Images de page
PDF
ePub

own child into the sacred office of an evangelist. However Missionary pursuits may have been accounted the honour, or have proved the happiness, of the parent, the child, as he grows up, may not even possess a desire to engage in the same: that desire the parent cannot give; and without it, it would be both cruel and injurious to every party to urge it.

The alternative is most distressing to contemplate. There are at present no situations of comfort to fill, no trade or business that can be followed. Productive plantations, regular labour, mercantile establishments, warehouses, and shops, it is to be expected, will ultimately exist and flourish in these islands, but they cannot be looked for in the short period of fifteen years from the time when the people emerged from the grossest ignorance, the most inveterate vices, and the most enervating and dissipating idleness. The circumstances of the female branches of the Mission families is, perhaps, still more discouraging.

I have extended these remarks much beyond what I intended, when speaking of the South Sea Academy; and although they may be less interesting to the general reader than other matters, they will serve to shew what are some of the heaviest trials of a Missionary life among an uncivilized people; and may not only awaken the sympathies of the friends of Missionaries, but lead to such a consideration of the subject, as may result in the suggestion or application of a remedy, which, if it shall not altogether remove them, shall, at least, alleviate their pressure; which is, perhaps, felt more heavily by the present generation, than it will be by their successors.

CHAP. XIX.

Voyage to Borabora-Appearance of the settlement-Description of the island-Geological peculiarities of Borabora, Maurua, &c.-New settlement in Raiatea-Arrival of the Dauntless-Designation of native Missionaries-Voyage to the Sandwich Islands-Marriage of Pomare and Aimata-Former usages observed in marriage contracts-BetrothmentAncient manner of celebrating marriage-Resort to the templeAddress of the priest-Proceedings of the relatives--Prevalence of polygamy-Discontinued with the abolition of idolatry-Christian marriage--Advantageous results-Female occupations-Embarkation for England-Visit to Fare-Improvement of the settlement--Visit to Rurutu and Raivavai-Propagation of Christianity by native converts-Final departure from the South Sea Islands.

MR. ORSMOND, who removed to Raiatea in the close of the year 1818, was accompanied by Mrs Orsmond, who, in the communication of useful instruction to her own sex, and in every other department of female Missionary labour, was indefatigable, until her decease, which took place very soon after her removal from Huahine.

In November 1820, nearly two years after this, Mr. Orsmond, in compliance with the urgent request of the chiefs and people, removed to the island of Borabora, where he established a christian mission, and continued his valuable labours till required by the united voice of the Missionaries, in the Windward and Leeward Islands, to take charge of the South Sea Academy, founded at Eimeo, in 1824. During the year 1821, the inhabitants of Borabora erected a substantial place of worship; and in the month of January 1822, according to a previous

engagement with Mr. Orsmond, I visited the island, for the purpose of preaching at the opening of the new Chapel. Indisposition detained Mr. Bennet at Huahine, but the late Rev. D. Tyerman, his colleague, kindly accompanied me.

On reaching the settlement, to which the people had given the appellation of Beulah, we were gratified no less with the warm reception we experienced, than with the evident improvement among the inhabitants. The school was regularly attended, and many were well informed in the great truths of revelation; the observance of the sabbath was strictly regarded; four or five neat plastered houses were finished, others were in progress. Three causeways, upwards of six feet wide, and elevated two or three feet above the water, extended about three hundred and sixty feet into the sea, and united at the extremity. The chapel, which was one of the best that had been erected in the islands, was part of a large building one hundred and sixty feet by forty-eight, comprising a place of worship, school, and court-house.

Contrary winds detained us some days in the pleasant settlement at the head of Vaitape bay, on the west side of the island, which is situated in 16° 32' S. Lat. and nearly 152° W. Long. Borabora, as well as the other islands of the group, is surrounded by a reef rising to the water's edge, at unequal distances from the shore. On this reef there are three low coral islands

covered with trees and verdure, equal to that which adorns those around Raiatea and Tahaa. There are

also four other islands separated from the main land, which is about sixteen miles in circumference. These islands, like Papeorea in Huahine, are not of coral formation, but resemble in structure the promontories on the 4 B

II.

adjacent shore. Tobua, the principal, forming the south or west side of Vaitape bay, is not less than three or four hundred feet above the sea.

In the geology of Borabora, the only peculiarity is the existence of a species of feldspar and quartz, but the appearance and shape of the island is singular and imposing The high land in the interior is not broken into a number of small mountain ridges, but, uniting in one stupendous mass, rears its magnificent form, which resembles a double-peaked mountain, to an elevation perhaps, little below 3000 feet above the water. The lower hills and small islands are not seen at a distance, so that when viewed from the sea or the other islands, especially Huahine, (from the north and western parts of which it is generally visible,) it appears like one solitary and gigantic obelisk or pyramid rising from the ocean and reaching to the clouds..

The settlement at the head of Vaitape bay commands a view of every diversity in scenery. The lofty interior mountain clothed with verdure, and the deep glens that indent its sides, stand in pleasing contrast with the hilly or coralline islands that appear in the west, while the uniformity and nakedness of the distant horizon is broken by the appearance of the conical or circular summits of the mountains of Maupiti or Maurua, upwards of thirty miles distant. This island was frequently visible from Borabora, during our visit at this time.

Maupiti is but circumscribed in extent, and its mountains are less broken and romantic than those of others in the group; it has, however, some peculiarities. It is the only place in the Georgian or Society Islands in which primitive formations are found to any extent. Besides the cellular volcanic rock and the several kinds of

basalt, common to all the islands, a species of granite is found here in considerable abundance, which presents an anomaly as striking in the geology of these islands, as that furnished by the existence of carbonate of lime in the island of Rurutu, where garnets are also obtained. Hornblende and feldspar are found in Huahine, as well as in some of the other islands. Ancient lava, containing olivine, augite, and zeolite, are also met with, together with pumice and cellular lava, some kinds of which, found in Sir Charles Sanders' Island, are of a dark blue colour, and so light as to float on the water, though apparently containing a portion of iron. A large specimen of the latter kind, which I have from this island, is more porous than any I ever met with among the volcanoes of the Sandwich Islands, and is so completely honeycomb in its structure, that it is difficult to account for its formation.

After remaining some time at Borabora, we took leave of our friends, and sailed for Huahine.

On our way we touched at Raiatea, and were gratified with the prosperous appearance of the station. It was then at Vaoaara, but since that period Mr. Williams, the only remaining Missionary, has removed to Utumaoro, a fine extensive district near the northern extremity of the island, and adjacent to the opening in the reef called the Avapiti, or double entrance. This station was commenced in 1823; and, in consequence of the extent of land by which it is surrounded, and the proximity of the harbour, has been found much more convenient than that formerly occupied. The improvement has been rapid, and the transformation so astonishing, that in a short period, three hundred enclosures for the culture of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, with other kinds of produce,

« PrécédentContinuer »