A Dauntless Captain in the Land of Fire

The Conquest for Tierra del Fuego Part 1

December 17, 1850. A captain and his men land on a small, rocky island. It is located within a frigid, desolate archipelago. It is called Tierra del Fuego, the Land of Fire. At this moment, no name could have been more unsuitable. It was cold and dreary, whereas fire makes things warm, bright and colorful. Everything in sight looked bleak. It was as if it had all been turned to stone. The shore was rocky, the sky and water steel gray. Breakers monotonously crashed on the shore, and seagulls screeched ominously overhead. The captain and his men clearly were not pleasure-seeking in such a remote isle as this. They had a mission - a hard, desperate mission. They would spread the enlivening gospel of Jesus Christ here, or perish in the attempt. But why was this location chosen over all others? Why choose a barren island inhabited only by cruel, greedy cannibals? Presently, we do not know, but if we travel with them from the beginning, we may gain some insight.

The leader of this determined expedition, Captain Allen Gardiner, was born in Berkshire, England, in 1794. Of course, he was not a captain from birth, but he did seem to be endowed with a desire to become a seafaring man while still very young. When he became thirteen, he entered the naval academy in Portsmouth. Two years later, he set out to sea. While traveling around the world on ship, he considered various religions. He realized that the God of the Bible was the only true God. But he was destined to be more than just a travelling sailor. In 1812, a war broke out, and in 1814, the ship in which Gardiner was a crew member engaged in a battle with an American man-of-war. They soundly defeated the man-of-war, and Gardiner was promoted to the rank of captain for his valiant, dauntless fighting. He would later show that he was dauntless in much more difficult situations than this one. He remained a captain in the British Navy until he turned the age of forty, when he decided to retire and become a missionary. Like any bold soldier, or at least like any tough sea captain, he chose the most demanding locations, where no one else would venture. He went to South Africa, Papua New Guinea, and various parts of South America. Unfortunately, war broke out in South Africa, interest and support was negligible in Papua New Guinea, and Catholic priests thwarted his every move in South America. Captain Gardiner was indomitable. These unfortunate events would not stop him at all. He would just choose a different location. He thought back on his voyages as a sailor, to see where he should go next. One place seemed to plead for the gospel in his mind. He could not refuse its pitiful cries. He would venture to go to Tierra del Fuego at all costs. That is, if he could find any way to get there.

He did not have money, or a ship to reach his destination. So, he put the idea forward to every missionary society he could find. But they were all either too busy, or too disinterested to support him. Of course, that was no trouble to Captain Gardiner. He just started his own missionary society¹, and went around to people to obtain money for the project. He was able to gather just enough money to start him off. Now he had to face another dilemma.  No one was very interested in taking a missionary down to a barren island within a cape that could not be much worsened with whatever else you could imagine into it. The sea was very turbulent, the coasts were rocky, and the weather would be stormy, perhaps treacherously so. Taking a long voyage to transport a few people to a place where finding the shore might be as hard as landing on it for just a little money did not sound glamorous or appealing to anyone. Nonetheless, Gardiner kept trying to find a ship. Finally, he secured a run-down, washed-up, rickety, old schooner to make the journey. Surprisingly, both the ship and the men made it safely to shore in March of 1842. This was an amazing feat considering how flimsy the schooner was. But by the hand of God and the experience of the captain, they had done it. They were enthusiastically greeted by a chief and his followers when they saw provisions being unloaded. Wissale, the chief, knew that no provisions would last forever, so he graciously made it his business to always be available at mealtimes. Thanks to the chief, the provisions were eaten long before they even had the potential to go bad. The stores were demolished so quickly that Captain Gardiner had to go back to England much sooner than planned.

When he returned, he decided he would work in another location, at least for a while. He chose Bolivia. He worked vigorously in Bolivia until a revolution broke out, when he deemed it prudent to evacuate. When he returned, he determined he would try Tierra del Fuego again. It still cried out for the gospel. This time he would meticulously plan out every step. He hired another ship to take him to Tierra del Fuego, where he planned to establish a small station to house himself and his men. He acquired four men and one carpenter to come along on his quest. They reached their destination while a gale was raging. Sleet and hail was coming down heavily, and to make matters worse, a war party decided to camp out on the beach where Gardiner wished to land. He only had time to survey the island to decide the best location to land next time. He returned to England, but he was not disappointed. He just set himself to work on obtaining a ship of his own. Without it, he might never even be able to land. His friends were nervous about his idea. John C. Lambert put it this way in his book, The Adventure of Missionary Heroism², “Though his new idea filled him with fresh enthusiasm, his enthusiasm was not widely shared. At this we can hardly wonder. There are not many persons who possess a hero’s indomitable courage together with the perseverance of Bruce’s spider. Some of the Captain’s best friends advised him to give the whole thing up. ‘Only with my life,’ was his reply.” So, they stopped begging him to terminate his plan. It was clear to them that nothing in this world could dissuade him.

