ISLAND OF HUAHINE. 31 Marenhaut, and Captain Brock, were at worship, and dined on board. In the evening Mr. Stribling and myself went on shore to take leave of Mrs. Wilson and her daughters; and at ten o'clock on Monday, the Vincennes took her anchor, and bore away for the Society Islands, a hundred miles distant. It was the intention of Captain Finch to have touched at Huahine, the most eastern of this group; and last evening after passing Tabuae-manu, at too great a distance to discern it distinctly, I retired to my cot, with the pleasing anticipation of making an early visit on shore at Fare, the station and settlement in pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. Barff, long the colleague, and still the intimate friend of Mr. Ellis. The wind, however, was light and unfavorable during the night, and by morning we had fallen so much to the leeward of the whole island, that it was determined to proceed without delay to Raiatea, also in sight. I was greatly disappointed; and could scarce feel reconciled to the idea of not visiting, at least for an hour, the scene of the principal residence in the South Seas of one I so highly respect and so sincerely love. Huahine, though not so wild in contour, is equally verdant and beautiful in its general appearance as Eimeo-and its characteristic features very like the central sections of Oahu, at the Sandwich Islands. When nearest to it, we were not more than ten miles from its western shore, with this island and Tahaa on the north of it, in full view-while Borabora, a fourth in the group, appeared loftily but dinily in the distance. 32 ARRIVAL AND ANCHORAGE By twelve o'clock we had approached so near the northern end of Raiatea, as to distinguish the chapel and cottages of the settlement, with a flag-staff and the banner of the nation-a broad horizontal stripe of white between two of red-flying from its top. At the same time a native pilot boarded us, and carrying the ship through a narrow opening in the reef, with a small island on either hand, brought us safely to anchor opposite the village, a mile and a half north of the entrance, by which we had passed within the reef. We are in the midst of another varied and beautiful panorama. The ship lies within a short distance of the shore, which is richly edged with groves and single trees, and a fine undergrowth of the banana, sugar-cane, and various shrubbery, surrounding and overhanging the white cottages of the inhabitants. These stand thickly, in regular lines, along a single street, two miles or more in length, and are backed by abrupt hills, covered with grass and bushes, till they rise into a bold cliff with a flattened top, standing high above the settlement, and forming a striking landmark in approaching the island on the eastern side. Beneath this, on the north, several low points, luxuriantly clothed and spotted with dwellings, jut far into the channel-while beyond them, at a distance of twenty miles, the lofty and shell-like peaks of Borabora tower against the sky, in a blueness almost equal to its own. Eastward of this island, and within half the distance, the green points of Tahaa, inclosed in the same reef with Raiatea, stretch, like the spread fin gers of a hand, into the sea-the only object on it, in distinct view, being a stately chapel, which rises like a palace on the eye, against the darkness of the hills behind. Still further in the east, lies the open ocean, separated from us only by the reef-a few hundred rods distant-on which a never ceasing surf rises, crests, and breaks, in a thousand forms of varied beauty, as it sends its voice "of many waters" far along the echoing shore. While behind us are the tufted islets, marking the passage by which we, entered, with numerous palmy points along the coast of Raiatea, and Huahine across a wide channel in the distance. Our arrival attracted little attention; not a canoe came off, nor did any collection of persons on the shore, or other appearance, indicate the childish excitement usual, among uncivilized people, on such occasions. From the pilot we learned, that Tamatoa, the king of Raiatea, and the whole royal party from Tahiti, were at the adjoining island of Tahaa ; and it was not till the cool of the evening, that any of the ship's company landed. I then went on shore, with several gentlemen of the ward-room. The landing is on a substantially laid quay of coral, where we met an intelligent lad of twelve years, the son of Rev. Mr. Williams, the missionary of the station. He informed us that his father was at the chapel, delivering a customary weekly lecture; and on directing our walk up the street, we met and returned with him to the mission house, and were introduced to Mrs. Williams and her family. Their establishment is more neat and rural, and more com 34 MISSION HOUSE AND fortable in its whole arrangement, than any we have before seen. The house is large and convenienthaving three pleasant rooms in front, opening by large folding doors on a veranda extending the entire length of the building-and commands, across an inclosure filled with shrubbery, fruit, and flowers, a fine view of the ocean. Every thing around · looked neat and prosperous; and, on taking a walk through the village, we found the same features marked, in a greater or less degree, on the habitations and appearance of the people every where. Still, we are told, that the evidences of improvement in the arts and manner of life here, are not equal to those exhibited at the neighboring island of Huahine. On a long coral wharf, near the residence of the king-and from that circumstance called the king's wharf-a small vessel of Mr. Williams' is undergoing repairs, and the keel of another, of forty or fifty tons, belonging to the king, is laid. The timbers in both, are of the tamanu-inophyllum callophyllum a native tree, thought equal to the American live oak for ship building; and the workmen, islanders under the direction of an English carpenter. RESIDENCE OF THE KING. 35 LETTER V. INTERVIEW WITH THE KING TAMATOA, AND A SABBATH AT RAIATEA. · Island of Raiatea, MR. Williams called upon Captain Finch and the officers of the ship, early on the morning after our arrival, and there has been since, a daily and almost hourly interchange of civility and kindness between the Vincennes and mission house. Some of our number spend every evening on shore; and Mr. and Mrs. Williams and family, and Mrs. Hunter, the wife of a Captain Hunter, at present on the South ́American coast, have passed a day with us on ship board. Learning that the wife of the king had not accompanied him to Tahaa, Captain Finch and myself paid her a visit on the morning of the 3d instant. The king's house is a respectable building of frame, wattled, plastered, and whitewashed, in the manner now extensively introduced throughout the Georgian and Society Islands. It is in the cottage style, of one story, with a roof of thatch, and has four rooms on the floor-one large and airy, used as a reception hall, and the others smaller, appropriated as sleeping and dressing apartments. The former has four glazed windows and two large doors-one in pannels of wood opening on the street, and the other of glass, towards the sea, from which it is |