(lass. 
 Book. 
 
HUGH CLIFFORD 
 
 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS/ 
 
 FORTH-WEST COAST, 
 
 AND AT THE 
 
 WASHINGTON ISLANDS. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 Conversations on the Sandwich Islands Mission, Claims of the 
 Africans, fyc. fyc. 
 
 " Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
 Does his successive journeys ruu ; 
 His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
 Till moons shall wax and wane no more. 
 
 REVISED BY THE PUBLISHING COMMITTEE. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL UNION: 
 
 Depository, 47 Cornhill. 
 
 1832. 
 
E78 
 M1TT9U 
 
 Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 185^, 
 
 By Christopher C. Dean, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 /jl?jt 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " Sing to the Lord with joyful voice ; 
 Let every land his name adore ; 
 The Northern coasts shall send the noise 
 Across the ocean, to the shore." 
 
 Those children who have read the c Con- 
 versations on the Sarulwich Islands Mission,' 
 will be pleased to hear more about Mrs. Bar- 
 ton and her agreeable family. 
 
 During the life time of Dr. Barton, much 
 of the care of the family and government of 
 the children devolved upon Mrs. Barton, for 
 the professional calls of her husband left him 
 but little time to bestow upon their instruction. 
 He was a man of deep and consistent piety, 
 and encouraged his excellent wife to perse- 
 vere in training up their children to habits of 
 self-denying benevolence, industry, and strict 
 subordination. 
 
 1 
 
6 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 After the removal of this truly good man, 
 and wise parent, Mrs. Barton felt increasing 
 anxiety for the future welfare of her rising 
 family, and wishing to follow out the plan 
 which her husband had laid for her, she made 
 a point of keeping all her children constantly 
 occupied in useful employment, study, or 
 healthful play. Her conversations on subjects 
 connected with the American Mission to the 
 Sandwich islands, had given them an eager 
 desire for missionary accounts, and Jane and 
 Robert often reminded her of her promise to 
 tell them about Mr. Green's exploring tour to 
 the North West coast. Anxious to make 
 them better acquainted with geography, as 
 well as to keep up an interest in missionary 
 movements, she commenced the performance 
 of her promise as follows : 
 
 Mr. Green, you will undoubtedly remember, 
 was one of those missionaries who sailed for 
 the Sandwich islands, from Boston, Dec. 3, 
 1827, with instructions to improve the earliest 
 opportunity of making a voyage to the North 
 West coast, to ascertain the moral condition 
 of the Indians, and to select a suitable place 
 for a missionary establishment, in case the 
 Prudential Committee of the American Board 
 of Missions thought it expedient to fit out one. 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 7 
 
 After remaining some time at Lahaina, on 
 the island of Maui, Mr. Green took passage 
 with captain Taylor, in the barque Volunteer, 
 on the thirteenth of February, 1829. At the 
 end of twenty-five days, the snow-clad hills 
 of the western coast of North America, were 
 distinctly seen. The tenth of March, the ship 
 cast anchor in Norfolk sound, and Mr. Green 
 commenced his inquiries with the most 
 anxious desire that through his instrumentality 
 the poor Indians might be induced to seek and 
 find the living and true God. 
 
 Captain Taylor was engaged in trade, and 
 in the pursuit of his object he coasted down 
 south from Norfolk sound, about four de- 
 grees. The ship touched at all the ports in 
 this range, and usually stopped two or three 
 days at each, which afforded Mr. Green a 
 fine opportunity to learn the state and condi- 
 tion of the various tribes of Indians inhabiting 
 that district. 
 
 Helen Barton. Four degrees, that would 
 make two hundred and forty miles extent of 
 country. How rrfany tribes of Indians did 
 Mr. Green find in that distance ? 
 
 J\lrs. Barton. Ten, which he classed into 
 three divisions ; each division speaking a dis- 
 tinct language. 
 
8 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 Jane Barton. What are the names of the 
 three classes? 
 
 Mrs. B. The Sit-ka, Nass, and Skid-e- 
 gass ; the last five on Queen Charlotte's 
 island, which you will find on the map of 
 North America, a little north of Queen Char- 
 lotte's sound. That island is the most mild, 
 pleasant, and fruitful part of the coast that Mr. 
 Green visited. The north west coast of 
 America is a dreary part of the world; much 
 of it is rocky and barren. 
 
 Ann Barton. And extremely cold, mother, 
 is it not ? 
 
 Mrs. B. No, it is not ; though it is very 
 chilly, occasioned by the dampness of the at- 
 mosphere. There is much rain and hail, but 
 the snow seldom fails deep. Doubtless you 
 wish me to describe the places visited by Mr. 
 Green. 
 
 " We do, mother, we do." 
 
 Mrs. B. One of the most important is 
 New Archangel. Here the Russians have a 
 settlement, defended from the Indians by a 
 fort. The buildings are poor, being mostly 
 constructed of logs, plastered and painted ; 
 even the house of the Russian governor is 
 built in this manner. 
 
 Jane. Are there no Indians at Archangel, 
 mother ? 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 9 
 
 Mrs. B. Yes; the Sit-ka tribe has built 
 a village under the guns of the fort, so that 
 the Russians can easily defend themselves 
 from their encroachments, and at the same 
 time protect the poor Indians from their neigh- 
 boring foes, for most of the tribes are often 
 engaged against each other in fierce and 
 bloody wars. 
 
