MISSIONARY SPEECHES OF NATIVES-LAST WORDS OF POMARE. resorted to by the women to prolong a youthful and attractive appearance, which they supposed would be lost if they suckled their offspring; and the innovation was sanctioned by the chiefs in regard to their own children, the fruit of unequal marriages, to preserve a pure and legitimate lineage of aristocracy. The Areois destroyed their children, because they would not be encumbered with them in pursuing their migratory habits; and girls were more especially made away with than boys, because it was very troublesome to rear them-the abominable proscription of the female sex requiring that their food should be dressed in separate ovens from that of their fathers and brothers, their husbands and male kindred. We have just learnt that Pomare, before his demise, nominated his son, an infant of eighteen months, to be his successor; and also appointed the queen (the boy's mother), her sister, Pomare Vahine, and five principal chiefs of Tahiti, to be a regency during the long minority to come; he had further directed that the young king should be solemnly crowned in the European manner, and requested that all the Missionaries would attend, and take their part in the ceremony. Pomare's dying charge was,If my son grow up a good man, receive him as your king; if a bad one, banish him to Huahine!" He requested that his queen and her sister would continue to reside in Tahiti with his successor; but if they should ever remove to Huahine (of which Pomare Vahine is queen), then that they would take his bones along with them. These things he carefully settled with his chiefs the day before his death. He likewise expressed anxious concern for the prosperity of the religion of the gospel among his people, to the last; enjoining all classes to give heed to the things that were spoken to them by their teachers. He gave a special charge concerning the cocoa-nut oil which had been contributed by himself and his subjects for the Missionary Society, that it should be intrusted to a New Holland captain about to return thither, but be held at the disposal of the Deputation. The contributions from the Missionary Association of this island (Huahine) in the present year have been twelve balls of arrow-root, and six thousand three hundred and forty-nine bamboos of cocoa-nut oil. At the Anniversary Meeting in May last, among the memorandums of addresses delivered, the following deserve notice: Teaua, the secretary, said, "Another master formerly was ours. Great was the work we had then to do-to build canoes, and to make fau (dresses) and taumi (head ornaments) for warriors. Much property we gave to our gods; our great hogs, and even men, were sacrificed to idols. Those days are gone by: let us now be active in doing the good work in which we are engaged; let us do it with joy, and with all our hearts; let us not be spiritless in this cause; let us all be invincible heroes; let us· drink the bitter sea-water" (i. e. willingly suffer any privation in carrying it on).-Hautia 53 said, "Our fathers are dead. They knew not the good word nor the good customs of the present days; but through the grace of God we know these things, and we must not sit still. Solomon had work to do in his time; he built the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem. My friends, God has given work into our hands also that his house may be erected, and all the heathen en-. ter in. Remember the words of Isaiah: Enlarge the place of thy tent; and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation; spare not, lengthen thy cords, strengthen thy stakes.' Well then, I say to you, let that place be enlarged; let those curtains be stretched out; and it will be well. say also spare not: say not that it is a great work, but let us collect the oil again for next year."-Mahine said, "We have been in darkness, and had nearly died therein. We are a remnant left by Satan; for if his reign had been lengthened, all the people would have been his, and they would all have been destroyed by him for ever. We have lifted up our hands, all of us, even the eight divisions of Huahine; but let not the hand only be lifted up; my friends, we will lift up our hearts. Behold our contributions; they are less during the past than the former year; like the ebbing tide they are falling off. It must not be so again; let the tide return, and let it always increase. Our fathers are dead. They perished, some by the club, some by the spear, some by the stone from the sling, and some by quarrels concerning their wives. We are saved from all these evil things. Let us then be diligent to do our duty. Like Caleb and Joshua, let us all follow the Lord fully. Let us not hear the good word of God with the outside of our hearts, but let us keep it in the middle of our hearts." The great chief and regent here, Hautia, speaking of the late king's death, said-“ Í could not sleep all night for thinking of