Tireless Men Conquering the Land of Fire

The Conquest for Tierra del Fuego Part 3

Mr. Despard was becoming quite anxious. Weeks had passed since he had sent some of his fellow missionaries on the Allen Gardiner to Woollya, one of the main islands of Tierra del Fuego. Not a word had been heard from them since then. It was an ill wind which seemed to bode nothing good for the mission. He engaged Captain Smyley, the same captain who had been the first to discover the fate of Allen Gardiner, to investigate.

It was not long before Captain Smyley returned on his ship the Nancy. Behind him sailed the Allen Gardiner. Well, at least they knew that the schooner had not been shipwrecked. But what had happened, and why they had not heard from the missionaries, time would soon tell. Once the ships docked, the Allen Gardiner’s cook came and told Mr. Despard the whole story. He was the only survivor of the schooner.

When the Allen Gardiner landed on Woollya, the natives had been quite friendly. In fact, they were all so amiable that the missionaries decided to have a church service on the very next Sunday right on the island for all who wished to attend. Accordingly, when Sunday arrived, the missionaries came onto the island and prepared for the service which would soon begin. Many natives gathered around them. But, as the missionaries were about to start the service, the natives charged forward and murdered all of them. When the cook who was still on the Allen Gardiner saw this, realized that they would come on board the schooner to kill him next. Quickly, he concocted a risky and unusual plan, although it was probably the best to be had under the circumstances. He swiftly lowered a rowboat, jumped into it, and rowed to the island. Upon reaching it, he clambered out of the rowboat and charged into the dense forest as fast as his legs could carry him.

After a few days, he decided to leave his hiding place and risk coming out into the village. He might die at the hands of the natives, but he might die anyhow if he stayed in the forest without much to eat. Fortunately, he was not killed by them, although some of them treated him rather roughly. A few of them were nice enough to give him food and let him stay in the village until a ship came. The wait was not very long, because Captain Smyley and the Nancy soon arrived. The cook was glad to be able to leave the island, and came on board the ship. A native boarded the ship along with him. He had been appalled by the conduct of the other islanders in murdering the missionaries in cold blood. His name was Okokko, one of the natives they had used when establishing their mission station. He was a Christian along with his wife, and they both decided to leave the heathen island of Woollya for the mission station at Keppel Island.

The mission had received a stunning blow by the death of their comrades. Now was not the time to keep pushing forward, but rather it was the time to slow down and regroup – again. William Bartlett and Mr. Bridges along with Okokko and his wife Camilenna would stay on the island to study languages. Mr. Despard would go with the Allen Gardiner back to England for repair and renovation.

While in England, Mr. Despard procured the assistance of Mr. Stirling, who would later become Bishop Stirling. Mr. Stirling had work to do as soon as he reached Keppel Island with Mr. Despard. His task was to go back to Woollya and attempt to reopen communication with the natives. This would be hard to do, since the natives had murdered the missionaries, and they probably would not want any more to come to them. Nevertheless, he would try, even if he would have to be yet another man to sacrifice his life. Mr. Bridges and Okokko both knew how to speak English and Fuegian quite well, so Mr. Stirling decided to bring them along to help him with interpretation. When Mr. Stirling arrived at Woollya, all of the islanders were apprehensive. They were afraid that it was a mission of revenge, and that Mr. Stirling and his friends would kill them. But, when Mr. Stirling explained that they were here peacefully, and wished to talk with them, the natives were satisfied. In fact, they were even excited about helping now that they saw that the missionaries were kind and had even forgiven their murder. Many of the natives volunteered to come to the mission station. There were so many volunteering, that Mr. Stirling could choose only a small fraction of them. It looked like there was hope for the mission after all. He chose a few of them, and returned to Keppel Island to report on the success of his expedition to Mr. Despard.

The missionaries were busy now that they had natives on the Island. In addition to their normal work, they would have to train the natives and teach them about the Bible. Once each native had been at the station for a few months, they would take them back to the island from which they came, and bring new natives with them. The progress that they were making was amazing, but Mr. Stirling’s part was interrupted by needing to return to England to be dubbed Bishop of the Falkland Islands. He left to receive the office, and when he returned, Tierra del Fuego had changed completely. The natives were kind, and many of them had become Christians. The maps were soon revised to state that anyone within forty miles of the mission station should not need to worry about having any treatment other than kindness in Tierra del Fuego and surrounding islands. Everyone was glad, happy to have finally accomplished the mission that Captain Allen Gardiner had dreamed of so many years before. The change in the natives on Tierra del Fuego was so amazing that even Charles Darwin became a regular supporter of the mission society, and had to admit that he was wrong in saying that all the missionaries in the whole world could not have made the Fuegians honest. God had moved an incredibly large mountain through the faith of just a few people.

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