The Samoan Journals of John Williams, 1830 and 1832

305 Pages·1984·14.826 MB·English

by  John Williams

The Samoan Journals
of John Williams
This book was published by ANU Press between 1965–1991.
This republication is part of the digitisation project being carried
out by Scholarly Information Services/Library and ANU Press.
This project aims to make past scholarly works published
by The Australian National University available to
a global audience under its open-access policy.
Rev. John Williams
(George Baxter print, 1843.
Courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Sydney)
Pacific History Series No. 11
The Samoan Journals
of John Williams
1830 and 1832
Edited, with an Introduction by
Richard M. Moyle
Australian National University Press
Canberra, London, New York
1984
First published in Australia 1984
Printed in Australia for the Australian National University
Press, Canberra
© Introduction and Annotations Richard M. Moyle 1984
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealings for the purpose of study,
research, criticism, or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be
reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be made
to the publisher.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Williams, John, 1796-1839.
The Samoan journals of John Williams,
1830 and 1832.
ISBN 0 7081 1621 3.
I. Samoa - Description and travel. I. Moyle, Richard M. (Richard Michael).
II. Title. (Series: Pacific history series; no. 11).
919.61304
Library of Congress No. 83-7269
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North America: Australian National University Press, PO Box 1365 New York,
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Japan: United Publishers Services Ltd, Tokyo
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Singapore 1953
PRINTED IN AUSTRALIA BY MACARTHUR PRESS PTY LTD, PARRAMATTA
The Pacific History Series
The Pacific History 1 A Cruize in a Queensland Labour Vessel to the
Series of books South Seas, by W.E. Giles, edited by Deryck Scarr (1968)
provides an outlet 2 The Works of Ta’unga. Records of a Polynesian
for the publication Traveller in the South Seas, 1833-1896, by R.G. and
of original manuscripts Marjorie Crocombe (1968)
important to historians 3 The Trading Voyages of Andrew Cheyne, 1841-1844,
and others interested edited by Dorothy Shineberg (1971)
in the Pacific Islands. 4 A Residence of Eleven Years in New Holland the
the Caroline Islands, by James F. O’Connell, edited by
Saul H. Riesenberg (1972)
5 The South Sea Islanders and the Queensland
Labour Trade, by W.T. Wawn, edited by Peter Corris
(1973).
6 The Marquesan Journal of Edward Robarts, 1797-
1824, edited by Greg Dening (1974)
7 The New Guinea Memoirs of Jean Baptiste Octave
Mouton, edited by Peter Biskup (1974)
8 The Book of Luelen, by Luelen Bernart, translated
and edited by John L. Fischer, Saul Fl. Riesenberg and
Marjorie G. Witing (1977)
9 Annotations to The Book of Luelen, translated and
edited by John L. Fischer, Saul H. Riesenberg and
Marjorie G. Whiting (1977)
10 The Diaries and Correspondence of David Cargill,
1832-1843, edited by Albert J. Schutz (1977)
VI
Acknowledgments
I would like to record the patient
assistance of Colin Cummins
throughout the preparation of this
book, particularly with the
transcription of William’s journals.
Niel Gunson and Bob Langdon kindly
gave editorial and reference suggestions.
Much of the labour involved burning
the midnight oil. I would like to thank
my wife Linden for providing the oil.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
The 1830 Journal 21
The 1832 Journal 93
Bibliography 287
Index 295
MAPS
1 Central Polynesia
2 Tonga 46
3 Samoa 66
Introduction
The 1830 and 1832 journals of John Williams provide the earliest
detailed accounts of Samoa when European influence was still in
its infancy. Their wealth of ethnographic material has long been
recognised by Pacific scholars, although the manuscripts may also
be read as fascinating and often dramatic narratives in their own
right. They are published here for the first time.
In the first decade of the nineteenth century, England was still
feeling the effects of an evangelical revival which commenced in
the first half of the eighteenth century. Amid the turmoil of the
French Revolution across the Channel, the military successes of
Bonaparte throughout Europe, and local social and political
struggles (which were to result in the Reform Bill of 1832),
virtually every nonconformist denomination in Britain heard and
heeded the missionary call. The initiative taken by the Wesleyan
Thomas Coke, who began mission work in India in 1786, and by
the Baptists William Carey and John Thomas, who began mission
work in India in 1793, was soon taken up by other churches. The
Biblical exhortation ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature’ seized the imagination and consciences of
evangelical clergymen, nonconformist ministers and a variety of
interested laymen to the extent that in 1794 the first formal
meeting occurred in London to consider the practicability of
establishing a new missionary society. On 22 September 1795, after
further meetings, this surge of interest culminated in the formation
of the nondenominational Missionary Society (known from 1818
as the London Missionary Society (hereinafter LMS), from its
subtitle, to distinguish it from similar Societies, such as the
1