dage made of various materials, mats, bags, nets, calabashes for water vessels, sweet-scented oil, umitis (large wooden dishes), penus (stone-hammers), stools, spears, bows and arrows, &c. &c. We made various purchases by barter; knives, forks and scissors were in the greatest request, but European cloth would have been more acceptable, now that civilization is increasing their wants and their comforts, the former stimulating them to procure the latter by honest industry, and improvement in such arts and manufactures as they already practise, or are learning. Our house continued to be crowded, both within and without, till afternoon; and though the people ceased to importune us to buy their commodities when they saw us prepare for breakfast and dinner, yet many seated themselves on the floor, and witnessed with earnest attention our performances at both these meals. Though we could very well have dispensed with such spectators, yet we willingly indulged their harmless curiosity, in hope that they might be induced, by what they saw, to change their own ruder modes of feeding.

Among the wares offered for sale were mourning-bells. These are made of two large pearl-shells, loosely fastened back to back; when knocked against each other, they emit a singularly shrill noise, which may be heard at a considerable. distance. These bells were used when a member of a family died, or when a chief was ill. In the latter instance, the priests went about at night, ringing these bells, making the most dismal noises, and uttering such intercessory prayers to the gods as follow:-" Tahi tea; have mercy!—Tahi po tea; have mercy, this night!-Faa hoia mai to maru; restore thy own servant!-Eiatoa tenaia; quench not his life!"-This lugubrious mummery was all deceptive and hypocritical, to impose on the credulity of the people. The crafty priests cared not for the chiefs, any further than as the chiefs were necessary instruments of extortion upon the vassals for the maintenance of idolatry. Every conceivable trick was resorted to for the acquisition of property; people, chiefs, the sovereign himself, were all fleeced to enrich the greedy hierarchy. The most valuable presents which the king received from England, or obtained from the captains of vessels touching upon his coast, he was generally compelled to offer to the gods. But these gifts were reserved for great occasions, such as the commencement of a war. Then were the royal treasures impoverished to enrich the maraes,

and render the deities propitious; the priests of course being the proxies of the dumb idols, and appropriating all the precious things either to their own use, or distributing them among their dependents and patrons; thus maintaining their influence over every class of the community.

Towards evening we walked out into the neighborhood. In one house we found twelve women diligently employed in beating out cloth from the bark of trees, keeping up a regular stroke, to a tune, with their wooden hammers. In the midst. of this den lay a new-born infant, upon the floor, fast asleep. As we walked through the grass, our clothes, before we were aware, had become studded, nearly all over, with a small burr, called piripiri, which is so keen that it instantly adheres where it touches; and, piercing through the thinner parts of the clothing, scratches and inflames the skin. This little plant abounds every where, and is, in the vegetable world, what fleas and mosquitoes are in the animal—a vexatious companion.

CHAPTER VI.

Fishing by Torch-light-Valley of Matavai-Sufferings of first Missionaries-Rare Birds-Ora Tree, &c.--Basaltic Cliffs-Simple Method of producing Fire-Traits of Tahitian Character-Mode of Living— Administration of the Sacrament-Diseases of the Natives-Burial of a Child-Proper Names-Phosphoric Matches-Apprehensions of a Disturbance-Site for Cotton-Factory-American Ship in Matavai Bay-Account of a Plot once formed by Tahitians to seize a European Vessel-Providential Preservation of the Lives of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Bennet at Sea-The last Battle of the last Native War.

Oct. 31. LAST night our house was surrounded and assaulted by depredators, who made repeated attempts to force an entrance, but were unable. The circumstance did not give us much uneasiness, the rogues being only pigs and dogs. We were much more annoyed by our enemies within doors the fleas, which, in spite of our stilted bedsteads, obtruded upon us, and were so ardent and active that sleep was hopeless in such society. The fleas here are much smaller than those in England, and are so nimble that it is next to impossible to catch them. They breed in the herbless sand, and shelter in the grass that covers the floors of the houses; happily, the light clothing of the natives affords these vermin little cover for hiding themselves.

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FISHING BY TORCH-LIGHT.

Several women, accompanied by a man, were engaged this evening in catching fish, by torch-light. They first made a dam across the stream, of the branches of trees, close twisted together. In this three openings were left, through which the water was allowed to run. At each of these one of the party was stationed with a net, which was held in such a manner that scarcely a fish could pass without being entangled. Two others, with their torches, made of dry cocoaleaves, commenced operations at some distance above; the one on this side of the stream, the other on that, walking slowly, and striking the water with part of the leaf, to drive the fish downwards into the nets. By this simple contrivance a large draught was taken.

Clocks are not yet common in Tahiti, and but few of the people have watches. It is very difficult, therefore, to convey an idea of the exact time when any thing is to be done. We wished to have an early breakfast to-morrow; our old landlord told the servants to bake some bread-fruit for us; he then imitated the crowing of the cock, signifying that it was to be ready when the cock himself should make such a noise in the morning. This venerable man is unwearied in his endeavors to accommodate us. He learned to read and write at an advanced age. This evening we were singing some Tahitian hymns, with the people who came to see us, when he produced a hymn-book, transcribed by himself, in a legible hand, from a printed copy. The impression first issued was so inadequate to supply the eager demands, that many persons were at the pains of thus writing out the hymns for their

own use.