 Robert. What could induce the Russians 
 to settle in such a gloomy place, among a 
 savage people ? 
 
 Mrs. B. I know of but two objects capa- 
 ble of alluring men to leave a civilized country, 
 and take up their abode in such a desolate 
 and obscure corner of the earth. One is the 
 acquisition of wealth, and the other a benevo- 
 lent desire to offer the means of salvation to 
 those who are perishing in their sins. These 
 Russian settlers are mostly engaged in the 
 'fur trade, and when the animals that furnish 
 the skins are all destroyed, or driven away, 
 they will probably remove ; and unless Chris- 
 tian missionaries go, there will be no foreigners 
 among the Indians. 
 
 Robert. The missionaries have already 
 carried the Bible almost over the whole world, 
 mother, hav'nt they ? 
 
 Mrs. B. No, my son ; though it is more 
 than eighteen hundred years since the blessed 
 1* 
 
10 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 Saviour said to his disciples, " Go ye and 
 teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost ;" yet the pure light of his gospel 
 shines only upon a small portion of the globe. 
 Not one of those ten tribes of Indians, visited 
 by Mr. Green, have any saving knowledge of 
 Christ, unless through the instrumentality of 
 his instructions. 
 
 Robert. The pure gospel shines upon the 
 Sandwich islands, and the Society islands, 
 (looking earnestly on his map,) and does it 
 not shine on all the islands in the Pacific 
 ocean ? 
 
 Mrs. B. No ; that ocean is all over 
 sprinkled with islands, whose inhabitants are 
 involved in the grossest ignorance, supersti- 
 tions, and vices. 
 
 Jane. Do tell us about them. 
 
 Mrs. B. I am now engaged in telling you 
 about the North West coast ; but when cousin 
 Hugh Clifford comes to spend vacation, I pre- 
 sume he will tell you all you wish to know. 
 
 Lucy. I feel quite interested about the 
 Indians, and hope you will not be interrupted 
 again, mother ; have you learned how many 
 there were within the districts Mr. Green 
 examined ? 
 
 Mrs. B. Some of the traders have esti- 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 11 
 
 mated them at about fifteen thousand ; most of 
 them reside on the coast ; very little is known 
 of those living in the interior, for whenever 
 they approach the coast, they are attacked 
 and driven back again. It is thought by 
 many, that the number of Indians is decreas- 
 ing every year. 
 
 Lucy. From* what cause ? 
 
 Mrs. B. By war, intemperance, and 
 profligacy. Several years ago the small pox 
 carried off great numbers. 
 
 Helen. Are they like those Penobscot 
 and Narragansett Indians that I have seen, 
 mother ? 
 
 Mrs. B. In some particulars they are like 
 those and other tribes in the United States ; 
 especially in their long black hair, and high 
 cheek bones ; but their complexion is lighter. 
 They are extravagantly fond of ornaments in 
 their ears and noses, and all who can procure 
 beads, wear a profusion of them around their 
 necks and ancles. In addition to all these, the 
 females wear another ornament of extraordinary 
 size, in the under lip, which they call a steetgar. 
 It is an oval piece of wood, hollow on both 
 sides, with a groove around the edge to re- 
 ceive the divided lip. This wooden orna- 
 ment is at first small, but as the orifice en- 
 larges, the size is increased, till at last one is 
 
12 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 worn that will measure three inches in length, 
 and one and three quarters in breadth. It 
 gives them a hideous appearance to strangers, 
 but adds vastly to their beauty in the eye of 
 a native. 
 
 " How is it possible such a great hole can 
 be made in the under lip?" said Robert, pull- 
 ing out his own lip. 
 
 Mrs. B. They begin by thrusting through 
 it a large wire with a head on it, to keep it 
 from dropping out ; and by degrees it enlarges 
 till it is capable of receiving the great wooden 
 lip I have described. They are so extrava- 
 gantly fond of paint, that if they cannot ob- 
 tain European, they will mix soot with earth, 
 and daub themselves with it from head to foot. 
 What would you do if one of them were to 
 approach you with a wooden lip, their hair 
 dripping with fish oil, and covered with paint ? 
 
 Jane. I think we should be very nimble- 
 footed. 
 
 Mrs. B. I do not think you would wish 
 to go home with them, for their houses have 
 neither doors, windows, or chimneys, and are 
 as filthy as their owners. 
 
 Lucy. How do the men and women em- 
 ploy themselves ? 
 
 Mrs. B. The men build the houses, hunt, 
 and fish ; and the women manufacture a very 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 13 
 
 coarse kind of cloth, smoke and dry the pro- 
 visions for winter, and both sexes make very- 
 curious baskets, pipes, spoons, dishes, &c. 
 They are not as lazy as most savages, and 
 wives are better treated there, than in almost 
 any other heathen place 1 ever heard of. It 
 is not uncommon for them to be consulted 
 about trade, and other subjects. 
 
 Lucy. Do they not take advantage of it ? 
 
 Mrs. B. Perhaps they do, sometimes. 
 Mr. Green says, when the husband is intoxi- 
 cated, the wife, if sober, subjects him to her 
 authority, and in case of resistance, beats him 
 most unmercifully ; but he did not tell me 
 which wife took upon herself such airs. 
 
 Lucy. I presume it was the head wife, 
 for I have noticed that where polygamy is 
 practised, the head wife was called the wife, 
 though there were a dozen others. 
 
 Helen. How many do the Indians allow. 
 
