the ground. "Every particle of food in the island," writes an eyewitness, "was destroyed. Scarcely a banana or a plantain tree was left, either on the plains, in the valleys, or upon the mountains; hundreds of thousands of which, on the preceding day, covered and adorned the land with their foliage and fruit. Thousands of stately bread-fruit, together with immense chestnut and other huge trees, that had withstood the storms of ages, were laid prostrate on the ground, and thrown upon each other in the wildest confusion. Of those that were standing, many were branchless, and all leafless. So great and so general was the destruction that no spot escaped; for the gale veered gradually round the island and performed most effectually its devastating commission." This fearful storm occurred on the 23d of December 1831, and was accepted by the people as a judgment upon them for having returned to the evil ways of their ancestors. Some, however, were affected in exactly the opposite sense, and ascribed to their offended gods the series of calamities with which they had been visited since their renunciation of idolatry. First of all, there was the sore sickness of 1827; then the desolating pestilence of 1830; after that, the loftiest mountain in the island was struck by lightning, and its forests burned for a fortnight; next came a plague of caterpillars and of a species of mantis, the former devouring their taro, the latter their cocoa-nut trees; and finally this hurricane. The majority, however, were disposed to bow before the chastening hand of Jehovah, and to acknowledge that they had deserved the evils which had befallen them.

At a public meeting, which was held immediately after the last calamity, it was resolved at once to erect a temporary place of worship, to repair the shattered dwelling

of the chief, and to build a new house for Mr Buzacott. An aged native also addressed the assembly in a very admirable manner, taking for his text Luke iii. 17, "Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable." After dwelling at some length upon the warnings that had been vouchsafed to them, he warned his hearers not to further tempt Divine justice by continued contumacy, lest a worse thing should happen unto them. And he wound up by showing that thus far judgment had been tempered with mercy. "True," he exclaimed, "our food is all destroyed, but our lives are spared; our houses are all blown down, but our wives and children have escaped; our large new chapel is a heap of ruins, and for this I grieve most of all, yet we have a God to worship; our schoolhouse is washed away, yet our teachers are spared to us; and," holding up a portion of the New Testament, "we have still this precious book to instruct us."

Fortunately Mr Williams had received a cask of ironmongery from some friends at Birmingham, which enabled him to supply the chiefs with saws, axes, and other tools, so that in an incredibly short space of time the wreck was cleared away, and temporary dwellings run up all over the island. To that energetic missionary the effects of the hurricane were truly lamentable. Having lost six infants at Raiatea, and expecting very shortly to be blessed with a seventh, his wife had accompanied him on this excursion in the hope that the climate of Rarotonga might prove more favourable. The alarm and danger she underwent during the wild raging of the cyclone, however, caused her to be prematurely delivered of a still-born babe, and for some

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Missionary Life in the Southern

hours the life of the mother also trembled in The islanders on this occasion exhibited warm They could hardly, indeed, have failed to by the self-denial of this estimable couple, w almost said to have offered up seven of their o in the hope of bringing the heathen to repenta the knowledge of the one true religion. Mak his people came to condole with them; and appeared empty-handed, notwithstanding the g they had themselves just sustained. Some of t too, laid their simple presents at Mrs Williams wept over her. At a later period, when Mr Bu his little girl, the entire population went into de ing, as a token of respect for their resident missi

The next few months were passed in working lations of Holy Writ, until the people were at assist in repairing the Messenger of Peace, in 1 out of the hole into which she had settled, and in her once more upon the waters of the Pacific. A was again scudding on her usual errand of love i will to men, and arrived in Raiatea at a most moment. In consequence of Mr Williams's long and the death of Tamatoa, whose son was an ex dissipated young man, the people had given intemperance, and in addition to the spirits from trading ships, some twenty stills were i operation. By the adoption of energetic measur ever, further mischief was speedily prevented; t were destroyed, and orderly habits re-establishe Messenger of Peace then returned to Rarotonga cargo of American flour, general provisions, and head of horses, asses, and cattle. The live stock

Satisfactory Progress.

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well, and materially improved the condition of the islanders. For very many years the early missionaries never tasted beef, and when at last an ox was killed, and a party assembled to enjoy the novelty, not one of them could endure either the taste or the smell of the meat; and a lady burst into tears at the thought of losing her relish for the roast beef of Old England.

By 1833 Rarotonga had become professedly a Christian island. Upwards of 2000 children attended the three principal schools, many of whom wrote their own language with both fluency and propriety. The supply of English slates proving wholly insufficient, the boys brought down flakes of stone from the mountains, the surface of which they rubbed smooth with sand and coral, afterwards staining them with the purple juice of the mountainplantain. Some even cut these stones into a square shape, and fitted them into wooden frames; while the spines of the echinus, or sea-urchin, softened by fire, were found to be good substitutes for slate-pencils. The missionaryhouses were also extremely comfortable, and even picturesque, surrounded with fruit-trees, and provided with productive gardens. The lesson of the hurricane of 1831 had not been thrown away.

CHAPTER IX.

THE AUSTRAL ISLANDS: SAVAGE ISLAND.

Rapa-Savage inhabitants-Visited by Mr Ellis-Their rapid conversion-Raivavai, or High Island-Christianity easily introduced-Tubuai-Reclaimed from idolatry-Rimatara-Emancipation of the women-Rurutu-Salutary effects of an epidemic - Overthrow of idolatry-Savage Island-Ferocity of the inhabitants.

SAILING from New Zealand to Tahiti, towards the close of 1791, Vancouver discovered an island, called by the natives Rapa, the most southerly of the group named by Malte Brun the Austral Islands. It is probably about twenty miles in circumference, well wooded and watered, and enjoys a healthy and temperate climate. The mountains in the interior are singularly rugged and picturesque, having the appearance from the sea of a range of cylindrical columns. When first discovered, and for many years afterwards, the natives were unmitigated savages, and were estimated by Vancouver at about 1500. There is some reason to believe that in 1826 the population was not less than 2000; but three years later their numbers had been reduced by a fatal epidemic to not more than 500. Though idolaters, they do not appear to have offered human sacrifices to their gods; nor were their chiefs much addicted to wars among themselves. Their principal idol, Paparua, was formed of cocoa-nut husk, curiously braided, and shaped like a cylinder, smaller at