’The Bishop himself says of this fray:—­“I was in the middle, one man only remained by me, crouching under the lee of the branch of the tree, and shooting away from thence within a yard of me.  I did not like to leave the steel-yard, and I had to detach it from the rope with which it was tied to the tree, and the basket too was half full of yams and heavy, so that it was some time before I got away, and walked down the beach, and waded to the boat, shooting going on all round at the time; no one shooting at me, yet as they shot on both sides of me at each other, I was thankful to get well out of it.  I thought of him who preserves from “the arrow that flieth by day,” as He has so mercifully preserved so many of us from “the sickness.”  Now don’t go and let this little affair be printed.’

At Parama there was a friendly landing.  At Sopevi Mr. Atkin says:  ’We could not find the landing place where the Bishop two years ago found several people.  We saw three or four on the shore.  They were just the same colour as the dust from the volcano.  What a wretched state they must be in!  If they go to the neighbouring-isles they will be killed as enemies, and if they stay at home they are constantly suffocated by the ashes, which seemed to have fallen lately to the depth of more than afoot.’

At Mallicolo a landing place was found, and an acquaintance begun by means of gifts of calico.  At Leper’s Island St. Barnabas Day was celebrated by bringing off two boys, but here again was peril.  The Bishop writes:—­

’The people, though constantly fighting, and cannibals and the rest of it, are to me very attractive, light-coloured, and some very handsome.  As I sat on the beach with a crowd about me, most of them suddenly jumped up and ran off.  Turning my head I saw a man (from the boat they saw two men) a few yards from me, corning to me with club uplifted.  I remained sitting, and held out a few fish-hooks to him, but one or two men jumped up and seizing him by the waist forced him off.  After a few minutes (lest they should think I was suspicious of them), I went back to the boat.  I found out from the two young men who went away with me from another place, just what I expected to hear, viz. that a poor fellow called Moliteum was shot dead two months ago by a trader for stealing a bit of calico.  The wonder was, not that they wanted to avenge the death of their kinsman, but that the others should have prevented it.  How could they possibly know that I was not one of the wicked set?  Yet they did discriminate; and here again, always by the merciful Providence of God, the plan of going among the people unarmed and unsuspiciously has been seen to disarm their mistrust and to make them regard me as a friend.’

Curtis Island was inspected, but there was no possibility of leaving a party to make experiment on it; and then the ‘Southern Cross’ sailed for the Santa Cruz cluster, that group whose Spanish name was so remarkable a foreboding of what they were destined to become to that small party of Christian explorers.  Young Atkin made no entry in his diary of those days, and could never bear to speak of them; and yet, from that time forward, his mind was fully made up to cast in his lot with the Mission.