 Mrs. B. As many as they choose to 
 maintain; a She-bash — a chief, has ten, but 
 two or three is more common. 
 
 The men are notorious gamblers ; instead 
 of cards, they use painted sticks ; they often 
 become so infatuated as to stake their whole, 
 property. 
 
 ' What is it to be infatuated, Lucy ?' whis- 
 
14 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 pered Robert ; she replied, l To lose the 
 understanding, and become foolish.' 
 
 Lvcy. It is not very uncommon for gam- 
 blers among ourselves, to seem bereft of their 
 reason, for they not only hazard their pro- 
 perty, but sooner or later lose their reputation, 
 and ruin their families. 
 
 Mrs. B. It is too true. The poor In- 
 dians feel the loss of their property very 
 keenly, for in their view nothing is so dis- 
 graceful as poverty. 
 
 I suppose we should smile contemptuously, 
 at the inventory of one of their wealthiest 
 men, said Lucy. 
 
 What constitutes their wealth ? asked 
 Helen. 
 
 Skins, blankets, slaves and furniture, com- 
 prise nearly the whole of it, said Mrs. B. 
 However, a man's influence is exactly propor- 
 tioned to his riches. 
 
 Robert. How do they obtain slaves ? 
 
 Mrs. B. Some are purchased of the 
 southern tribes, and others are kidnapped. 
 Strangers are led to think these unfortunate 
 beings fare as well rs their owners ; but they 
 are compelled to wear out their days in the 
 lowest drudgery, and at the death of their 
 master, if he is a chief, they are exposed to 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 15 
 
 be offered in sacrifices, as one or more of 
 these poor creatures is killed to accompany 
 their master beyond the grave. And they 
 stand no better chance if their master erects 
 a new house, and lives to remove into it ; 
 custom, or rather superstition, requiring the 
 master to sacrifice or emancipate a slave at 
 the feast that is held on the occasion. At the 
 close of these entertainments, the guests dance 
 and revel in a way peculiar to the heathen. 
 
 Lucy. How do children fare ? 
 
 Mrs. B. Some of them are murdered by 
 their mothers as soon as they see the light, 
 but those who are permitted to live, are fond- 
 led and humored more than among civilized 
 people. 
 
 Ann. Do they have any regular govern- 
 ment ? 
 
 Mrs. B. No ; power gives right, and he 
 that can gather round him a clan of warriors, 
 fears no man, and submits to none. 
 
 Lucy. I think you said they had no ideas 
 of true religion, mother. 
 
 Mrs. B. No, not the faintest idea of it ; 
 when asked who made the sea, land, trees, 
 &c, they answered, " We do not know." 
 Some of the most knowing ones pretend that 
 the world was created by a bird of the crow 
 kind, which is much reverenced. 
 
16 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 They believe in the existence of an evil 
 being, who is extremely malignant, causing all 
 afflictions of mind, body, or estate ; and they 
 call him Nim-kel-sus. Nothing can be more 
 absurd than their notions of a future state, be- 
 lieving that those who die of sickness go into 
 the country, while those who are drowned still 
 exist in the sea ; and whoever dies in battle 
 is exalted to the house of the sun, and their 
 bodies are honored by burning, instead of 
 being buried. 
 
 Robert. Ma', do they worship idols ? 
 
 Mrs. B. I do not know whether they pay 
 them divine honors, but they have a wooden 
 image, carved in the form of a wolf's head, in 
 which they place great confidence in times of 
 danger. One of them was carried to captain 
 Taylor, and pawned for rum ! 
 
 Lucy. It would seem that rum was dearer 
 to him than his god. 
 
 Helen. Judging by the conduct of drunk- 
 ards in this land of light, I should think they 
 were of the same opinion ; but, Ma', we ought 
 not to interrupt you. 
 
 Mrs. B. Every tribe has a set of men 
 called Shargars, which, properly speaking, are 
 the Indian priesthood. These men are sup- 
 posed to have power to inflict, and to avert 
 all kinds of diseases ; they are exceedingly 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 17 
 
 cunning, and may be known from other men, 
 by their manner of twisting up the hah. In 
 performing some of their ceremonies they eat 
 brimstone, and drink sea-wate**. When 
 they take a fancy to some valuable article, 
 they tell the owner of it that some distressing 
 calamity is approaching, which they will turn 
 back upon condition of receiving the thing 
 coveted. In this way, they obtain many 
 things, besides all they receive for singing 
 over the sick, and at the birth of children, and 
 for crying at funerals. Some of these wretch- 
 es have been known to bite out and eat the 
 flesh from the arms of the living, and what 
 seems to me far more horrid, they will eat the 
 flesh of the dead. And so debauched and 
 superstitious are the poor, deluded Indians, that 
 they are afraid to complain of such treatment. 
 When asked why they suffered the shargars 
 to bite and devour them, they answered, 
 " Hush ; not good to speak thus." 
 
 Lucy. Are they not the most odious and 
 degraded of the human family ? 
 
 Mrs. B. 1 can hardly conceive of a more 
 disgusting race. I will close my account of 
 them, this afternoon, in Mr. Green's own 
 words. " Gratitude is a flame which no power 
 can kindle in their icy bosoms. Indeed, with 
 scarcely an exception, to do them a kindness 
 2 
 
18 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 is to increase their insolence, so that the man 
 who to-day should heap on them the richest 
 beneBts, they would stab to the heart to-mor- 
 row, should he refuse to accede to their most 
 unreasonable demands." 
 
