as ambassadors from the tribes to which they beonged, requesting that books and teachers might be sent to their native land; and chiefs and kings have also at these periods publicly, with gratitude to the true God, returned the native churches their acknowledgments for sending them instructors.

At the Missionary anniversary held at Raiatea, in 1828, the king of Rarotoa, an island seven aundred miles distant, and containing six or seven housand people, stood up, and, in his native dialect, thanked the Raiatean Christians for sending the gospel to his island, and delivering him and his people from the bondage of idolatry, and sin, and death.

The native churches are daily extending the range of their benevolent operations; their vessels penetrate where no ships ever went before, and their Missionaries land where no foreigner has dared to set his foot on shore. Yet, wherever they have been, the merchant or the sailor may now safely follow, and he will meet with hospitality and kindness. The following account will appropriately illustrate this remark.

On his passage from Tahiti to New South Wales, in 1825, in the brig Brutus, Mr. Nott touched at Aitutake, (the Whylootakie of Cook.) Native teachers had been there above three years. The inhabitants were Christians. The passengers landed; and when the natives found a Missionary among them, they requested he would preach to them, and about 1000 soon assembled. The islanders shewed their visitors every possible kindness, accompanied them to the ship when they embarked, and carried a number of supplies as a present to the captain. After stating these

facts, Mr. Nott, in a letter, dated May, 1825, continues

"The next island we called at was one of the Friendly Islands, Eooa, as written by Cook, and as we have it written on the charts, but which should be Ua. At this island, also, as there is no anchorage, we were obliged to stand off and on while the boat went on shore. Here a circumstance took place, which, among many others, might be brought forward, to show the value of Missionary establishments. The boat reached the land with Capt. Forbes, the chief mate, and Mr. Torrance. They began to barter with the natives, and obtained several pigs, some plantains, cocoa-nuts, &c., but suddenly they were seized, and every thing was taken from them, without any offence being given. Axes were held over their heads, and knives applied to their throats; a rope was also brought, and formed with a noose, and hung over their heads, to signify to them what they must expect, if they offered to escape or resist. A ransom was then demanded, before they would let them return to us on board the brig, and the chief mate was sent off in the boat to fetch the property. But as it was dark when the boat reached the brig, it was not proper that she should return to the shore until morning. During the night, the prisoners, Capt. Forbes, Mr. Torrance, and another of the boat's crew, were kept in the greatest terror, with a strict guard, and continual threats. In the morning, the boat was sent on shore with muskets, (or rather fowling-pieces of considerable value,) powder, and cloth, to the amount of £30 or £40, and a New Zealander, who was on board with us, was sent, to negotiate the affair, the people being afraid to venture on shore

again. The chief received the property, and Capt. Forbes was permitted to come on board the brig, but Mr. Torrance was detained till more property should be sent on shore, which was done by the boat, and taken on shore by the New Zealander. Mr. Torrance was then permitted to come off to us. At this instant Captain Forbes exclaimed, 'O, Mr. Nott! we see now, more than ever, what has been done by you and the Missionaries on the islands where you have resided, and the trouble you have had in bringing the natives, from what they were, to what they are

now.'"

We have already noticed Pomare, the first convert in the islands, visiting the different districts for the purpose of persuading its inhabitants to renounce their idols, and embrace the Christian faith. We have seen Mahine, the king of Huahine, sending his messenger to that island for the same purpose; and we have seen Tapa, and the chiefs of Raiatea, prosecuting, in 1816, the work commenced by Mr. Nott and his companion in 1814, and engaged in subverting idolatry and preparing his people to receive Christianity, before any European Missionary had taken up his abode on their islands. Mai and Tefaora not only distinguished themselves by their zeal in the destruction of the idols and temples of Borabora, but the latter sailed over to Maurua, and induced the chief and people of that island to follow his example, and discontinue the worship of their idols.

It is not probable that all who thus distinguished themselves were fully acquainted with the gospel, or entirely under the influence of the high and sacred motives it inspires, but they are convinced

of its superiority to the system of delusion and iniquity from which they had been released; and hence, perhaps, chiefly originated their exertions to induce its reception by others.

The knowledge of Christianity was early conveyed to the Paumotus, which lie to the north and east of Tahiti.

To the southward of the Marquesas, innumerable clusters and single islands, of a totally different structure and appearance from the larger islands, cover the bosom of the ocean, and render navigation exceedingly dangerous. They are low narrow islands, of coralline formation, and though among them some few, as Gambier's Islands, are hilly, the greater number do not rise more than three feet above the level of high water. The names of Crescent, Harp, Chain, Bow, &c., which some of them have received, from their appearance, have been supposed to indicate their shape. Those already known seem to be increasing in size, while others are constantly approaching the surface of the water. Sometimes they rise, like a perpendicular wall, from the depths of the ocean to the level of its surface; at other times, reefs or groves of coral, of varied and beautiful form and colour, extend, in the form of successive terraces below the water, to a considerable distance around. Here islands may be seen in every stage of their progress; some presenting little more than a point or summit of a branching coralline pyramid, at a depth scarcely discernible through the transparent waters; others spreading, like submarine gardens or shrubberies, beneath the surface; or presenting here and there a little bank of broken coral and sand, over which the rolling wave occasionally breaks; while

a number rise, like long curved or circular banks of sand, broken coral, and shells, two or three feet above the water, clothed with grass, or adorned with cocoa-nut and palm trees. They generally form a curved line, sometimes bent like a horseshoe; the bank of soil or rock is seldom more than half a mile or a mile across, yet it is often clothed with the richest verdure. Within this enclosure is a space, sometimes of great extent. In the island of Hao, the Bow Island of Captain Cook, it is said, ships may sail many miles after entering the lagoon. The narrow strip of coral and sand enclosing the basin is sixty or seventy miles in length, although exceedingly narrow. Their lagoons are either studded with smaller reefs, or form a bay of great depth. The stillness of the surface of the bright blue water, within the lagoon, the border of white coral and sand by which it is surrounded, the dark foliage of the lofty trees by which it is sheltered, often reflected from the surface of the water, impart to the interior of these low islands an aspect of singular beauty and solitude, such as is but seldom presented by the more bold and romantic scenery of the higher lands. These islands have received different names: by some they have been called the Labyrinth, by others the Pearl Islands, on account of the pearls obtained among them. The natives of Tahiti designate the islands and their inhabitants Paumotus, but by navigators they are usually denominated the Dangerous Archipelago.

The islands vary in extent, but are usually small; most of them, however, are inhabited, and in some the population is numerous. Their inhabitants are tall and robust, dark coloured, and