The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1919, Page 7

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The Lutheran Pioneer. Fi

(blessed) every important part of the equipment.
The priest of each canoe has in his charge the
“sacred” carved images, in stone and wood, of the
ancestral deities, and the whatu-kura (tribal talis-
manic relics). The carved figure of a deified an-
cestor, looking with fiery eyes at the ocean he is
to ride over and subdue, decorates the bow of the
canoe.

Now the lofty mat-sails are hoisted, and amid
the loud cries of the emigrants and the shouting of
“Hdére atw ra, haere ral’ (Farewell, depart, de-
part!), the canoes, their sails catching the brisk
trade-winds, move away from the home-shores, and
soon, having crossed the sheltered lagoon, are through
the channel in the coral reef and out upon the ocean,
falsely called the Pacific. 'The watchers on the
shore become mere specks, the trees dwindle, and
ere long even the island is but a memory. The
voyagers are alone on the dark-blue tropic sea, their
home for many days, perhaps weeks.

Running before the southeast trade-winds, for
many days no change of course is necessary. The
flying-fish with wet, shining bodies and rapidly
moving wings dart across the bows of the canoes,
while the clumsy-looking porpoises, belying their
appearance, swiftly circle about the fleet or rub
their backs against the wooden sides, and occasion-
ally huge T'ohora (the sperm-whale) would rise ma-
jestically from the deep and spout a greeting, while
the people, awe-stricken, whispered, “Behold the
Taniwha (our god) !”

So they sail on; calm, still days and nights, days
of steady southeasterly breezes, sudden and strong
tropie storms, and roaring, threatening gales, each
taking their turn at speeding the voyagers towards
the unknown future, until some morning the dawn
reveals to their searching eyes a long high coast-line,
and joyfully they hail the white cliffs, the beflowered
trees, the sparkling waterfalls leaping boldly into
the never-appeased maw of the ocean, or the wider
streams as so many heralds promising them a land
wherein there is room to live and food to sus-
tain. life.

Thus they have reached the land which is the
prize of their daring, a land of peace —as yet —
and plenty. Being savages, heathen, whose hearts
are given to idol-worship and not to the true living
God, their lusts and self-love soon change this place
—almost a Garden of Eden—into a veritable Sodom
and Gomorrah. But of this later.

Interesting as are the legends of the voyages of
the various canoes which brought their human

freight to the shores of New Zealand, — there were
about twenty-seven of them, —sailing at different
times, most likely also from different starting-places
— we must refrain from relating them and turn our
attention to the settling of the land, and the cus-
toms and religion of the Maoris, which we hope to
do in the near future.

Nore. — In pronouncing Maori names, pro-
nounce as in German; e. g., Hue== Hoo-ay; Aotea-
Roa = Ah-oh-tay-ah roh-ah, ete.

ArtHur APPEL.

<0

New Attitude of Japanese Leaders
to Christianity.

The account of an evangelical meeting held in
Saga which the Rev. H. V. 8. Peeke gives in a recent
letter shows strikingly the recent drift of public
favor toward Christianity. At the meeting greet-
ings were read from the governor of the province,
the mayor of the city, and from a Christian official
at the head of the Kyushu Railway Department.
After the sermon addresses were made by Madame
Hirouka, one of the wealthiest and most capable
business women in Japan, who, although sixty-six
years of age, has recently become an out-and-out
Christian, and by Mr. Morimura, an octogenarian
business man of great wealth and influence, who
has found Christ, in his old age.

This changed attitude of Japanese leaders ‘and
officials is a result of the recognition of Christianity
in the famous three-religious conference and of the
new attitude of the educational leaders toward Chris-
tian religious education. Very closely related to it
also is the revelation of a moral weakening which is
threatening the character of the nation. Subsequent
upon the recent exposures of graft in high places,
Mr. Morimura, mentioned above, established a fund
for the development of a plan to promote business
morality. He offered $100,000, and Baron Shibu-
sawa added $25,000 to the fund. — Church Visitor.

- cen ot

Sharing Christ with Others.

No sooner had Andrew found Jesus than he
hastened ta tell his brother Simon of his discovery.
The first impulse of every young Christian is to
bring somebody else to Jesus. The man that finds
a treasure of gold or precious stones hides his secret.
He does not want any other person to share his
secret. But the Christian who would adopt such

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