 Why did Mr. Green make a voyage to the North West coast ? 
 How many tribes did he visit ? What are the names of the three 
 drvVums into which be classed them? How many miles on the 
 coas did he explore? How many inhabitants ? How are they 
 Pmnloved * Describe the persons, dress, and employments of the 
 SatWs. Who are the Shargars ? What do you remember of 
 their superstitions ? 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Look down, O God, with pitying eye, 
 And view the desolations round; 
 
 See what wide realms in darkness lie ; 
 What scenes of wo and crime abound. 
 
 c I have been looking in my geography to 
 find out more about the North West coast,' 
 said little Robert, as he drew his chair to the 
 table, where his mother and sisters were sitting 
 at work. ' And what have you learned ?' said 
 his sister Lucy. 
 
 Robert. That the country back of the sea- 
 shore is wild and uncultivated ; the land bro- 
 ken, and covered with hemlock and spruce — 
 rising from the water into ragged mountains, 
 covered with snow the year round. There is 
 plenty of fish and wild fowl, but good vegeta- 
 bles are scarce. The people are very bad. 
 
 Mrs. B. They are indeed, my son, so 
 bad, that murder is almost daily committed, 
 wherever a considerable number are settled 
 together. The most trifling provocation 
 arouses their wicked passions, and they never 
 cease seeking their foe till they have shed his 
 
20 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 blood. Theft is universally practised ; and so 
 entirely destitute of truth are they, that you 
 cannot place the least dependence upon any 
 of their statements. 
 
 Helen. What good then have the traders 
 done there ? 
 
 Mrs. B. I do not know of a single benefit 
 any foreigner has ever conferred upon them, 
 but the vices which they have introduced, 
 have been of the most destructive kind, and 
 if not counteracted, will be their everlasting 
 ruin. 
 
 Ann. What are the particular evils you 
 allude to, mother ? 
 
 Mrs. B. Intemperance, profligacy and 
 disease. 
 
 Helen. W 7 hy did not the Russians instruct 
 them in reliaion ? 
 
 Mrs. B. They profess the faith of the 
 Greek Church, which much resembles that of 
 the Church of Rome ; and that religion is not 
 very apt to purify the morals, or enlighten the 
 minds of its disciples. The Russians have a 
 church at New Archangel. Its external ap- 
 pearance is very ordinary, but within, it is highly 
 embellished with numerous saints. Six large 
 bells are hung, which call very loudly for the 
 attendance of worshippers, but with very little 
 success, for the congregations consist of only 
 about fifty men and women, and a few boys 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 21 
 
 who chant. The wax candles burning in dif- 
 ferent parts of the house, amid the pictures 
 and flowers, give it rather an attractive ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 The Russian governor, whose name is 
 Chesticoff, received Mr. Green with great hos- 
 pitality and kindness, and gave him an oppor- 
 tunity to lay his object before seventy or 
 eighty principal persons of the Sitka tribe of 
 Indians, who listened to his account with 
 some attention, and a very few of them ex- 
 pressed a decided wish to have a missionary- 
 establishment commenced ; but it was very 
 evident, they attached to a mission only ideas of 
 temporal advantage. The governor furnished 
 him with a Russian and Indian interpreter, 
 whenever he found it convenient to visit the 
 Indian villages. 
 
 Mr. Green formed an acquaintance with a 
 young man from one of the Fox islands, who 
 had lived with the Russians many years, in the 
 capacity of interpreter to the Fur Company. 
 From him, many interesting particulars of the 
 tribes farther north were gathered, and being 
 very intelligent, and communicative, Mr. 
 Green's stock of information was considerably 
 increased. 
 
 Jane. Where are the Fox islands ? 
 
 Lucy. You will find them on the map of 
 2* 
 
22 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 the world, a little south of Kamschatka. I sup- 
 pose there must he a wide and dark field for 
 Christian cultivation in all the surrounding 
 countries. 
 
 Mrs. B. Yes ; it needs almost every kind 
 of cultivation, for the inhabitants are extreme- 
 ly ignorant and superstitious. I wish you to 
 read " Captain Parry's Voyages" and then 
 you will know a great deal about the inhabit- 
 ants of those northern regions ; and when 
 studying geography, you ought to ascertain 
 the moral and religious state of the countries; 
 the advantages for intellectual culture, and 
 state of society, as well as the boundaries, pop- 
 ulation, he. 
 
 Helen. Are all the people on that coast 
 savage and ignorant ? 
 
 Mrs. B. All the natives that Mr. Green visit- 
 ed were so; and with a very few exceptions, 
 they did not manifest the least desire to be en- 
 lightened. He noticed two chiefs of the Turn 
 Garse tribe, who said they wished for instruc- 
 tion, but in general, all the tribes are sunk down 
 into the very depths of degradation and crime. 
 
 Lucy. Do you suppose they are destitute 
 of intellectual capacities to rise to a state of 
 civilization and refinement? 
 
 Mrs. B. No, indeed ; a gentleman who 
 had long been acquainted with the JVass tribe, 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 23 
 
 said, " they seem to combine the man-brute 9 
 with the man-devil " being as much distin- 
 guished for their strength of intellect, as for 
 their filth and debasement. While captain 
 Taylor lay in their harbor, he found it almost 
 impossible to keep them off his ship, even 
 after he had put up the boarding nets, and set 
 a watch from one end of the deck to the 
 other. 
 
