i

was followed by Mr. Davies, who heard his address to the object of hope and fear, in words to the following effect:-"O my atua, or god, here is some good property, knives, scissors, looking-glasses, &c. e hoo paha vau, na moa na taua; perhaps I may sell some of the fowls belonging to us two, for it. It will be good property for you and me." After waiting a few moments, he pretended to receive an answer in the affirmative, and returned, stating that the god had consented to the appropriation. The sacred fowls were accordingly hunted by a number of boys and dogs, and several secured, and sold for the above-mentioned articles.

The oracle was not the only method by which the people were accustomed to consult the gods; nor was the inspiration of the priests the exclusive manner by which supernatural direction was revealed to the people. Divination, or augury, was practised in a variety of modes, and by these means it was thought that future events were made known, and information was communicated. Much of their augury was connected with the sacrifices they offered. The diviners noticed the manner in which the victims died, their appearance after death, &c. and by these means determined what was the will of the god.They had also a singular method of cutting a cocoa-nut, and, by minutely examining its parts, of ascertaining their portentous indications. These ceremonies were generally practised in the temple.

There were others, however, performed elsewhere, as the patu, which consisted in dividing a ripe cocoa-nut into two equal parts, taking the half opposite to that to which the stalk was attached, and proceeding with it in a canoe to some distance from the shore; here the priest offered his prayers; and then placing the cocoa

nut in the sea, continuing his prayers, and narrowly watching its descent, he thereby pretended to ascertain the result of any measures in which those by whom he was employed were interested. The patu was frequently resorted to while negociations for peace were carried on between parties who had been engaged in war. Divination was employed to discover the cause or author of sickness, or to ascertain the fate of a fleet or a canoe that might have commenced a distant or hazardous voyage. This latter was often used in the islands to the westward of the Society group.

The natives had also recourse to several kinds of divination, for discovering the perpetrators of acts of injury, especially theft. Among these was a kind of water ordeal. It resembled in a great degree the wai harru of the Hawaiians. When the parties who had been robbed wished to use this method of discovering the thief, they sent for a priest, who, on being informed of the circumstances connected with the theft, offered prayers to his demon. He now directed a hole to be dug in the floor of the house, and filled with water; then taking a young plantain in his hand, he stood over the hole, and offered his prayers to the god, whom he invoked, and who, if propitious, was supposed to conduct the spirit of the thief to the house, and place it over the water. The image of the spirit, which they imagined resembled the person of the man, was, according to their account, reflected in the water, and being perceived by the priest, he named the individual, or the parties, who had committed the theft, stating that the god had shewn him the image in the water. The priests were rather careful how they fixed upon an individual, as the accused had but slight prospect of escaping, if unable to falsify the charge; but when

he could do this, the credit of the god and the influence of the priest were materially diminished.

Sometimes the priest, after the first attempt, declared that no answer had been returned, and deferred till the following day the repetition of his enchantments. The report, however, that this measure had been resorted to, generally spread among the people, and the thief, alarmed at the consequences of having the gods engaged against him, usually returned the stolen property under cover of the night, and by this superseded the necessity for any further inquiries.-Like the oracles among the nations of antiquity, which gradually declined after the propagation of Christianity, the divinations and spells of the South Sea Islanders have been laid aside since their reception of the gospel. The only oracle they now consult is the Sacred Volume; and multitudes, there is reason to believe, give to its divine communications unreserved credence, and yield to its requirements the most conscientious obedience.

CHAP. IX.

Increased desire for books-Application from the blind-Account of Hiro, an idolatrous priest-Methods of distributing the Scriptures-Dangerous voyages-Motives influencing to desires for the Scriptures-Character of the translation-Cause of delay in baptizing the converts-General view of the ordinance-Baptism of the king-Preparatory instructionsFirst baptism in Huahine-Mode of applying the water-Introduction of Christian names- -Baptism of infants-Impressions on the minds of the parents-Interesting state of the people-Extensive prevalence of a severe epidemic.

A NUMBER of elementary books, and several hundred copies of St. Luke's Gospel, printed at Eimeo, and reserved for the Leward Islands, had been distributed among the people. But these were soon found inadequate to meet their daily increasing wants; and the great desire of all classes for books, furnished a powerful stimulus to hasten the printing, and we were soon enabled to furnish a supply of spelling-books.

I have often been amused with the perseverance and ingenuity manifested by the people to procure books, or at least a substitute for them. The bark of the auti, or paper mulberry, was frequently beaten to a pulp, spread out on a board, and wrought and dried with great care, till it resembled a coarse sort of card. This was sometimes cut into pieces about the size of the leaves of a book; and upon these, with a reed cut in the shape of a pen, and immersed in red or purple vegetable dye, the

alphabet, syllabic, and reading lessons of the spellingbook, and the Scripture extracts usually read in the school, have been neatly and correctly copied. Sometimes the whole was accurately written on one broad sheet of paper-like native cloth, and, after the manner of the ancients, carefully rolled up, except when used. This was often the only kind of book that the natives in remote districts possessed; and many families have, without any other lessons, acquired a proficiency, that has enabled them to read at once a printed copy of the Scripturés. It has also gratified us, as indicative of the estimation in which the people held every portion of the word of God, and their desire to possess it, to behold them anxiously preserving even the smallest piece of paper, and writing on it texts of the Scripture which they had heard in the place of worship.

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These detached scraps of paper containing the sacred texts, were not, like the phylacteries of the Jews, bound on the forehead, or attached to the border of the garment, but carefully kept in a neat little basket. The possessor of such an envied treasure might often be seen sitting on the grass, with his little basket beside him, reading, to his companions around, these portions of the scripture. I have a number in the hand-writing of the natives, some of which they have brought, to have them more fully explained, or to inquire what connexion they bore to parts with which they might be better acquainted.Their use was, however, superseded by the printing of the Gospel of St. Matthew, an edition of upwards of two thousand copies of which was finished in less than eighteen months after our arrival in Huahine.

The people were anxious to receive them, and multitudes thronged the place where they were preparing, for