native in the Samoan cluster ever suffered from smallpox during his lengthened residence on those islands. Nor were the people ungrateful, and scarce a day passed without baskets of fish and taro being spontaneously brought to his house in token of goodwill.

In 1844 Messrs Turner and Hardie were appointed to found and establish an educational institution, with a view to prepare an efficient native agency. A plot of land, covering some twenty-five acres, was accordingly purchased from the natives, upon which suitable buildings were erected, and in the same autumn the Samoan Mission Seminary was opened for the reception of pupils. The general result has been highly satisfactory, and in the course of fifteen years 263 young men were sent out as teachers to various islands, of whom only five turned out badly, while, including students not specially intended for a missionary career, and teachers' wives-married couples being preferred to single men-upwards of a thousand individuals had received instruction, of at least a civilising character. That the native teachers were fully qualified for the work required of them, even after a four years' course of training, is not to be supposed, but the groundwork had been laid for a more perfect superstructure. Some of their inquiries, noted by Mr Turner, are sufficiently naive. For instance, one asks, "What is meant by tears put in God's bottle?" another, "If we feel sleepy at prayers, should we open our eyes?" and a third, "If we are repairing a chapel, is it right to take our dinner inside?" A fourth is puzzled by the word "cymbal," and wishes to know if it is "an animal or what?" A fifth would like to have a more definite idea as to "the two

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daughters of the horse-leech," while a sixth is curious as to the exact stature of Zaccheus "how many feet do you suppose?" A seventh is not quite sure whether Isaiah lived before or after Christ; an eighth inquires if Joseph of Arimathea is the Joseph who was sold by his brethren;" while others are troubled about beating a child, or shaving on the Sabbath-day. These, however, are minor blemishes, and the confusion about chronology is partly attributed to the fact that the Samoans were familiar with the New Testament before they were introduced to the older Scriptures.

Of the humanising effect of even the quite preliminary knowledge of Christianity acquired by these islanders, many instances were given in the disastrous civil war that broke out in 1848. During the nine years' struggle, which terminated in the establishment of liberty and equality between the different provinces, as well as islands, of the Samoan group, much blood was idly shed, many acts of useless cruelty perpetrated, and a very common tendency exhibited to relapse into their ancient barbarism; but the missionaries were never molested or injured, and were allowed free access to both armies. "We gave," says Mr Turner, "medicine to their sick, dressed their wounds, and were admitted to any part of their forts every Sabbath-day to conduct religious services. Throughout all the nine years they never fought on a Sabbath. Even when the war was at its height, and one of the principal forts closely hemmed in, I have passed with perfect freedom on the Sabbath from the trenches of the besiegers to the fort of the besieged, and was received and listened to at both places with the greatest respect." The exhortations of the

missionaries at length prevailed. The peace-party became too strong for the chiefs whose selfish ambition had originated and maintained the internecine strife, and the war terminated in the freedom of the people, and in a firmer persuasion of the excellence of Christian principles.

CHAPTER XI.

THE MARQUESAS. THE DANGEROUS ARCHIPELAGO.

The Spaniards at Tahuata-Captain Cook in Resolution Bay-The first missionaries-Defection of Mr Harris-Mr Crook's devotedness-General description of the group-Cannibalism-Personal appearance of the natives-Tatauing-Failure of the missionaries and teachers-The Low or Dangerous Archipelago.

IT has already been stated that a chain of insular mountains of volcanic origin extends from the Bay of Bengal in a south-easterly direction. Of this chain the most easterly link consists of a group of islands discovered in 1595 by Alvaro Mendana de Neyra, a Spanish navigator, who called them the Marquesas, in honour of his patron, the Marquis Mendoza, Viceroy of Peru. The natives, however, had little reason to congratulate themselves on the results of their first intercourse with Europeans. Confiding in their apparent gentleness and simplicity, Mendana sent his lieutenant, Manriquez, on shore at Tahuata, or Santa Christina, to obtain a supply of water; but the islanders, probably imagining that the boats' crews wanted only enough for their own drinking, brought them a small quantity in cocoa-nut shells, together with a present of fruit. Manriquez thereupon gave them several large jars to fill, with which they speedily decamped, quite possibly under the impression that these coveted articles were intended as a return for their little çivilities, Be that as

it may, the Spaniards fired upon them with fatal effect. Three days afterwards Mendana himself landed, celebrated mass on the shore, and, taking possession of the island in the name of his sovereign, sowed some patches of Indian corn. On his return to his ship he left Manriquez on shore to complete the work he had in hand, when that officer again became embroiled in a quarrel, which he settled by shooting a considerable number of the male savages, while their wives and children fled into the woods and to the mountains.

No further mention of these islands occurs until 1774, when Captain Cook anchored in Resolution Bay, and opened a friendly barter with the natives. These, however, could not keep their hands from picking and stealing, and one of their number being detected in the act was mortally wounded by a gun-shot. An explanation ensued, and things went on more pleasantly during the few days that the English expedition remained at that anchorage. The Marquesas were subsequently visited by the French navigator Le Marchand, and a little later by Lieutenant Hergest in the Daedalus store-ship. The last-named officer seems to have displayed both firmness and forbearance, and is said to have left a favourable impression.

In 1798 the Duff missionary-ship arrived in Resolution Bay, and on the following morning Messrs Harris and Crook were courteously received by a local chief, who placed at their disposal one of his best houses. It was but a rude contrivance, and the furniture consisted merely of a mat, several calabashes, some fishing-tackle, and a few spears. The prospect, in short, was so discouraging that Mr Harris lost heart, and took a week to make up his mind whether he would stay or decline the forbidding