The latest reports from the Hervey islands confirm the anticipations to which such facts had given birth in the mind of every one who takes an interest in the condition of the heathen. In Rarotonga, the Christian churches present an animating aspect, both as it respects their character and growing numbers. Education is eagerly sought, both by the aged and the young; and the moral character of the people, which, but a few years ago, was equally loathsome and terrific, is now generally marked by the pure influence of Christianity. In that church, one of the most consistent members, and an active evangelist, was in the days of his youth a cannibal; and at another station, where the natives lately met to form a missionary society for the improvement of those islands in the Pacific which are still as wretched as their own once was, a Christian chief appeared as an advocate in the cause of religion and humanity, who, in the dark days of heathenism, was a great warrior, and generally appeared with human flesh appended to his shoulder as a badge of honour. "I have lived," said he, "to behold a new and wonderful thing-the gathering together of the people to send the word of the true God. It is true, we formerly used to assemble, but it was either to plan attacks of murder, or to flee from attacks made by the enemy. We then met in fear, with hearts filled with envy and malice, and dared not assemble our wives and our children; but now the darkness has fled, and the light of the true sun has shone upon us, Jesus the Lord from heaven. The spears of our wars are lost, and we hold in our hands the sword of the Spirit, the word of the Lord: we bring with us our wives and children, and feel that our hearts are filled with love one toward another. We not only love those of our own sentiment, but we love all, and are loved by all; and above all, this day we have met to show the gospel to those who are, as we were, living in darkness, having no God and no hope; this is a new and a wonderful event brought about hy the great love of the Almighty."*.

It deserves to be mentioned, that the proportion which the number of communicants bears to the large congregations who attend divine service is very small. Indeed, it was. not until the missionaries had laboured ten years among the heathen of Cook's islands that a church, in their sense of the term, was regularly constituted, or any natives admitted to the more solemn sacrament. Even then, not more than six - Forty-seventh Rep. of the Miss. Society, for the year 1841, p. 4.

were thought sufficiently instructed to commemorate with due knowledge and 'devotion the death of the Redeemer. At present, the members may be stated at three hundred, most of whom have been regularly catechised and watched with a vigilant eye by the several ministers, whose cause and character are felt to be at stake. Concerning Ngatangiia, the superintendent writes that the congregation amounts to about eighteen hundred, and that since the formation of the church in 1833, a hundred and sixty-eight baptized persons have been received into its fellowship. Of these, twenty-two have been removed by death, and seven have been sent forth as native teachers. The schools, including those held on Sunday, contain a thousand children; and in the adult seminaries, the number under instruction is three hundred and eighty. At Titikaveka, another station in the same island, the congregation is not less than seven hundred; the children at school are four hundred and ninety, and the adults upward of two hundred. At Avarua, a third station, the congregation amounts to thirteen hundred; the members to ninety-one; the young pupils are five hundred and ninety-nine; and the older ones are rated at four hundred and ninety. The congregation at Arorangi is given at eleven hundred; the communicants fifty-six; the children under instruction, five hundred and twenty, and the adults four hundred and fifty-five. Similar statements might be given illustrating the progress of divine knowledge and civilization in Aitutaki, Atiu, Maute, Mangaia, and Mitiaro. In the smaller islands, indeed, all the inhabitants are Christians; give due heed to the ordinances of religion; and manifest an eager desire to have their children instructed in the principles of their creed, as well as in the arts which minister to the happiness and embellishment of social life.*

The attention of the reader must have been arrested by the fact, that the blessings conveyed to the natives of Polynesia are not confined to benefactions of a purely spiritual nature, but have extended also to commerce, manufactures, and general improvement. It is indeed manifest that, while the missionaries devoted their best energies to the instruction of the people in the truths of the Christian faith, they have at the same time been anxious to impart a knowledge of all that is calculated to increase their comforts and elevate their characters. It is maintained, with considerable force of ar * Forty-fifth Report of the Missionary Society, pp. 14-16

gument, that until a people are brought under the influence of religion, they have no desire for the arts and usages of civilized life. The English teachers were in Otaheite many years, during which they built and furnished houses in the European style; but though the natives saw these, not one of them imitated the example. As soon, however, as they were brought under the influence of Christianity, the chiefs and even the common people began to erect neat cottages, and to manufacture bedsteads, seats, and other articles suited for domestic accommodation. The females had long observed the dress of the missionaries' wives; but as long as they continued heathens, they greatly preferred their own, and there was not a single attempt at imitation. No sooner, however, were they converted to the laws of the gospel, than they all aspired to the possession of a gown, a bonnet, and a shawl, that they might appear like Christian women. In a word, while the islanders were under the influence of their superstitions, they were bound by a feeling of torpor from which no stimulus was found sufficiently powerful to rouse them, until the new ideas were imparted to their minds by European evangelists. Hence there is reason to expect that the experience of a few more years will remove all doubt as to the fact that missionary enterprise is the most effectual means that has ever been employed to advance the social, civil, and commercial, as well as the moral and spiritual interests of mankind.*

All their pursuits, indeed, in their unconverted state, were regulated and inspired by a religious feeling. Even their most atrocious crimes, human sacrifice and infanticide, had a reference to the authority of the gods and the practice of thei deified chiefs. The sanction of Heaven was supposed to war rant the darkest scenes that clouded the intercourse of thei countrymen in their heathen state; hence, when they adopted a new faith, they were prepared by their former association of ideas to admit a change of habits, extending even to dress, food, and habitations. One style of apparel suited the pagan votaress; another was required as more suitable to the Christian worshipper.

* Williams's Missionary Enterprises, p 581

CHAPTER VII.

Tonga, Fijee, and Navigators' Islands.

Tonga or Friendly Islands discovered by Tasman. Visited by Cook. — Amiable Qualities of the Natives.-Improved State of their Country.Conspiracy against Cook.-La Perouse, Edwards, and D'Entrecasteaux. -The Ship Duff arrives there in 1797.-Missionaries landed.-Intrigues of Conuelly, Ambler, and Morgan. - Generous Conduct of Moomooe.The Chiefs Finou and Mytyle.-The Duff leaves the Islands.-Death and Funeral of Moomooe.-Toogahowe protects the Preachers. -Ambler and Morgan.-Details relative to Inhabitants.-Warlike Habits derived from the Fijees.-Civil War, Toogahowe murdered. - Character of Toobo Nuha, and of Finou his Brother.-Speech of Young Finou.-Attack made upon Missionaries-Error as to the Number killed.-Friendly Islands visited by Williams.-Declaration of Finou.-Wesleyan Missionaries had already begun their Labours.-Arrangement with those of the London Society.-Fijees a distinct Race from the Friendly Islanders.Christianity introduced.-Cannibalism -A native Feast.-Navigators' Islands discovered by Bougainville.-Visited by La Perouse and by Kotzebue. Incidents mentioned by the latter.-These Islands extremely important.-Exertions of the Chief Fauea.-Progress of the Missionaries. -Conduct of Malietoa.-Motives of Conversion.-Number of professed Christians.-Beneficial Effects of the Gospel.

Ir must be considered entirely as a matter of convenience on what principle the numerous islands in this part of the South Sea shall be distributed; for, except the date of discovery, there is no particular in which one cluster can be said to differ from another. The Tonga, the Fijee, and the Navigators', for example, are so closely associated in regard to position and physical character, that it seems impossible to assign any other reason why they should not all be considered as one group, than that they have been variously named by success- \ ive visiters.

Following the usual arrangement of geographers, we shall begin with the Friendly Islands, the principal members of which, it is well known, were discovered by Tasman, a Dutch seaman, in the year 1643, and afterward more minutely examined by Captain Cook. In the eyes of both these distinguished voyagers the inhabitants of Tongataboo appeared extremely amiable and generous, whence originated the complimentary epithet applied by the Englishman to their country. The former, seeing no arms among them, was thereby induced to believe that the reign of peace must have been forever undisturbed in those happy regions; an impression which a

more minute acquaintance with their habits and the course of subsequent events have altogether removed. On grounds equally fallacious, Tasman concluded that, being ignorant of all religion, they were strangers to the practice of worship in any one of its forms. He saw no temples, no idols, no priests, but observed that they had a devout veneration for the serpentbrood. One of them took up a water snake, and with great reverence put it upon his head, and afterward replaced it in the sea. They seem, indeed, to have carried their respect for life so far as not to kill even a fly, though these insects were exceedingly numerous, proving an actual plague to the island. It is stated that the natives had made considerable progress in agriculture; that the ground was divided into portions of a regular shape, where fields and gardens were neatly laid out; and that the latter were filled with plants and trees, which, besides being pleasing to the eye, diffused a delightful odour.*

After the long interval of one hundred and thirty years, Tongataboo was visited by Cook, who, as he could profit little by the labours of his predecessor, may be said to have discovered it. During this period the inhabitants had divested themselves of the peculiarities ascribed to them by the Dutchman, for they were found both in possession at once of arms and of idols. Our countryman relates, that almost immediately after he landed, he was conducted along a lane which led to an open green, on one side of which was a house of worship, built on a mount that had been raised by the hand of man, about sixteen or eighteen feet above the common level. It had an oblong figure, and was enclosed by a wall or parapet of stone about three feet in height, from which wall the mount rose with a gentle slope, and was covered with a green turf. On the top of it stood the house, which had the same figure as the tumulus, and was about twenty feet in length, and fourteen or sixteen broad. The floor was laid with fine gravel, except in the middle, where there was a parallelogram of blue pebbles raised about six inches above the surface. In a corner stood an image rudely carved in wood, and on one side lay another, each about two feet long. The ceremonies, which were performed by persons clothed with the attributes of priests, ought to have left no doubt on the mind of the navigator that the figures which he saw were

Tasman's Voyage is described in Dalrymple's Historical Collection of Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean, vol. ii., p. 63. His relation is derived from the work of Vallentyn, who is supposed to have had access to Tasman's original Journal. The island called by the natives Tongataboo, or Sacred Tonga, was by Tasman denominated Amsterdam. See also Bur ney's Historical Discoveries, vol. iii., p. 84.