estioned whether to build only a
temporary home, hoping to return to dear old Tanna as soon as possible,
or, though the labor would be vastly greater, a substantial house--for
the comfort of our successors, if not of ourselves. We decided that, as
this was work for God, we would make it the very best we could. We
planned two central rooms, sixteen feet by sixteen, with a five feet
wide lobby between, so that other rooms could be added when required.
About a quarter of a mile from the sea, and thirty-five feet above its
level, I laid the foundations of the house. Coral blocks raised the wall
about three feet high all round. Air passages carried sweeping currents
underneath each room, and greatly lessened the risk of fever and ague. A
wide trench was dug all round, and filled up as a drain with broken
coral. At back and front, the verandah stretched five feet wide; and
pantry, bath-room, and tool-house were partitioned off under the
verandah behind. The windows sent to me had hinges; I added two feet to
each, with wood from Mission-boxes, and made them French door-windows,
opening from each room to the verandah. And so we had, by God's
blessing, a healthy spot to live in, if not exactly a thing of beauty!

The Mission House, as ultimately finished, had six rooms, three on each
side of the lobby, and measured ninety feet in length, surrounded by a
verandah, one hundred feet by five, which kept everything shaded and
cool. Underneath two rooms a cellar was dug eight feet deep, and shelved
all round for a store. In more than one terrific hurricane that cellar
saved our lives,--all crushing into it when trees and houses were being
tossed like feathers on the wings of the wind. Altogether, the house at
Aniwa has proved one of the healthiest and most commodious of any that
have been planted by Christian hands on the New Hebrides. In selecting
site and in building "the good hand of our God was upon us for good."

I built also two small Orphanages, almost as inevitably necessary as the
Missionary's own house. They stood on a line with the front of my own
dwelling, one for girls, the other for boys, and we had them constantly
under our own eyes. The orphans were practically boarded at the Mission
premises, and adopted by the Missionaries. Their clothing was a heavy
drain upon our resources; and every odd and curious article that came in
any of the boxes or parcels was utilized. We trained these young people
for Jesus. And at this d