Chapter I

PREPARATION TO SEND A MISSIONARY EXPLORING EXPEDITION TO PATAGONIA.

While in the Theological Seminary at Auburn, N. Y., the following letter came to me one day in June, 1833:

“+Missionary Rooms, Boston+, June 19, 1833.

“+Mr. Titus Coan+,

“_Theological Seminary, Auburn_.

“+My dear Sir+: An exploring mission has been resolved upon by the
Committee, Providence permitting, on the western coast of Patagonia.
The vessel in which the mission must go, if it goes during the
present year, is expected to sail on the last of July, and two
missionaries can have a free passage. Two men ought by all means to
go, and not one alone. One--Mr. Arms, of the Theological Seminary of
Andover--has been engaged for the enterprise, and another is wanted.
It occurred to us that perhaps you were the man. We received your
testimonials, and made inquiries, and the result is that the question
has been brought before the Committee, and they have unanimously
appointed you a missionary of the Board, with special reference to
this important expedition. Mr. Arms, the bearer of this letter, will
explain to you the nature of the mission.

“The plan is, in brief, that two men, willing to endure hardship,
be landed on the coast, at a place which is resorted to by sealing
vessels, and spend a suitable time, probably a year or more, in
travelling among the tribes of that coast; that they shall ascertain
what can be done for them--where a mission had better be located,
what should be the nature of the mission, etc.--and at the same time
make arrangements for a mission, and then come home and report to the
Committee. As this subject comes before you unawares, and you have
but little time to reflect upon it, we do not ask you to decide now
whether you will ultimately be a member of the Patagonian mission.

“The Committee will cheerfully leave this question to be determined
at a future time, in view of Providential indications. The question
now before you is, whether you will accompany Mr. Arms to the
Patagonian coast and spend a couple of years, if necessary, among
the Indian tribes of that coast? Of course you will both have to
go unmarried. Mr. Arms leaves an intended wife behind him, and we
understand that your circumstances are similar to his. The expedition
now proposed to you is one full of privations; but it opens a
prospect of bringing the Gospel to the minds and hearts of the poor
degraded natives of Patagonia.

“Should you consent to go, you will come on to Boston by the 15th
or 20th of July with all the necessary credentials for ordination,
unless the Presbytery with which you are connected prefer to ordain
you themselves, and can do it in season for you to be here at the
time mentioned.

“I beg you to take this important subject into immediate and
prayerful consideration. Let me hear from you as soon as possible. I
earnestly hope you will go. If you do not, I see not how the mission
can go during the present year.

“On your arrival in Boston we will confer with you fully on the
subject. The Lord be with you, my dear brother.

“Most truly yours,

“+R. Anderson+,

“_Sec. A. B. C. F. M._”

In connection with the foregoing earnest letter, Secretary Anderson sent me copies of a correspondence with Captain Benjamin Morrell, then in the city of New York. Captain Morrell had recently published a very attractive narrative of a cruise along the eastern coast of Patagonia, also through the Magellan Strait and up the Pacific coast as far as the island of Chiloe. In this journal he had given a glowing description of the harbors, the forests, the climate, soil, clover-meadows, and the numerous and peaceful inhabitants of the western coast of Patagonia. He had also taken occasion to hint that this coast would be a favorable field for missionary enterprise.

On reading this fascinating narrative, the Secretary opened a correspondence with Captain Morrell in order to elicit more definitely the important facts which would warrant sending an expedition with the view of establishing a mission on that coast.

The following is a copy of two letters of Captain Morrell to Secretary Anderson in answer to letters of inquiry from the Secretary.

“+New York+, Jan. 24, 1833.

“+R. Anderson+, Esq.

“+Dear Sir+: Your favor of the 17th inst. is now before me, and it is
with no ordinary degree of pleasure that I hasten to answer it.

“The interest you have taken in the temporal and eternal welfare of
the now wretched and degraded natives of an unexplored region on the
western coast of South America, between the Strait of Magellan and
the Archipelago of Chiloe, has been highly gratifying to my feelings;
and not the less so, I assure you, from your having derived the
idea from the humble narrative I have just laid before the public.
The harmless and inoffensive race of beings here alluded to are
the migratory inhabitants of a country which is blessed with the
most temperate climate, the richest soil, and the finest harbors
on the face of the globe. It is true that at present these natives
are more ignorant and debased than any other I have ever visited;
but it is equally true that they are entirely free from many of
the sensualities of the more enlightened, and are characterized by
a mildness of disposition and a child-like simplicity of manners
which in my humble opinion renders them fit subjects for missionary
labor. They are ignorant of the simplest rudiments of agriculture,
never dreaming that the luxuriant soil of their beautiful country
would grant new favors to their slightest solicitation. Should
heaven so far sanction the benevolent feelings which originated this
correspondence as to enable your Society to establish a Christian
mission among these children of nature, I have no hesitation in
saying that a very few years would change their idle habits and
wretched condition to those of comparative usefulness and happiness;
while such a result would richly and amply reward me for all the
time, labor, and personal hazards I have encountered in collecting
the information I have published respecting them.

“In answering the series of questions you have done me the honor to
propose, I shall beg leave to take them up in my own homely way and
dispatch them in numerical order.

