"This is the story of an eight-year voyage and a mission to save souls - led by a Yorkshireman, George Bennet, and a vicar from the Isle of Wight, Daniel Tyerman - who set off on the day that Napoleon died, in 1821, on a whaler bound for Tahiti. Theirs was the 'deputation' chosen by the somewhat maverick London Missionary Society to report on the state of godliness and missionary zeal in farflung outposts of the pre-Victorian world." "Their mission started in the South Seas, where they reported scenes of chiefs surfing, perpetual warfare and a sudden surge of Christianity. From there they went via New Zealand, Australia and its aboriginal hinterland, through 'the Orient' to India and slave-ridden Mauritius. Near escapes from sharks, tigers, pirates and cannibals abound, all told with an eye for adventure as well as for the greater 'divine' story unfolding in unlikely places." "Based on contemporary journals, mission reports, letters and illustrations, On the Missionary Trail is both the narrative of the longest missionary voyage ever undertaken and a colourful, detailed, snapshot of little-known worlds, set against the wider picture of evangelism and guilt, heroism and humanity."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved