Mis Mowall, with the authors bret anshe
& regards.

POLYNESIA:

OR,

AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT

OF THE

PRINCIPAL ISLANDS IN THE SOUTH SEA,

INCLUDING

NEW ZEALAND;

THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY; AND THE ACTUAL CONDITION
OF THE INHABITANTS IN REGARD TO CIVILISATION,

COMMERCE, AND THE ARTS OF SOCIAL LIFE.

BY THE RIGHT REV. M. RUSSELL, LL.D. AND D.C.L.,
(OF ST JOHN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD);

Author of "View of Ancient and Modern Egypt," "Palestine or the Holy
Land,"
‚”"Nubia and Abyssinia," "History and Present Condition

of the Barbary States," &c.

WITH A MAP AND VIGNETTE.

EDINBURGH:

OLIVER & BOYD, TWEEDDALE COURT;

AND SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., LONDON.

MDCCCXLII.

0c150.2

HAR

OCT 9 1903

LIBRAD

Bright Fund

ENTERED IN STATIONERS' HALL.

Printed by Oliver & Boyd, Tweeddale Court, High Street, Edinburgh.

PREFACE.

THE main object of this volume is to throw light on the introduction of Christianity and civilisation into the islands of the South Sea. From the moment that Wallis discovered the beautiful group which bears the name of George the Third, many schemes were formed for bettering the condition of the natives, who, at their first interview with Britons, though they saw much to excite their wonder, could receive no favourable impression as to the obligations of morality on the cultivated mind. It was not, however, till a later period that any plan was matured for conveying thither the knowledge of true religion and the elements of social improvement. Mercantile speculation had, indeed, been invited to the shores of Otaheite in quest of materials on which to found an intercourse beneficial to the inhabitants of both hemispheres; and Science had selected the spot as a theatre for her triumphs in the sublime department of astronomy. But the year 1796 had arrived before the benevolent spirit of the gospel undertook a nobler mission, animated by the hope of establishing among the gentle savages of the Pacific the foundations of a pure faith and the motives to a holy life.

A variety of opinion continues to prevail as to the effects produced by the labours of the missionary. Without presuming to determine the several points at issue