Pomare. I was like a canoe rocking on the stormy waves, which cannot rest. I thought of his body, and I said, in my heart, that is dead, and will soon be in the grave; but his soul, where is it?" Mr. Redfern, a surgeon from Port Jackson, and Mr. Crook, the Missionary, were present with the king in his last hours. They found him in a very low, comatose state, with short lucid intervals. During one of these, Mr. Crook addressed a few brief words of exhortation to him; and afterwards, seeing his end approaching, observed, "I would gladly do for you what I can, but I fear my best will be of little avail. You have indeed been a great sinner, but Christ is a great Saviour, and none but Jesus can help you now." He replied, "None but Jesus!" These were his last accents. He fell into a lethargy. The queen and her sister hung over him, weeping aloud. Aimata, his daughter, seemed but little affected; but his cousin Marihinihi cried bitterly. The Missionary held the young prince at the foot of the bed, and sat mournfully watching the king's countenance. At eight o'clock in the evening Pomare ceased to breathe. Mr. Crook then kneeled down 54 NATIVE MARRIAGE-MISSIONARY SETTLEMENT. Dec. 11. We have had much conversation with Mahine Vahine, the old king's consort, on religious subjects. She spoke like a truly pious and intelligent woman. We made her a few slight presents; among these was an engraved portrait of Pomare, with which she was much pleased, and touched to the heart, saying, "Every time I look at this, it will make my affection to grow." A marriage has just been solemnized here. Mr. Barff officiated as minister. The bridegroom and the bride were of respectable rank, and several persons attended to witness the ceremony. This commenced with reading a portion of scripture from St. Matthew's Gospel, concerning marriage. The young couple, who had first taken their seats on a bench in front of the pulpit, the woman on the left hand of her intended husband, now stood up. The bridegroom was then directed to take the bride's right hand in his own, and answer the question, "Wilt thou take this woman to be thy wife, and be faithful to her till death?" Having replied, "I will," the converse of the question was put to the bride, she, at the same time, taking his right hand into hers, and answering "I will." The Missionary then told the congregation that these two persons were man and wife. A charge on their mutual duties was addressed to them, and the ceremony was concluded with prayer. The names of the parties, with those of two witnesses, were then registered in a book kept for that purpose. In all the islands marriages are performed in this simple manner, the banns having been once previously published in the congregation to which the families belong. When we came out of chapel, we saw the provision made for the wedding dinner. It consisted of a large hog, baked whole; about sixty baskets of bread-fruit and cocoa-nuts; many fishes, of different kinds; and several umities (wooden dishes) containing popoi, a kind of pudding, and other delicacies. The feast was laid out under an extensive shed. Several hundred guests had been invited, and it was expected that all the provisions would be consumed. on these and other religious topics, which were answered by the minister. Interrogatories were likewise put to them; and in their replies, as well as in the narratives which they gave concerning their past lives, great ingenuousness was manifested by all. Here, as elsewhere, old things are passing swiftly away, and, behold, all things are becoming new. Though the gospel had been introduced before Mr. Ellis and Mr. Barff came hither, it had made little progress. These able and diligent Missionaries, having fixed their abode at this place, itinerated from hence throughout the whole island, preaching everywhere, and instructing all classess of the population that they should forsake dumb idols, and turn to the living God. This laborious and inconvenient system was continued till last year, when, at a public meeting expressly convened, it was proposed that the people should come to their teachers, and settle in their immediate neighbourhood, for the purpose of more frequently and fully hearing the words whereby they might be saved. A large majority of the inhabitants acceded to this proposition, and, flocking from all quarters, they soon began to erect their humble but neat dwellings about this beautiful bay; the families of each of the eight districts, into which the island is divided, voluntarily choosing to associate, and build near to each other. Thus was the camp of this little Israel distinguished by its several tribes, occupying their adjacent tents. This plan was productive of immediate and permanent benefit. The former residents here were indolent and slovenly, careless of comfort, and equally unconcerned about spiritual improvement; in fact, there was not a decent dwelling in the whole