 Robert, What are boarding-nets, mother? 
 
 Mrs. B. A frame work, made of the 
 strongest cord-netting, placed round a ship's 
 deck, to prevent an enemy from climbing up 
 the sides and getting on board. 
 
 Jane. Were none allowed to come to the 
 ship to trade ? 
 
 Mrs. B. Yes; a few at a time were ad- 
 mitted through a port-hole. One evening, 
 while the ship lay at Nass, a chief of the 
 Turn Garse tribe, named Le Koote, being in 
 an unusually communicative humor, conversed 
 freely with captain Taylor, who, at Mr. 
 Green's request, inquired into his views of 
 God and a future state. 
 
 Lucy. I should admire to hear what he 
 said about the religious notions of his tribe. 
 
 Mrs. B. They believe in a kind of trans- 
 migration, and say that some at death goto 
 the " place, above" but that all are not well 
 
24 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 treated, and when they find themselves kept 
 short for food and drink, they come ^ack 
 again, and enter another body, &c. After 
 listening to such absurdities a while, Mr. 
 Green told him of the Bible, and explained 
 to him as well as he was able, the nature 
 of the Christian religion. When Le Koote 
 was told that God forbade murder, quarrelling;, 
 and drunkenness, he replied quickly, " Why, 
 then, is rum brought hither ?" 
 
 Lucy. Who can wonder at the question, 
 for 1 have often heard it said that rum and 
 whiskey have done more to demoralize and 
 destroy the Indians, than all other causes com- 
 bined. 
 
 Mrs. B. While the Volunteer lay off one 
 of the villages on Queen Charlotte's island, 
 several Indians belonging to the Kum-she-wa 
 tribe came on board ; they had been great 
 sufferers in the recent skirmish with the She- 
 bash-a tribe. One had lost a wife, another a 
 brother or sister ; most of them were in deep 
 mourning. 
 
 Helen. How were the mourners distin- 
 guished ? 
 
 Mrs. B. By painting their faces black, 
 and cutting off their hair close to the head. 
 The Masset tribe live in the neighborhood of 
 Queen Charlotte's island, upon North island, 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 25 
 
 which is separated from the former by a nar- 
 row strait only. One day, Mr. Green paid 
 them a visit, and they showed him considera- 
 ble attention, by walking with him, and point- 
 ing out whatever of curiosity their village con- 
 tained. In his ramble, he observed a rude bust 
 of a man, standing at the entrance of a poor 
 looking hut, and asked one of the natives what 
 it meant. One of them told him it was Doug- 
 las, a chief, who had recently died in a drunken 
 frolic, and was entombed in the cabin ; at the 
 same moment, slipping aside a board, he dis- 
 covered a box curiously carved and very gaily 
 painted, which served the chief for a coffin. 
 The usual custom of these people, is to ele- 
 vate these gay coffins several feet from the 
 ground, after the corpse is put into them, but 
 the one that contained the body of Douglas, 
 was not raised from the earth ? 
 
 Helen. How can the Russian priests help 
 teaching those poor heathen how to do like 
 civilized and Christian people? 
 
 Jane. Perhaps they have not been there 
 long enough. 
 
 Mrs. B. Yes, they have; some of them 
 have lived on the coast many years, but they 
 do not seem to feel much interest or compas- 
 sion for the poor natives. 
 
26 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 Lucy. Their case does seena almost hope- 
 less. 
 
 Mrs. B. It would not be hopeless, if the 
 whites had not introduced intemperance, and 
 other vices, which debase and destroy both 
 soul and body. Some of the Russfans have 
 married Indian women, and persuaded them 
 to be baptized, but, said an old priest, " it does 
 no good, they remain as before." 
 
 Lucy. It is most likely he gave them no 
 religious instruction beforehand. 
 
 Mrs. B. Probably not of any kind, for he 
 had six daughters, not one of whom could read. 
 
 Helen. The priest and people were much 
 alike, 1 should think. 
 
 Mrs. B. Too much so, I fear; nothing 
 more seems to be expected of him, than read- 
 ing prayers, and attending weddings and 
 funerals. 
 
 Assisted by the Fox islander, Mr. Green 
 held an agreeable conversation with a com- 
 pany of chiefs at governor ChesticofFs, from 
 the Sit-ka tribe. After telling them his own 
 history, and stating the reasons that induced 
 him to come so far to see them, he told them 
 of the Sandwich islands, the former character 
 of the inhabitants, of missionary efforts made 
 among them, and of their present condition 
 and prospects. He then introduced the 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 27 
 
 recent improvement, among the Indian tribes 
 in the United States, since they had received 
 the gospel, and endeavored to show them the 
 importance of receiving it themselves. They 
 seemed pleased, and in return, told him about 
 their own customs, and habijs, as well as their 
 notions of religion. 
 
 Robert. Could not Mr. Green have preach- 
 ed to them through an interpreter ? 
 
 Mrs. B. Yes, my son ; he did preach the 
 gospel to hundreds in that way ; and he studi- 
 ed their language with so much success, that 
 before leaving, he was able to tell them in 
 their own tongue some of the wonderful works 
 of God. He preached once on board the 
 ship to the crew, which consisted of ten natives 
 of the Sandwich islands, and fifteen English- 
 men, when two hundred Indians were on 
 board. 
 
 Robert. How did they behave? 
 
