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when we turned round, a number of the natives appeared on deck, and others were climbing over the bulwarks. They were the most savagelooking natives I have ever seen, and their behaviour was as unceremonious as their appearance was uninviting. Vancouver found them unusually shy at first, but afterwards remarkably bold, and exceedingly anxious to possess every article of iron they saw although his ship was surrounded by not fewer than three hundred natives, there were neither young children, women, nor aged persons, in any of their canoes.

A gigantic, fierce-looking fellow, who had seized a youth standing by the gangway, boarded us, and endeavoured to lift him from the deck; but the lad, struggling, escaped from his grasp. He then seized our cabin-boy, but the sailors coming to his assistance, and the native finding he could not disengage him from their hold, pulled his woollen shirt over his head, and was preparing to leap out of the ship, when he was arrested by the sailors. We had a large ship-dog chained to his kennel on the deck, and, although this animal was not only fearless, but savage, yet the appearance of the natives seemed to terrify him. One of

them caught the dog in his arms, and was proceeding over the ship's side with him, but perceiving him fastened to the kennel by his chain, he was obliged to relinquish his prize, evidently disappointed. He then seized the kennel, with the dog in it; when, finding it nailed to the deck, he ceased his attempts to remove it, and gazed round the ship, in search of some object less secure. We had brought from Port Jackson two young kittens; one of these now came up from the cabin, but she no sooner made her appearance

on the deck, than a native, springing like a tiger upon its prey, caught up the unconscious animal, and instantly leaped over the ship's side into the sea. Hastening to the side of the deck, I looked over the bulwarks, and beheld him swimming rapidly towards a canoe lying about fifty yards from the ship. As soon as he had reached the canoe, holding the cat with both hands, and elevating these above his head, he exhibited her to his companions with evident exultation; while, in every direction, the natives were seen paddling their canoes towards him, to gaze upon the strange creature he had brought from the vessel. When our captain beheld the thief thus exhibiting his prize, he seized his musket, and was in the act of levelling it at the offender, when I arrested his arm, and assured him I had no doubt the little animal would be preserved, and well treated. Orders were now given to clear the ship. A general scuffle ensued between the islanders and the seamen, in which many of the former were driven headlong into the sea, where they seemed as much at home as on solid ground, while others clambered over the vessel's side into their canoes. In the midst of the confusion, and the retreat of the natives, the dog, which had hitherto slunk into his kennel, recovered his usual boldness, and not only increased the consternation by his barking, but severely tore the leg of one of the fugitives who was hastening out of the ship, near the spot to which he was chained. The decks

were now cleared; but as many of the people still hung upon the shrouds, and about the chains, the sailors drew the long knives with which, when among the islands, they were furnished, and by menacing gestures, without wounding any, suc

ceeded in detaching the natives from the vessel. Some of them seemed quite unconscious of the keenness of the knife, and, I believe, had their hands deeply cut by snatching or grasping at the blade. A proposal was now made to entice or admit some on board, and take two of them to Tahiti, that the Missionaries there might become acquainted with their language, gain a knowledge of the productions of their island, impart unto them Christian instruction, and thus prepare the way for the introduction of Christianity among their countrymen, as well as open a channel for commercial intercourse. Our captain offered to bring them to their native island again, on his return from the Marquesas; and, could their consent have been by any means obtained, I should, without hesitation, have acceded to the plan; but, as we had no means of effecting this object, I did not conceive it right to take them from their native island by force.

On a former voyage, about two years before this period, Captain Powel had been becalmed near the shores of this island. Many of the natives came off in their canoes, but did not venture on board; perceiving, however, a hawser hanging out of the stern of the ship, about fifty of them leaped into the sea, and, grasping the rope with one hand, began swimming with the other, labouring and shouting with all their might, as they supposed they were drawing the vessel towards the shore. Their clamour attracted the attention of the seamen, and it was found no easy matter, even when all hands were employed, to draw in the rope. While the greater part of the crew were thus engaged, a seaman leaning over the stern with a cutlass in his hand, so terrified the natives, that, as

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they were drawn near the vessel, they quitted their hold, and by this means the hawser was secured. A breeze shortly after springing up, they steered away, happy to escape from the savages by whom they had been surrounded.

On the present occasion we experienced a signal deliverance, which, though it did not at the time appear very remarkable, afterwards powerfully affected our minds. As soon as the vessel was cleared of the natives, and the wind was wafting us from their shores, I went down to the cabin, where Mrs. Ellis and the nurse had been sitting ever since their first approach to the ship; and when I saw our little daughter, only four months old, sleeping securely in her birth, I was deeply impressed with the providence of God, in the preservation of the child. During the forenoon, the infant had been playing unconsciously in her nurse's lap upon the quarter-deck, under the awning, which was usually spread in fine weather, and she had but recently taken her to the cabin, when the natives came on board. Had the child been on deck, and had my attention been for a moment diverted, even though I had been standing by the side of the nurse, there is every reason to believe that the motives which induced them to seize the boys on the deck, and even the dog in his kennel, would have prompted them to grasp the child in her nurse's lap or arms, and to leap with her into the sea before we could have been aware of their design. this been the case, it is impossible to say what the result would have been; bloodshed might have followed, and we might have been obliged to depart from the island, leaving our child in their hands. From the crude food with which

Had

they would have fed her, it is probable she would have died; but, from my subsequent acquaintance with the natives of the South Sea Islands, I do not think that during her infancy they would have treated her unkindly. As it was, we felt grateful for the kind Providence which had secured us from all the distressing circumstances which must necessarily have attended such an event.

These brief facts will be sufficient to shew somewhat of the character of the natives of Rapa, in 1791 and 1817. They continued in this state until within the last five or six years, during which a considerable change has taken place.

Towards the close of the summer of 1825, a cutter belonging to Tati, a chief in Tahiti, on a voyage to the Paumotus, or Pearl Islands, visited Rapa, and brought two of its inhabitants to Tahiti. On their first arrival, they were under evident feelings of apprehension; but the kindness of Mr. Davies the Missionary, and the natives of Papara, removed their suspicions, and inspired them with confidence. They were both delighted and astonished in viewing the strange objects presented to their notice. The European families, the houses, the gardens, the cattle, and other animals, which they saw at Tahiti, filled them with wonder. They also attended the schools and places of public worship, and learned the alphabet. Soon after their arrival, the cutter sailed again for their island, and the two natives of Rapa returned to their countrymen loaded with presents from their new friends, and accompanied by two Tahitians, who were sent to gain more accurate information relative to their country, and the disposition of its inhabitants. When the vessel approached their island, and the people saw their

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