HIS FAMILY IDOLS.

263

The missionaries, when they had read this letter, nailed up the images in a wooden case, and soon afterwards sent them to England to the Directors of the London Missionary Society.*

*They may now be seen in the museum in Bloomfieldstreet, Finsbury-square.

264

ARRIVAL OF MR. CROOK.

You have heard how anxious the missionaries were that some other minister, should come to help them. They were much pleased by the arrival of Mr. Crook this May. He brought with him a wife, a little boy, and six little girls. Mr. Crook was an old friend of some of the brethren, for he was one of the thirty, who left England in the ship Duff nearly twenty years before. He was then a youth of about twenty, and was so courageous that he consented (as you have heard) to be left alone among the savages in the distant islands of the Marquesas. He remained there a year and a half, but was at last obliged to leave them on account of the dreadful wars of the natives. Since that time he had been usefully employed at Port Jackson. As the people in the Marquesas spoke a language much like that of Tahiti and Eimeo, Mr. Crook was able to assist the brethren almost as soon as he arrived.

This summer the brethren made several journeys round the islands of Tahiti and Ei

meo.

I will give you some account of a journey made by Mr. Davies and Mr. Hayward round Tahiti this October, that you may perceive how great a change had taken place in the island.

The two brethren were accompanied by several canoes from Eimeo, full of men and boys;

ANXIETY TO HEAR THE WORD.

265

for this time the brethren did not travel round the island on foot, but went by water. They landed at every place where there were any houses; but now they had no need to go from house to house to entreat the people to come and hear them; for the people came of themselves; and many were not satisfied with the public worship, but followed the brethren to the house at which they lodged, that they might be present at the family worship; for it was now the custom for most of the families to have prayers both morning and evening, and the brethren usually conducted the service, when they were present. In the evening, one of the brethren read a passage from a little book of extracts from the New Testament, and explained it, and then prayed. In the morning, it was often too dark to read when the brethren rose, and in this case they generally asked one of the natives to pray aloud.

But the natives were not content with family prayers alone. The brethren were de lighted wherever they went to see them, seeking retired places among the bushes for prayer, both morning and evening.

The natives were so anxious to learn about holy things, that they often kept the brethren awake as they lay in bed, asking them questions, almost till morning. It would have been more kind, if they had permitted the weary missionaries to rest; but it was well that they

266

THE LITTLE CHAPELS.

took delight in good conversation, instead of in laughing and talking, as they used to do both night and day.

On one occasion, a man called Tino, who had formerly pretended to be a prophet, talked to the brethren in the night in a very sensible and pious manner. He observed that no person ought to be kept back from coming to Christ, because of his wickedness; "For," said Tino, "I have been the most wicked of men, and yet I am now turned to the true God, and my heart is quite fixed upon him."

Early in the morning people often came to the brethren with their books, entreating to be allowed to read a little piece to them.

In every place the brethren found a chapel : sometimes it was very small, and many of the people who flocked to hear the brethren, were obliged to stand outside. The chapels, like the houses, were built of posts, placed a little apart, and were thatched with leaves, while the ground was strewed with clean grass. In the middle of one side, a seat for the minister was placed, with a small table before it, while rows of forms were provided for the hearers. There were sixty-six of these chapels in the island; some were hardly finished when the brethren arrived. The people assembled for public worship three times on the sabbath, on the Wednesday evening, and in many places they met

CARELESS PERSONS.

267

once a month to pray for the conversion of the heathen, according to the custom of the missionaries, and of their friends in England.

The people in general seemed much rejoiced at the change that had taken place. One chief, called Tati, observed, " If God had not sent his word, we should soon all have been destroyed, for once we were a much larger nation than we are now; but through killing infants, sacrificing men, and fighting, we were becoming fewer and fewer."

But though in general the brethren were cheered by the eager attention of the people, they were sometimes grieved by meeting with careless persons, yet seldom with the bold and scornful, as in former times; for the good example of the chiefs was a check to the ungodly.

At one place, the missionaries found the people very giddy, and inattentive at worship. They reproved them, and said, "When we saw your little chapel, we were pleased; but now we see your behaviour, we are disappointed."

At another place they sent a message to some people, who lived on the other side of some high rocks in Tairabu, to come to them; but the men sent word, that they could not come, and hoped the brethren would come to them instead. Accordingly the brethren with great difficulty clambered up the steep rocks; but