place. Other portions of the island were much in the same situation; but since the new settlement has been begun, the character and manners of the people have been rapidly and happily changed; they are becoming more and more industrious, orderly, and cleanly, as well as more intelligent and willing to be instructed in the things that pertain to godliness, finding it profitable to this life, in addition to the promise of the life to come. Many well-framed and plastered houses have been built, and domestic accommodations unknown to their ancestors are found under every roof. The inhabitants still continue to keep and cultivate the lands from which they removed, in the distant matainaas, or districts, where much timber is grown, suitable for all general purposes. Thirteen or fourteen saw-pits are constantly occupied by workmen, who manage the pit-saw far better than might be expected; and now the same sized tree from which they could formerly (by splitting the bole, and hewing each part thin) produce only two planks, is handsomely cut into nine or ten good boards, at less expense of time and labour. Those who have plastered their habitations are much delighted with the security which they afford them. They say, also, that they are cooler in warm, and warmer in cold, weather (being, IMPROVED CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE PEOPLE. 55 indeed, less affected by atmospheric changes) than their old ones were, which they now consider as only fit for pig-sties and lumber-stores. One of the chiefs was observing, the other day, that he and his family could now sleep in comfort in the night-time, when wind and rain are beating against the walls, or pouring down upon the roof; whereas, while he lived in his old wattled shed, on such occasions he was disturbed by thinking-Is such a piece of cloth out of the way of the wet? Where are the books?-won't they all be spoiled? The provision, too, is it safe? While these village-erections are thus carrying forward, a new form of society is growing up with them. The advantages of neighbourly intercourse and religious instruction tend to localize the settlers, and to wean them from their vagrant habits of strolling from place to place, and eating idle bread wherever they could get it. The gospel may be said to have first taught them the calm, enduring, and endearing sweets of home, which their vagabond forefathers, and many of themselves, hardly knew to exist, till the religion of Him who had not where to lay his head taught them how good and how pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, instead of roving like fishes, or littering like swine. We also observe, with great satisfaction, that Christianity, so far from destroying those distinctions in social life which a wise Providence has made so necessary to human happiness that no barbarians are entirely without them, has both sanctioned and sanctified them here. The kings and chiefs were never held in higher esteem by their subjects and dependants than they are now; nor are the gradations of rank in any part of Europe more easily recognised than in these uttermost parts of the sea. High birth is observable, not only in the countenances, speech, and personal carriage of the magnates, but even in the manner, or rather the order, in which they walk. Though a causeway has been made from the houses of the Missionaries to the chapel, protected by cocoa-nut trees, laid along the sides, the middle part being covered with pebbles, and wide enough for several persons to walk abreast, yet the people continue one to follow another in line, as formerly, in the narrow tracks. If both be of the same rank, the wife comes after the husband; but if the wife be a woman of rank, and the husband of an inferior class, she goes first, and he, without ever imagining himself degraded, treads in her steps. A curious instance of this kind occurred to-day. Mahine, the king of Maiaoiti, and Hautia, the regent of Huahine, had hitherto received us in their character as members only of the Christian church; but though they had paid us the most grateful attention at the public Aroha, this was not enough for their dignity as royal personages. They, therefore, determined on giving us a token of their esteem, in their political capacity, as heads of the government. To-day being appointed for our visit and audience at the house of Hautia, we set off in the afternoon from the chapel, accompanied by Mr. Ellis and Mr. Barff. As we approached, we passed between two rows of soldiers, with their firelocks shouldered, and beyond these, drawn up in like manner, all the raatiras, or land-proprietors, with their war-spears grasped in their hands. On entering the house, we found there Mahine and Hautia, with their wives; who were presently joined by all the Hui Arii, or royal family of this island,-eleven persons, of princely rank, in the whole. The wife of one of these being an Arii by birth, and