 Mrs. B. With far more decorum than 
 was expected. They were particularly struck 
 with the prayer, and could not easily compre- 
 hend how Mr. Green could talk to some one 
 above. A friendly chief, named Kaw-e, who 
 afforded Mr. Green much assistance in study- 
 ing the language, listened with deep serious- 
 ness to the doctrines of the resurrection, and 
 the final judgment. He then inquired the 
 
28 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 meaning of language he heard the sailors use. 
 When it was explained to him, he manifested 
 much feeling. He proposed accompanying 
 Mr. Green when he should return to the Sand- 
 wich islands, and take his little dauughter with 
 him, to stay till her education should be com- 
 pleted. This was encouraged by Mr. Green, 
 who told the other Kig-a-nee chiefs, that if they 
 followed his advice, they would go and settle 
 on North island, which they readily agreed to 
 do, upon condition he would go and live with 
 them. This was just before Mr. Green sailed 
 from Kig-a-nee. 
 
 Robert. Where is Kig-a-nee, mother ? 
 
 Mrs. JB. You cannot find it on your map, 
 my dear, for it is but a small place in Cordoo 
 sound ; and even that is not put down on many 
 maps. It has always been a place of resort 
 to traders, whose baneful influence has in- 
 creased the wretchedness of the inhabitants of 
 the whole tribe. While there, 3\lr. Green 
 said, " The exhibitions of heathenism which I 
 daily witness, are painful, but they are not so 
 heart-rending as the scenes which are here 
 acted by men from Christian countries." 
 
 Helen. Where did Mr. Green go from 
 Kig-a-nee ? 
 
 Mrs. B. He set sail for Norfolk sound, 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 29 
 
 but he came very near losing his life a few 
 hours afterwards. ^ 
 
 Jane. How ! how ! mother ? 
 
 Mrs. B. I will tell you how. Early on 
 the morning of May 12, captain Taylor gave 
 orders for leaving the harbor. After they 
 had weighed anchor and moved down to the 
 entrance of the harbor, about half a mile, the 
 Indians who had remained on board were 
 ordered off. One of them resented it, and 
 gave the captain a blow on the face, which 
 was returned, probably with good interest ; 
 the Indian seized a billet of wood, as if to 
 repeat the blow. The officers and sailors ran 
 to the arm chest — the Indians pushed forwards, 
 and a scuffle commenced. 
 
 Mr. Green ran on deck to see what was the 
 matter, when an Indian with a drawn knife 
 flew at him, and had he not fled to the 
 cabin, would doubtless have stabbed him to 
 the heart. He had hardly reached the cap- 
 tain's state-room, before he heard the firing of 
 muskets, and starting to go up, he met some 
 of the crew bearing one of the officers who 
 had been wounded. He was committed to 
 Mr. Green's care, who staunched the blood 
 as well as he was able, and tried to relieve the 
 extreme pain of the poor sufferer. The mo- 
 ment the firing ceased, he ran to look upon 
 3 
 
30 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 the deck, and see what had happened. "One 
 poor Indian lay on the deck, a bloody corpse. 
 Others were supposed to have fallen over- 
 board, and others still were slightly wounded. 
 A buck-shot had passed through the hat of the 
 second officer, and several were lodged in the 
 sides of the ship." Five of the Indians on 
 board were retained as hostages by captain 
 Taylor ; he assured those natives who came 
 along side after the quarrel, that the hostages 
 should be well treated and returned, if they 
 offered no violence to other vessels that might 
 chance to come on to the coast. He like- 
 wise wrote a note to the traders at Kig-a-nee 
 stating the cause and consequences of the 
 affray, which the natives promised to deliver 
 to the first who should arrive. 
 
 Robert. Mother, what are hostages 6 ? 
 
 Mrs. B. Persons given in pledge or secu- 
 rity for the performance of conditions. I wish 
 you always to inquire the meaning of words 
 you do not understand, or what is still better, 
 go to your dictionary immediately, and find out 
 for yourself. 
 
 Among the hostages was Sankart, the best 
 man in his tribe, except Kaw-e. During the 
 little voyage, Mr. Green labored incessantly 
 to enlighten his dark mind ; he listened atten- 
 tively, and I cannot but hope, that he under- 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 31 
 
 stood enough of the way of salvation, to find 
 the Saviour himself, and to lead others of his 
 tribe to the same Ark of refuge. 
 
 What did captain Taylor do with his wound- 
 ed officer ? said Helen. 
 
 He made the best of his way to Norfolk 
 sound, anxious to afford him the best surgical 
 aid in his power. The governor and other 
 gentlemen showed much sympathy for the 
 wounded officer, though they said, " If Amer- 
 ican gentlemen will sell powder and muskets 
 to the Indians, they must take the conse- 
 quence." 
 
 Jane. How did the matter end ? 
 
 Mrs. B. When captain Taylor returned 
 to Kig-a-nee, and found the Indians had done 
 no injury to the ships, or traders, he sent three 
 of the five hostages on shore. The Shargars, 
 chiefs, and relatives of those who had been 
 killed or wounded in the quarrel, came on 
 board, and after much debating, peace was 
 restored. The bereaved friends received a 
 few presents, and appeared well satisfied. 
 
 Mrs. Barton had hardly finished the last 
 sentence, before she was interrupted by the 
 arrival of Hugh Clifford, a son of her eldest 
 brother; a young man of ardent piety and great 
 activity in the cause of religion. 
 
