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most implacable hatred, and often vowed each other's extermination. Offices of kindness and affection are performed with promptitude and cheerfulness; and though by some their weapons are retained as relics of past days, or securities against invasion, by many they are destroyed. Often have I seen a gun-barrel or other iron weapon, that has been carried to the forge, submitted to the fire, laid upon the anvil, and beaten, not exactly into a plough-share or a pruning-hook, (for the vine does not stretch its luxuriant branches along the sides of their sunny hills,) but beaten into an implement of husbandry, and used by its proprietor in the culture of his plantation or his garden. Their weapons of wood also have often been employed as handles for their tools; and their implements of war have been converted with promptitude into the furniture of the earthly sanctuary of Jehovah. The last pulpit I'ascended in the South Sea Islands was at Rurutu. I had ministered to a large congregation, in a spacious and well-built chapel, of native architecture, over which the natives conducted me at the close of the service. The floor was boarded, and a considerable portion of the interior space fitted up with seats or forms. The pulpit was well, though rudely constructed; the stairs that led to it were guarded by rails, surmounted by a bannister of mahogany-coloured tamanu wood; the rails were of dark aito wood, and highly polished. 1 asked my companions where they had procured these rails; and they replied that they had made them with the handles of warriors' spears!

CHAP. XVIII.

Arrival of the deputation at Tahiti-Visit to Huahine-Pomare's death -Notice of his ancestry-Description of his person-His mental character and habits-Perseverance and proficiency in writing-His letters to England, &c.-Fac-simile of his hand-writing, and translation of his letter on the art of drawing-Estimation in which he was held by the people -Pomare, the first convert to Christianity-His commendable endeavours to promote its extension-Declension during the latter part of life-His friendship for the Missionaries uniform-His aid important— Circumstances connected with his death-Accession of his son Pomare III. to the government-Coronation of the infant king-His removal to the South Sea academy-Encouraging progress in learning-Early and lamented death-The extensive use of letters among the islandersWriting on plantain leaves-Value of writing paper, &c.—The South Sea academy, required by the state of native society--The trials peculiar to Mission families among uncivilized nations-Advantages connected with the visits of Missionaries' children to civilized countries.

WE had attended our friends from the Windward Islands to a general meeting at Raiatea, and enjoyed their society a month, when Pomare's vessel called at Huahine, on her way from New South Wales to Tahiti. Circumstances requiring that as many of the Missionaries in the Leeward Islands as could leave their stations should meet those of the Windward group, Mr. and Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Ellis, and myself, accompanied our friends on board the Governor Macquarie, in which they returned to Tahiti.

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After five days at sea, finding ourselves near the land, we entered our boat, which had been towed at the stern of the vessel, and, rowing to the shore, landed a few miles to the southward of the settlement at Burder's Point. No effort had been wanting on the part of the captain to render our voyage agreeable; but, from the smallness of the cabin, number of the passengers, frequent rains, and contrary winds, it had been tedious and unpleasant, and we were glad to find ourselves on terra firma again. Exhausted by the fatigues of the voyage, we found the walk to the settlement exceedingly laborious, and some of our party were more than once obliged to sit down upon the rocks by the way-side. On reaching the dwellings of our friends, the welcome, the refreshment, and the rest, we there received, soon recruited our strength and spirits.

We had accomplished our business, and were at Papeete preparing to return, when, on the 24th of Sept. about three o'clock in the afternoon, a vessel of considerable size was seen approaching Point Venus. By the aid of a glass, we perceived that it was a three-masted vessel, and, in endeavouring to ascertain its signal, we were surprised on beholding a large white triangular banner flying at the top-gallant-mast-head. The ship was too distant to allow of our reading the motto, or perceiving with distinctness the device, and we could only conjecture the character of the vessel, or the object of the visit.

The next morning, a note from Mr. Nott conveyed to us the gratifying intelligence, that the ship was direct from England, and that G. Bennet, Esq. the Rev. D. Tyerman, a deputation from the Society, with three Missionaries, had arrived. The captain had come over in his boat, and, anxious to welcome our newly arrived

friends, I accompanied him in his return to the ship. On reaching the Tuscan, we were happy to see Messrs. Jones, Armitage, and Blossom, with their wives, and afterwards proceeding to the shore, had an opportunity of greeting the arrival of the deputation.

The next morning the ship proceeded to Papeete; and, in the forenoon of the same day, Messrs. Williams and Darling, having returned from Eimeo, we met the deputation, read the letters from the Board of Directors, acknowledged the appointment of the deputation as a proof of their attachment, and expressed our sense of their kindness in forwarding supplies.

The letters they had brought, and the accounts of their intercourse with our friends, were cheering; and after spending upwards of a week very pleasantly in their society, I returned to Eimeo in my own boat, Mr. and Mrs. Williams, and Mrs. Ellis, having sailed to Huahine a week before, in the Westmoreland. Contrary winds detained me another week at Eimeo, during which I visited Pomare. On the 12th of October we set sail, and, after passing two nights at sea, reached Fare harbour in safety on the fourteenth.

The year 1821 was an eventful period in the political annals of Huahine, not only in reference to the promulgation of the new code of laws, and the resistance made to their enforcement, but also in regard to the death of Taaroarii, the king's only son, the chief of Sir Charles Sanders' Island, and the heir to the government of Huahine. This event took place very soon after my return from Tahiti.

Soon after our return from Tahiti, the indisposition of Mr. and Mrs. Williams required a suspension of their exertions in Raiatea, and a visit to New South Wales.

On the 8th of December, 1821, the shout of E pahi, e! A ship, ho! re-echoed through our valley; we proceeded towards the beach, and, on reaching the sea-side, beheld a large American vessel already within the harbour. The captain soon landed, and informed us that our friends Messrs. Bennet and Tyerman were in the ship. We hastened on board, conducted them to the shore, and welcomed them to our dwellings. Mr. Bennet took up his abode with Mr. Barff, while we were happy to accommodate Mr. Tyerman. The chiefs and people, who had been led to expect a visit from our friends greeted their arrival with demonstrations of joy; these friends remained some time in Fare, and the period they spent with us was one of unusual interest and enjoyment.

In the close of this year, 1821, the Mission and the nation experienced the heaviest bereavement that had occurred since the introduction of Christianity. This was the death of the king, Pomare II. which took place on the seventh of December, the day preceding the deputation's arrival in Huahine. His health had been for some time declining, but his departure at last was sudden. I spent the greater part of a Sabbath afternoon with him at Eimeo, in the beginning of October. was then unable to leave the house, but was not considered dangerously ill. I was then for some days with him, and had not seen him since. He had long been afflicted with the elephantiasis, a disorder very prevalent among the people; but the principal cause of his dissolution was a dropsical complaint, to which he had been for some time subject.

He

The conspicuous station Pomare had occupied in the political changes of Tahiti, since the arrival of the Missionaries, the prominent part he had taken in the aboli

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