“The peninsula of Très Montes, in my opinion, is not the most
eligible location on this coast for the establishment of a Protestant
mission, on account of its proximity to the Catholic missions further
north.

“For reasons which will presently appear, I would in preference
designate the Guanaco Islands, or that section of the continent near
which they lie, say lat. 47° south.

“The locating a similar establishment in any part of Magellan’s
Strait ought to depend on the success or failure of the project under
consideration.

“I think that the Spanish States of South America would rather
protect than seek to disturb a mission at the Guanaco Islands,
because neither they nor the mother-country have ever conquered or
asserted any claim to territories south of Chiloe.

“The natives I believe would treat the missionaries with the greatest
kindness and respect.

“The Guanaco Islands, you are aware, are situated a short distance
from the mainland, the northern island being in lat. 47° 31′ S., lon.
75° 4′ W. The most of these islands are of considerable extent, with
spacious harbors between them. Their surface is low and level, partly
covered with heavy timber, and on many of them there are beautiful
plains of sufficient extent to raise produce the first season for
several thousand natives; nothing more being required than to run
a plough through a rich, mellow soil and cover the seed with the
furrows. These plains are now covered with fine long grass, heavy
clover, and extensive patches of celery, surrounded by lofty forests
of various kinds of excellent ship timber.

“The waters abound with a great variety of the finest scale-fish,
which may be taken in any quantities either with a seine or hook and
line. Numerous kinds of shell-fish are found on the shores, as well
as sea-otters and seals.

“The forests are teeming with a great variety of beautiful birds, and
the mainland abounds in lions, guanacos, deer, hare, foxes, otter and
many other valuable animals. Minerals, drugs, etc., are doubtless to
be found in the interior.

“A few black cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, and poultry, turned out on
those islands that were not to be immediately devoted to tillage,
would increase and multiply and soon replenish them.

“The natives that inhabit the sea-coast are all travelling tribes,
subsisting entirely on fish and such wild animals as they can
procure, having no substitute for bread.

“Yours truly,

“+Benj. Morrell+.”

“+New York+, Feb. 25, 1833.

“+R. Anderson+, Esq.

“+Dear Sir+: Yours of the 21st inst. came duly to hand and is now
before me.

“In reply to your first question, I can state from my own personal
and frequent experience that the climate south of the equator in any
given degree of latitude between 30° and 55° is neither so cold in
winter nor so warm in summer as in the same degrees of N. lat. In
lat. 47° there is seldom any snow in the valleys. The storms are not
more frequent nor more severe than in New England.

“The number of natives between lat. 47° and 50° I take to be about
20,000. They sojourn in one place till they have exhausted the
shell-fish, and then remove to another. They have no tame animals
except dogs. Interpreters can be obtained at Chiloe who understand
their language and will translate it into Spanish.

“The natives are honest and will respect private property. The coast
can be traversed with safety in canoes; but to penetrate into the
interior horses will be necessary, which must be taken from the
United States.

“In closing this hasty communication I beg leave to express the
satisfaction I feel in your having taken this interesting subject
into consideration, and trust that your exertions in behalf of the
benighted heathen will meet a due reward. Under such a hope, I
subscribe myself,

“Yours truly,

“+Benj. Morrell+.”

It will be seen that these letters of Captain Morrell embrace answers to many specific questions addressed to him by the Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

In order to increase information on the subject which now engaged the earnest attention of the Prudential Committee of the Board, the Secretary addressed a letter of inquiry to Silas E. Burrows, Esq., of New York City, as Mr. Burrows was the owner of several vessels engaged in sealing along the coasts of Patagonia and among the islands of Tierra del Fuego, and as Captain Morrell had been engaged in his service. Mr. Burrows had also been on the Pacific coast as far as Chili, and it was hoped that he might know something of the country and tribes described by Captain Morrell. This letter Mr. Burrows answered promptly, and with characteristic enthusiasm; and although he was unable to add any information to that of his Captain, yet he fully endorsed his high character and assured the Secretary that the Missionary Board might place implicit confidence in his statements.

Mr. Burrows furthermore stated that he was then fitting out a sealing schooner, the Mary Jane, to sail from New York City in July, and that he would be most happy to give a free passage in said schooner to two young gentlemen who might desire to explore on the western coast of Patagonia. He also stated that he would instruct the master of the Mary Jane, Captain William Clift, to look well to the missionaries, to land them at any points on the coast where they desired to explore, and to return them to the United States at the end of the voyage.

Up to this point all things looked favorable, and the voice of Providence seemed to say, “_Go forward_.” With these letters and testimonials Mr. Arms was sent by the Committee from Boston to Auburn, to converse with me, and to urge, if necessary, my acceptance of the appointment as an exploring missionary to Patagonia.

I had just returned from Rochester, where I had supplied the pulpit of one of the pastors during vacation. About nine o’clock in the morning these communications were put into my hands for consideration. I was then entering on my last term in the Theological Seminary. At its close I was engaged to marry Miss Fidelia Church, and I hoped to go with her as a missionary to some foreign land. We had been betrothed for years, and this call, if accepted, would throw a cloud over the prospects of our union for a long time at least, perhaps forever.

But the question must be met, and met _immediately_. It was now late in June, and the vessel bound to Patagonia was to sail before the close of July; and if I failed, the expedition must fail for that year at least, as it was deemed impossible to find another man to take the place in due season.