Girard0307

After 17 January 1844 – Father Joseph-André Chevron to his family, Tonga

Based on the dispatched copy, APM, Chevron file.

One sheet forming four pages, three of which are written on; the fourth bears only the address. This undated letter was written after the one the author wrote on 24 November 1843 (doc. 274), during Douarre's stop at Tonga (Bishop of Amata; cf. paragraph 1 below). It may be supposed that the author wrote the present letter during one of the interruptions in the composition of his letter begun on 17 January and completed on 24 July 1844 (doc. 292), but before 12 July, the day on which Bataillon arrived in Tonga with the new missionaries and, no doubt, the parcel which the author says below (paragraph 1) had not yet arrived. Since there is no other point of reference, it has been dated "after 17 January 1844."

Translated by Merv Duffy and ChatGPT, August 2026"

Address

[p. 4]

Mr Chevron

Nantua

Letter

[p. 1]

Jesus, Mary, Joseph

[1]

I received, together with your letters brought by the Bishop of Amata, the two crates, Nos. 1 and 2, packed together as a single parcel. They did indeed contain everything you mentioned in your letters. The third, containing the artificial flowers, is still in America with the rest of the Bishop's luggage. It is to be brought by the warship that will bring the priests who left France at the same time as the Bishop.

[2]

I must thank you and the people who contributed to the shipment. Please thank them for remembering me; one day the good Lord will repay them a hundredfold. I was very pleasantly surprised by the watch, which I had not expected. At first, it was astonished to find itself at the antipodes and could not make up its mind to run. This lasted for more than a month, but at last it started, and now it is working wonderfully. None of the seeds would grow. If you should have another opportunity to send some, it would be a wise precaution to put them in bottles. The potatoes and the seeds from Chevron that were placed in the crate rotted and spoiled everything that was not made of iron or wood; thus, the spyglass came completely unglued. The collection of newspapers gave us great pleasure. I now remember that, instead of the two crates of which I spoke a moment ago, there were three: one containing the books, pictures and paintings; another containing the watch, linen, shoes, etc.; the third coming from Bellegarde, with the fourth still to come. The broad beans and other loose seeds in the crates from Nantua were completely spoiled. It would be advisable to place objects susceptible to damp either in bottles or in a tin box.

[3]

Please thank in particular Mr Lengre, Mr and Mrs Brachet, Misses Maissiat and Berou - Miss Julie in particular - and all the other people whose names the good Lord knows. Do not forget to thank Mr Servant of Sagny for remembering me when you have the opportunity.

[4]

Several of the objects sent cannot be used here for the purpose indicated. I mean the belts and other objects intended for distribution among the indigenous people. Our position here is very different from what it was in Futuna. Everything pleased the people there because everything was new; here we find ourselves among indigenous people accustomed to [p. 2] European manufactures. They have often been visited by ships. For a long time, the Protestant missionaries have accustomed them to solid, well-made tools from England. Brightly coloured printed cottons are sold to them, and they are now perhaps more particular about all these things than people are in France.

[5]

If Alphonse could obtain for me the volumes missing from the two complete courses, it would give me pleasure; the volumes we lack would be the most useful in our present circumstances.

[6]

If you should send another crate one day, I would ask Chevron, who is near Geneva, to send me a few ells of carpeting by the piece for altar platforms. In the past, I saw some very attractive and inexpensive ones in Geneva.

[7]

You asked me whether we were supplied with linen here; you may be entirely at ease on that point. I would say that we have an abundant supply. We suffered badly, very badly, in Futuna and Wallis, but that time has passed. I hope that no confrère in the future will ever undergo the conditions in which we found ourselves, except perhaps in some extraordinary circumstances. In general, however, we are much better off here than people in Europe imagine. For some time now, our meals have been more or less regular. By meals, I mean yam soup - yams being rather like potatoes - in the morning and evening; and at midday, some beans, salads, etc., and a few pieces of pork or fish to help us swallow the banana. With that, we do not die of hunger. Our difficult days are those on which we make our rounds. Sometimes we find plenty and sometimes nothing. But the heat, fatigue and kava cause us to notice it little and, above all, I think, there is the grace of God. If we had only bodily fatigue to endure, it would be nothing, but the hardships of the mission affect us much more deeply.

[8]

We have a garden beside the house. It contains about thirty beds, each fourteen feet long and at least three feet wide. The plants that grow well are beans, perennial onions or scallions, cabbages, turnips and beets. The first lettuces that we [p. 3] sowed were magnificent; those we have sown since then have refused to do anything, perhaps because of the heat. We shall make another attempt in a few months. The wheat that was sent did not sprout. We obtained some yellow grapes, but they were not very good and took more than a year to grow. European plants generally grow very slowly. We have celery, parsley, fig trees and grapevines. Few plants produce seed here, or else their seeds are not very good. The potatoes would not grow either. There are some lemons and oranges here, but the latter are not very sweet and are all infested with worms.

[9]

On several occasions, I have been seized by an illness which I believe to be asthma; it is a truly exhausting difficulty in breathing. It is severe only at night. This has happened to me three or four times; I then find myself completely out of breath. I think this is only the beginning of an illness; nevertheless, it will be as God pleases. But if it should occur to you one day to send me something again, I would ask you to include some medicine that might, if necessary, serve to stop or lessen this illness. If it should one day develop when one is far from a pharmacist, it is well to take precautions beforehand. I fear that one day this illness might stop me and prevent me from making my rounds. Nevertheless, do not be anxious; what I have told you is merely a precaution.

Entirely yours,

Joseph Chevron

[10]

You can see that I am ending this letter in great haste. Please forgive me.

[11]

I hope that one day, if I am permitted, I shall be able to send you a few small objects from these islands, some curiosities. Until now, and still at present, this has been impossible. I am sending you only a few pictures.