her husband of inferior blood, he would not enter the house till she had gone in before him, though all the others, as a matter of course, took precedence of their partners. As soon as we were all seated -on a signal given-the soldiers fired their muskets, and then retired, along with the raatiras, to a shed which had been prepared for their reception. Hautia and Mahine occupied a very large Arioi stool, at the upper end of the room. Mr. Tyerman first addressed them, expressing our high sense of gratitude for the honour which they had done us by this signal mark of their attention. He briefly stated the objects which the Deputation contemplated, and the Christian purposes of the London Society in sending us so far. Ours, he said, was a visit of love to the Missionaries, and of high respect to the kings and chiefs of the various islands. The Deputation rejoiced to see what God was doing here, both in advancing the cause of religion and of civilization. He added the heartfelt thanks of the Deputation to the sovereigns and their principal officers, for the great kindness which had heretofore been shown to the Missionaries, and our hope that such protection would never be withdrawn. Mr. Ellis interpreted. Hautia replied with much fervour; alluding to the former reprobate condition of the people with abhorrence, and then with delight acknowledging the blessedness to which they had been called by the gospel, and led by the Missionaries. Mr. Bennet afterwards enforced similar sentiments; Mr. Barff interpreted, and Mahine returned a pious and animated answer. There was a natural air of dignity and grace, both in the speech and conduct of these two not less excellent than exalted men, on the occasion. Command and condescension alike became them. Wine, pine-apples, bananas, and other fruit, were then placed upon the table, and we were invited to partake. After sitting some time, we walked out with some of the company up the side of the mountain, on the slope of which Hautia's house is built. It is very steep, rocky, and covered with fern, grass, &c. Having reached a considerable elevation, we enjoyed superb views of the harbour, the reefs, the adjacent islets, the sea in its boundless magnificence, on the one hand; and on the other, rich tropical prospects of hill and dale, and woods of ample breadth, engirdled by the winding shore, or leaning against the dark-blue heaven, where distant uplands, with their green declivities and craggy summits, looked down from the very firmament upon the puny eminence on which we had taken our 56 CORAL FORMATIONS-CHANGES WROUGHT BY THE GOSPEL. stand, and where we felt ourselves at a giddy height, so little were we, individually, amidst grandeur and beauty so overwhelming. In the scene beneath, the coral barrier, rising from unfathomable darkness to "the warm precincts of the cheerful day," and stretching across the harbour, formed a conspicuous object. On this, the ocean-billows broke in foaming light, while, smooth within, the bright lagoon lay calm and exquisitely pictured with patches of landscape, shapes of floating clouds, broad paths of sunshine, and clear depths of downward sky, reflected from its surface. Our companions told us that, in their days of ignorance, they believed the long rough coral reef to be a rib of one of the gods, but how it came there they did not pretend to know. We explained to them as well as we could how these marvellous structures are formed by multitudes on multitudes of the feeblest things that have life, through ages working together, and in succession, one mighty onward purpose of the eternal God; while each poor worm, among the millions which perhaps an angel could not count, is merely performing the common functions of its brief existence, and adding perhaps but a grain to a mass of materials which, in process of time, may fill up the bed of the Pacific Ocean, and convert it into a habitable continent. We showed them how thus the motus, or low coral islands, had been gradually raised above the flood, and become lovely spots of verdure, capable of maintaining both animals and men; producing trees for food and for building; as well as plants to nourish hogs and fowls, or sheep and cattle, such as had been introduced into Eimeo, and might hereafter beings of horror with which they are wont to bred in all the fertile islands of this southern hemisphere. This turn of the conversation led us to speak of our wells, and the depth to which we must often penetrate to obtain water; also of our mines and coal-pits, which sometimes were extended even under the sea, as well as sunk into stupendous caverns, in the heartsing in the fear of God, and in charity with all and beneath the foundations of the highest hills. They listened with patient but gratified curiosity; and informed us that, when our countrymen first visited their shores, they thought that England must be a poor hungry place, since the people sailed so far