Before he could leave, he needed his own boat, and before he could get it, he needed money. Germany liked his story, but declined his plea for support. They just did not have the funds. Scotland also could not supply him with money. As he was about to leave Scotland, a lady from Cheltenham came to him, and gave him a substantial donation. At the same time, a few people offered their services to his missionary society. Everything was set in order now. They purchased two double-decked launches, and had obtained seven men to go on the expedition. Commanding was Captain Allen Gardiner, the stalwart seaman. Accompanying him was Mr. Williams, an experienced surgeon. Mr. Maidment, who formerly was a Sunday school teacher, also came along. There were also three fishermen who could nearly flawlessly row the boats. And last of all, there was the ship’s carpenter, a veteran of the previous expedition, who was there to fix the boats and keep them afloat. He had the right men, all of them perfect to support him in his arduous task. They embarked on the Ocean Queen, which they were using for the bulk of the journey, so as to reach Tierra del Fuego more rapidly, and to keep their launches in pristine condition, which they stored in the ship. Who knows what they might run into when they landed. They did not need to start off with damaged vessels. Even with all the dangers that might lie ahead, they were prepared for anything, even to lay down their lives if need be. They would be faithful to the end.

December 17, 1850. Captain Gardiner and his men land on a small, rocky island, located within a frigid, desolate archipelago. It is Tierra del Fuego, the Land of Fire. They might have wondered why such an unsuitable name had been chosen. At least, it was very unsuitable now.  It was cold and dreary, whereas fire makes things warm, bright and colorful. Everything in sight looked bleak. It was as if it had all been turned to stone. The shore was rocky, the sky and water steel gray. Breakers monotonously crashed on the shore, and seagulls screeched ominously overhead. They had a hard, desperate mission ahead. They would spread the gospel here, or die attempting it. They landed in Banner Cove, thus named by Captain Gardiner on one of his previous expeditions. A gale sprang up as soon as they landed, so they quickly unloaded their stores into a secluded location, without any hungry chiefs spotting the stores this time. The provisions would only last for six months. But they were prepared for that dilemma as well. A ship would arrive with more provisions before six months were up. No sooner had they packed away the last of the provisions, than a Fuegian war party sailed out toward them in their canoes. They wanted very badly to attack, but they also wanted very badly not to fight against anyone with a gun. Therefore they bided their time, and just kept Captain Gardiner’s troop hemmed in. They stayed right in their positions for a while. But then, the natives were so bored with nothing to do but be out in bad weather that they just left.

A few days later, a hurricane blew in. One of their boats was wrecked on the beach, and their stores were severely damaged. They retrieved what little was left, and stuffed it into a small, dank cave. They soon got sick, and decided to move to a better location: inside the one small boat that was left. Food was scarce, since their provisions were on another part of the island. All they had to eat were the few birds they could catch. They went back to Banner Cove and gathered the last of the food that they had. All that was left was two casks of biscuits. Now they knew that unless the ship arrived very early, they would not survive. The ship never came until almost a year after their arrival on the island. Nevertheless, they trusted in God, and that he knew what was best for all of them. Sadly, men began to die. Captain Gardiner stood bravely to the end. We have a fragment of his last letter. In it he says that he trusts in God, and is singing his praises. He states that he had been without food for five days, but he neither hungers, nor thirsts. He was gladly anticipating going to heaven. He may have been the last one to die. His letter is dated September 6, 1851, and he went to heaven shortly after that. This story has a sad ending, but God would use it for much good. Everyone had been rather disinterested in his mission earlier, but when they heard that he had died because of his great dedication to it, they rallied together, and took up the task which he had so bravely begun. I will relate the story of the accomplishment of this mission in my next article.

"Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God." ~William Carey

¹Captain Allen Gardiner’s mission society was founded in 1844, and was originally known as the Patagonian Mission, but was renamed twenty years later as the South American Mission Society. To read further about what this society has done and is doing, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_American_Mission_Society

²John C. Lambert’s book entitled, The Adventure of Missionary Heroism, is a very useful, interesting work, and is what I mostly use when researching for these articles. I would highly recommend reading it.