Nov. 1. This morning, accompanied by the Rev. Messrs. Wilson and Jones, we set out to ascend the valley of Matavai. This valley lies north-west and south-east. Towards the sea it opens into a rich champaign of considerable extent, covered with groves of bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees; while, inland, it grows narrower and narrower, trending like the curvature of the stream that winds through it. This stream has a considerable fall in several places; the bed consists of large black stones; the width varies, but is generally about twenty yards. The base of the high mountains, on both sides, occasionally comes down to the edge of the water, so that we had, from time to time, either to ford it, or submit to be carried across on men's shoulders. In one part of our progress, we took off our shoes and stockings, and walked

VALLEY OF ΜΑΤΑΥΛΙ.

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about a mile barefoot, having to cross the stream six times within that distance. In this short exercise we learned to sympathize with our elder missionaries, who for many years were wont to travel barefoot over the stony tracks of this mountainous and uncultivated country, preaching the gospel. wherever they could persuade a few natives to listen to them -though that was often with scorn and derision. Sometimes, when they had to cross great breadths of burning sands, they used to furnish themselves with bundles of foliage from the adjacent woods, and, laying down a green leaf at every step, they set the soles of their feet successively upon these cool, soft patches of carpeting, and thus escaped the blistering ef fects of treading upon a soil that resembled hot ashes concealing half-extinguished fires. Recollection of the hardships of these faithful men, while they thus trod their painful. way over gravel that cut, and sand that scorched, their feet, in miserable worn-out vestments, and often scantily supplied with food,—humbled us by comparison with our easier cross and lighter load; while it endeared them also to our affections, as those to whom it was given not only to labor but to suffer for the sake of the Lord Jesus.

The mountains on either hand rise abruptly and to a considerable altitude; their sides are generally clothed with trees and bushes, which overhung our heads as we went, and closing or opening the scene of sky and valley, frequently presented the most singular and pleasing pictures. In several places the crags towered perpendicularly from the bed of the current, to the height of five hundred feet and more, decorated with trees and shrubs, which, starting out of the fissures in their bold faces, seemed to grow in air, suspended and supported of themselves. From the tops of these huge masses of rock, which are but the basement-story of the stupendous superstructure of mountains, the upper eminences sloped to a fearful elevation beyond, and appeared to hide their sunny peaks in the deep-blue firmament. Throughout the whole valley there are objects of grandeur and awe that overwhelm the beholder and defy description. Some years ago, part of an adjacent cliff slid down to the bed of the river here, and dammed up the channel, till the water had spread into a broad pool, which threatened, when it should burst by accumulation, to devastate all the lower lands. The terrified inhabitants expected to see their dwellings, plantations, and all they, possessed, borne onward into the sea,

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RARE RIRDS-ORA TREE.

while they had no power to avert or restrain the calamity. Providence, however, so ordered, that the water gradually made its way through the looser materials, till the leakage had slowly opened a moderate vent, through which the whole body drained off, without doing any further injury.

The stones distributed through the bed of the river correspond with those of the adjacent rocks, being chiefly a coarse breccia or pudding-stone, composed of blue rag and chert in brown clay; the material is exceedingly hard, and resembles the substance of Roman walling found in our own country. Some of the porous blocks contain small quantities of iron pyrites, and occasionally minute sparks of silicious crystals in the cavities. The mouroa, a tropic-bird, was occasionally seen flying from point to point, at a vast height in the narrow sky, between the opposing cliffs, in which it builds its nest. We observed also the otu teatea, or white crane; and the opia, which resembles the swallow in shape and habits; but the tail is short and not forked; the body is of a glossy blue, the wings, tail, and head dusky brown, and the bill yellow.. It often swept by us, in its pursuit of flies, low along the ground, or following the course of the river. Lizards of various kinds, from four to five inches long, were numerous in our path; their bodies generally brown and speckled, with blue or green tails. They are harmless and vivacious, but slunk under cover at our approach. The brown libellula, or dragon-fly, abounds here. Black flies, like those of England, and mosquitoes swarm every where.

We passed a remarkably large tree, called ora, of that species from the bark of which the natives make a valuable brown cloth; the leaf is shaped like that of the laurel. This specimen, at its root, measured nearly forty feet in circumference. The upper part of the stem divided itself into two lateral branches, extensively ramified, while the bark, from the ground to the head, was thickly mantled with ferns and parasitical plants. The vi-apple, in this valley, flourishes amazingly. The lower part of the trunk is curious, expanding into five or six flat buttresses, admirably adapted to support the wide-spreading top. We found the tara papa, or pine-apple, growing wild, on which the rats feed deliciously. The ape, a plant of the arum species, springs up here to a great size. One of its broad, deep-green leaves, carried over the head, is a sufficient shelter from rain or intense heat; and these were so used by the natives, who, when they first