to obtain their abundant and delicious food; nay they used to wonder much that king George had not long ago come hither himself, as he must have tasted or been told of their fine pork. Tea was now served to us in the English manner, with all the complete apparatus of cups and saucers, teapot, caddy, tray, spoons, &c., all which had been purchased from ships touching on the coast. Fried bananas and sea-biscuits were handed round, and nothing that hospitality in such a place could offer was withheld from us. After tea a prayer-meeting was proposed and gladly acceded to. It was a hearthumbling and heart-cheering sight to behold all these ruling personages joining in such an act of devotion, and pouring out their souls in fervent supplication before the King of kings. Nor let it be imagined that these are insignificant barbarians vested with a little brief authority. No European potentate possesses the despotic sway which they once exercised; and in their evangelized state, their conduct and demeanour as rulers and ministers of secular government becomes them well, and would adorn more polished and splendid courts in all that constitutes simple dignity and honest courtesy. On our return to the house, the raatiras were again drawn up to honour our entrance, holding their war-spears as ensigns of dignity in their hands, there being happily now none but holiday use for such barbarous weapons here. These persons are the possessors of landed estates in capite. They are an important class of the community, and well aware of their importance. In their public speeches they compare the island to a canoe upon the ocean. The king is the mast, and they (the raatiras) are the ropes by which it is supported and the sails are managed. While the ropes continue good the mast is strong, and winds and waves in vain would overset the vessel of the state. Dec. 14. The more we consider it, the more marvellous in our eyes becomes the change which the gospel-the great power of God indeed!-has wrought in the hearts and minds of these people. Meekness, gentleness, generosity, are their leading characteristics. They seem incapable of a cruel deed, owing to principles engrafted upon the once harsh but now regenerated stock of nature, which forbid every act of injustice, and are favourable only to kindness, forbearance, and forgiveness of wrongs. It is hard, perhaps impossible, for British Christians to divest themselves entirely of those feel look upon murderers, adulterers, and criminals of the foulest die in their own country, when they judge of heathen and savages who formerly were all these, and worse than may be named in the ear-however holy, harmless, and exemplary may be the lives they now are lead mankind. Though such converts give every testimony that men can give, of "being born again of water and the Spirit," yet even experienced "masters of Israel," when they hear the report thereof, are ready to exclaim with Nicodemus, "How can these things be?" We answer, they are; and "the day will declare it." A man called upon us to offer a small present. In conversation with him we were struck with the humility, kindness, and devotional spirit which he manifested. On inquiry afterwards, it appeared that this very person had been one of the most savage and remorseless of his species so long as he remained an idolater and a warrior. On one occasion, having been sent by Pomare to destroy an enemy, he went, surprised his victim, ripped him up alive, and actually left the wretched man on the spot after his bowels had been torn out-the assassin not having mercy enough to put him out of torture by another stroke. After their ferocious conflicts were over, the conquerors were wont to pile the slain in heaps, with their heads towards the mountains, and their feet towards the sea. Next morning they would MOUNTAIN STRATA-AN EXTRAORDINARY TREE. visit the carcases to wreak the impotence of an unappeasable vengeance upon them, by mangling and polluting them in the most shocking ways that brute cruelty or demoniac frenzy could devise. One would turn up the face of a slaughtered enemy, and, grinning with a fiendlike malice at it, would exclaim, "Aha! you killed my father at such a place; now I will punish you!" Their outrages upon the women and children, both living and dead, of their vanquished foes, when they sacked their dwellings, cannot be described. If the enlightened Greeks and the heroic Romans in their heathen state were "without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful," what better could be the ignorant barbarians of the South Seas, insulated as they had been, till our own times, from all communication with civilized nations? And if some of those Romans afterwards, through "obedience to the faith," were "called of Jesus Christ," and "beloved of God;" and if many of those Greeks were "sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints," who shall doubt that these "Gentiles in the