 He had spent most of his vacations in the 
 
32 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 work of instruction, but finding his health re- 
 quired relaxation, he cheerfully accepted his 
 aunt Barton's invitation to spend the spring 
 vacation with her. His knowledge of geog- 
 raphy and missionary subjects, qualified him 
 for affording his aunt any assistance she need- 
 ed in giving her children an account of mis- 
 sionary movements that were past, and those 
 in immediate prospect ; and his own personal 
 feelings rendered it altogether agreeable. 
 
 How does the country appear on the North West coast ? Are 
 fish and wild fowl plenty ? Describe die natives. Where are 
 the Fox islands? Who was Le Koote ? Who Sank art, and 
 Kaw-e? Who was Douglas ? Describe the affray on board 
 the Volunteer? 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 " Hear the heathen's sad complaining, — 
 
 Christians, hear their dying cry; 
 
 And, the love of Christ constraining. 
 
 Join to help them ere they die." 
 
 Cousin Hugh, do you know what an igno- 
 rant, vicious race of Indians live on the North 
 West coast ? said little Robert, as he was 
 climbing on his knee, two or three evenings 
 after his arrival. 
 
 Hugh. I have some knowledge of their 
 condition, having had my attention particularly 
 directed of late to that quarter of the world. 
 Perhaps you know that political, as well as 
 religious men have long wished to have a col- 
 ony established on that coast, and the neigh- 
 borhood of the Columbia river has been much 
 talked of, for several years. The friends of 
 the heathen have longed to see a mission set- 
 tled on that part of the coast belonging to the 
 United States, but the Prudential Committee 
 of the American Board of Missions, did not 
 feel that it was expedient to fit out an expen- 
 sive one, until the field had been carefully ex- 
 3* 
 
34 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 plored ; therefore, the Rev. Mr. Green, mis- 
 sionary to the Sandwich islands, was instruct- 
 ed by them to visit the coast, and report to 
 them the situation of the country, and the con- 
 dition and prospects of the inhabitants. 
 
 Robert. Ma' has told us all about it from 
 beginning to end. 
 
 Mrs. B. Not to the end, my son, by a 
 great deal. In addition to what 1 have related 
 of Mr. Green's voyage and inquiries, your 
 cousin can add his voyage *~ Francisco and 
 St. Carlos. 
 
 Hugh. Mr. Green's inquiries extended 
 from Norfolk sound to California, but in the 
 whole distance he did not find one spot where 
 he dared to urge the Board to establish a mis- 
 sion immediately, though it is hoped it may 
 and will be attempted before a great while. 
 
 Lucy. What peculiar obstacles are there 
 to the introduction of Christianity ? 
 
 Hugh. The greatest of all is their deep 
 rooted hatred of foreigners, whose avr.ice 
 and sensuality have led them f o ado, 
 mode of treatment as could not far , ing 
 
 the worst passions of the buma.i hea.-t. The 
 small number of natives who speak the same 
 language, is another difficulty, and the barren- 
 ness of the country would render a mission 
 too expensive in any of the districts visited by 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 35 
 
 Mr. Green. But farther south I have been 
 told there re multitudes of Indians, to whom 
 the gospel might be preached, with bright 
 prcspocts of success. They live some dis- 
 tance from the coast, where profligate white 
 men have not yet carried intemperance, disease, 
 and death. If missionaries could gain a foot- 
 ing in a heathen country, unacquainted with 
 the vices of unprincipled foreigners, it would 
 be comparatively easy to bring them under the 
 governing influence of the Christian religion. 
 
 Lucy. What a pity it is that the zeal of 
 worldly men should so far outrun that of Chris- 
 tians. I am sure it would not be thus, if faith 
 was as operative as it should be. 
 
 Hugh. A little time since, the Indians in 
 the neighborhood of the Straits of Juan de 
 Fuca w T ere ignorant of the use of fire-arms and 
 ardent spirits, but quite recently it has become 
 a favorite resort for fur traders. 
 
 It is very likely that the traders have learned 
 them the fatal use of both, before this time, 
 said Mrs. Barton. 
 
 Helen, What is the condition of the Indians 
 in the neighborhood of the Columbia river, 
 where you said the settlement of a colony was 
 talked of. 
 
 Hugh, A gentleman from there told me 
 
36 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 that " they had learned every vice, but not a 
 single virtue of their white neighbors." 
 Robert. Where is the Columbia river ? 
 Hugh. It empties into the Paci6c ocean, 
 between forty-five and six degrees north lati- 
 tude. 
 
 If you please, cousin Clifford, let him find 
 out himself on the map, interrupted Mrs. Bar- 
 ton, adding, these little folks had much rather 
 depend upon their friends for knowledge than 
 labor to acquire it for themselves ; however, a 
 little obtained by their own industry, will be 
 retained much longer than a gift of much 
 larger amount. 
 
 Robert. Here it is ; but I thought I should 
 never find it. 
 
 Where, where, said Jane. 
 Here, between cape Disappointment and 
 point Adams, replied Robert ; but the map 
 does not tell me how the country looks, cousin 
 Hugh ; I wish you would. 
 
 Hugh. Some travellers say that the coun- 
 try about the river is barren, affording little 
 vegetation and no game, and add an unfavor- 
 able climate, and great poverty among the na- 
 tives ; while others say, the Indians are very 
 numerous, and the country fruitful. Mr. Mc- 
 Kay says he has resided there seventeen 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 37 
 
 years, and became acquainted with thirty-four 
 different tribes, most of them powerful sav- 
 ages, but not so fond of bloody wars as the 
 tribes further north. 
 
