Heavenly
p. 87 · Read in the full issue
Company
Four centuries of missionary en- Ideavour in the South Seas, beginning I with the work of Roman Catholic I priests accompanying explorers in [the 16th century, followed by mis jsionaries of other faiths—Congrega tional, Anglican, Methodist, Presby terian, South Sea Evangelical, Latter Day Saints and others—have been [condensed into 230 pages of a [popular book. All the island groups of the South Pacific, including Aus tralia and New Zealand, are repre sented.
It therefore makes Graeme Kent’s [brief too wide for him to delve in [depth into any one group. Neverthe less, he has succeeded in presenting ja good general description of the [difficulties of introducing Christianity (to the Pacific Islands, where mis sionaries also had to contend [with avaricious traders, convict escapees and renegades, many of whom behaved no better than the Islanders who engaged in warfare or unethical conduct.
I Missionary writings of the period provide a rich store of quotations which the author has used liberally.
Many of these quotations almost fill a page, as do the many reproductions of wood-cut drawings.
Here the author became over enthusiastic in his choice. There seems little justification for having two similar portraits of the Reverend Henry Nott of Tahiti (pp 38 and 49), except that from a woman’s point of view he’s decidedly more handsome in the second portrait! [ Having spent what must have been
an enormous amount of time re searching his material, Kent should also have done the index and read the galley proofs more carefully. I noticed 11 typographical errors in a glance at the index alone, not to mention inconsistencies in the spelling of local words in the text, eg Uluka
lala (p 32) becomes Ukalala (p 36), Eimeo (p 148) becomes Eimo in the index; King George Tupou (p 163) is misspelt twice (p 165 and p 168).
Rarotonga, Talili, Rimatara, Cako bau, all are spelt differently in index and text. Finally, to correct the glar ing error in the preface—Ellice Islanders are Polynesians, not Micro nesians.
Nevertheless, it is a useful intro ductory description of mission history
in the Pacific area.
Marjorie
Crocombe.
(Company Of Heaven; Early Mis
Sionaries In The South Seas. By
Graeme Kent. A. H. & A. W. Reed, $5.95').
Rev Henry Nott