flesh," "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world;"who shall doubt that these may be "brought nigh by the blood of Christ," and be "no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God?" Dec. 16. We walked this morning northward of the settlement. About the centre point of the head of this harbour, and a hundred yards from the shore, the rocks project, and form a bold feature of scenery. On examining these, we found that they were composed of alternate strata of blue stone and coarse breccia, each layer about two feet thick, and all dipping towards the north-west, at an angle of 25° with the horizon. The blue stone is much honeycombed, abounding with cavities. Most of the rocks of this and the other islands have the same character, which, with their black surfaces, seems to prove that they have been subjected to volcanic action. In the neighbouring mountains a firm blue clay abounds, which contains great quantities of nodules, resembling charcoal; and the rocks themselves appear to be of the same material, only differing from the clay in hardness. A little further to the north, the dip of the strata inclines more towards the plane of the horizon, and the blue stone has been removed from the incumbent breccia, so as to divide it beneath. On one side of the breccia are perpendicular strata of ragstone, of a slaty structure, furrowed at the edges, where they crosscut. From these run two thinner strata of the same kind, about three inches in thickness, and three inches apart, athwart the breccia. A soft earthy substance fills up the interstice, in which are fragments of shells; and among these a specimen of the genus turbini, nearly perfect, was found. These parts of the rock, from the presence of such remains, must be presumed not to have been subjected to the fusing and consuming violence of fire. 57 We proceeded along the level ground, between the abrupt ascent of the mountains and the sea. This fertile border is in some places a mile in breadth, and forms the valuable district of Puaoa. That the tide formerly flowed here, even to the mountain-foot, cannot be doubted, the soil consisting of earth, intermingled with marine relics, shells, coral, sand, &c. Much of this champaign tract is planted with bananas, sweet potatoes, &c.; bread-fruit, cocoa-nut, and Chinese paper-mulberry-trees (Ficus racemosa), also thrive upon it. On one part stands an exceedingly remarkable tree, of the aoa, or oro species (the banyan of India), from the bark of which the cloth of that name is manufactured. This grotesque tree grows upon one side of a rock, nearly perpendicular, over the front of which (being from thirty to forty feet high, and as many broad) hundreds of its roots descend, singularly implicated, and forming a kind of net-work. The stems of the tree above rise up thirty feet at least from the rock, being supported by multitudes of roots, which find their sustenance in the soil below. These occupy a space nearly a hundred feet in compass, and display various arches and recesses of most curious appearance. On one side, the impending branches have sent down a root of forty feet, which, having got footing in the ground, has given birth to a young tree. Multitudes of other long fibrous shoots, of a black colour, are growing downward from the horizontal branches above, which, though dangling wildly in the air now, will strike root as soon as they reach the ground, and add their antic columns to "the pillar'd shade." The natives have a tradition that the seed of this gigantic plant was brought by a bird from the moon. In calling at several houses, we found two dreadfully afflicted persons sitting upon the floor. The complaint is called fee-fee, a species of elephantiasis, the direst plague in the shape of a disease of these islands. The legs and thighs of one of these were swollen to a prodigious size; the bulk and weight of the lower part of the body of the other prevented the poor patient from rising up. He was a young man, about twenty-five years of age, and had not been more than three years under the oppression of this cruel and inveterate malady. He bore his hard lot with exemplary patience. The cause why the sea has abandoned so much ground, now constituting the low borders of this and other islands, may be sought in the extraordinary formation of the coral reefs which encircle them. Before these had attained sufficient extent and elevation, the tide must have had full access to the foot of the mountains; and the many high cliffs which rise abruptly from the inland side of these level tracts seem to indicate that the islands themselves were once much larger than they now are; and, consequently, that the sea has removed all the ground which lay between the present steep faces of the mountains and their original boundary. At a very remote period, no doubt, the coral-worms began their labours, and these minute but wonderful artificers probably laid the |