: "Taking the Samoans for all in all, and judging from their past history and present condition, there is not a people more worthy of consideration and preservation, more susceptible of improvement, or more willing to be taught to take that position amongst the enlightened races that they have so often and so earnestly sought our help to win."—Missionary Echo.