190 AN ADVENTURE WITH MALAYS.

to retire to rest. To their terror, they shortly after
heard a violent knocking at the door, and on look-
ing out perceived a number of Malays surrounding
the entrance. These miserable wretches speedily
forced an entrance, and after a short parley, some
of them drew their daggers, and showed how they
were tipped with poison. ‘‘ They looked,” says our
friend, ‘more like a host of devils than a company
of human beings, and all on a sudden seemed about
to make a rush upon me. I commended myself in
silence to my Almighty Helper, and awaited the
issue calmly. To my surprise they drew back,
leaving me unharmed, and one by one left me
standing alone in perfect astonishment. As soon
as they were gone, I fell on my knees, and with
tears gave thanks to God my Saviour, who had
rescued me out of the hands of these savages.”

in all probability, the perfect self-possession and
calm demeanour of this remarkable man were the
cause, providentially overruled, of cowing the spirits
of the Malays, who ascribed their conduct, when
questioned about it, to sorcery, saying that the
missionary had bewitched them, so that they could
do nothing to him.

The termination of the Nicobar mission was a
truly melancholy one. The loss of go many valu-
able lives, and the entire failure of the object of the
mission, at length compelled the abandonment of