 Lucy. A mission in that region would be 
 surrounded by dangers. 
 
 Hugh. True, but dangers and difficulties 
 of the most appalling kinds have not deterred 
 the Russian Fur, the North West, and the 
 Hudson Bay Companies, from occupying 
 every important part, from Norfolk sound to 
 the Columbia river. If the love of gain can 
 make men fearlessly brave danger, should not 
 the love of Christ, and compassion for the per- 
 ishing Indians, inspire Christians with equal, 
 if not superior courage ? The Indians are 
 intelligent, and perfectly understand the mo- 
 tives of traders in coming among them ; and 
 who can doubt whether they would not be 
 equally quick-sighted to discern the motives 
 of benevolent self-denying missionaries, if they 
 should go and exhibit in their holy lives the 
 spirit of their office. 
 
 Lucy. Do you think a mission will be 
 sent there soon by the American Board of 
 Foreign Missions ? 
 
 Hugh. Probably not till the boundaries 
 of the United States are more permanently 
 
38 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 and satisfactorily settled. A colony and mis- 
 sion on that coast, would be of vast impor- 
 tance to the Sandwich islands mission, as it 
 would supply them with fish, timber, and 
 other necessary articles, and afford a cool and 
 pleasant retreat for those missionaries whose 
 constitutions were impaired from a long resi- 
 dence in a tropical climate. 
 
 Robert. I have found the Columbia river 
 on my map ; do you know whether captain 
 Taylor entered it ? 
 
 Hugh. Yes, he attempted it ; but did not 
 succeed. A heavy swell in the sea renders 
 it extremely difficult to get into the river. A 
 captain from Boston labored nine days to 
 enter, and was obliged to give it up — captain 
 Shaler eight, with no better success ; he gave 
 it as his opinion that Juan de Fuca was a far 
 more eligible place for a colony than the 
 Columbia river. 
 
 Mrs. B. 1 have heard a great deal said 
 about planting a colony somewhere on the 
 North West coast, and generally a mission has 
 been proposed to be joined with it. Some 
 have mentioned a place on the west side of 
 the Rocky mountains, near the great Salt 
 Lake, in latitude 42 degrees, but no place has 
 hitherto offered, unconnected with very serious 
 objections. 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 39 
 
 Lucy. I think Mr. Green must have had 
 great trials during his tour. 
 
 Hugh. In speaking of his residence on 
 the coast, he says, " so painful a post of obser- 
 vation is this, that, had it been possible, I 
 should long since have deserted it. To face 
 an enemy without hope of conquest, or even 
 the ability of resistance, is exceedingly dis- 
 heartening. May I be content, if I can do 
 no more, to hang on the wings of evil, and to 
 retard, as much as possible, her desolating 
 progress. I expected trials on this agency. 
 To be long absent from my beloved family 
 and dear associates — to go where I should 
 have no sympathizing friend — to be deprived 
 of all religious enjoyments, save those which 
 are found in secret communion with God — 
 and to dwell closely allied with the enemies 
 of the Saviour ; — these I regarded at first as 
 trials of no ordinary character. But they 
 have been greater than I anticipated. To 
 witness the wretchedness of the degraded 
 heathen, without God, and without hope — to 
 detect their dishonesty, and see them throw 
 around their unlawful gains the cloak of 
 deceit — to witness them degraded to the level 
 of the brutes, and in these circumstances to 
 be put in jeopardy by them, and to be almost 
 
40 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 a passive spectator of all this guilt and misery, 
 I need not say has been truly distressing." 
 
 JWrs. B. I presume those months were 
 the most painful part of his missionary life. 
 Cousin Hugh, where did he go after leaving 
 Norfolk sound the last time ? 
 
 Hugh. To the coast of California. Cap- 
 tain Taylor cast anchor in the bay of St. 
 Francisco on the last day of September, 1SJ9. 
 
 What is California ? asked Robert; here it 
 is on the map, but I do not know what to 
 call it. 
 
 It is a peninsula, said Hugh ; can you tell 
 me what that is ? 
 
 Robert. A tract of land every where sur- 
 rounded by water, except at one narrow neck, 
 by which it joins the neighboring continent. 
 
 And what is that narrow neck called ? 
 asked Hugh. 
 
 An isthmus, replied Robert. There is the 
 isthmus of Suez, which connects Africa with 
 Asia ; and there is the isthmus of Darien, 
 which joins North and South America. 
 
 Hugh. Very well Robert. Can you tell 
 me how wide the isthmus of Darien is ? 
 
 Robert. In one place it is only sixty miles 
 over ; when they make a rail road, or a canal 
 across it, cousin Hugh, see how quick we 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 41 
 
 can get to the Sandwich islands without sail- 
 ing down here round cape Horn. 
 
 Helen. Come Robert, do listen and hear 
 about California. Cousin, is it a cold or hot 
 country, pleasant or disagreeable? 
 
 Hugh. There is considerable diversity in 
 the climate of New California, which extends 
 from thirty-two to forty-two degrees of north 
 latitude. Fruit ripens in some places as early 
 as March or April, and then they raise two 
 crops. 
 
 Lucy. How many inhabitants are there ? 
 
 Between St. Diego and St. Francisco, the 
 Indians have been estimated at fifty thousand, 
 said Hugh, and from the latter place to the 
 northern limits of California, fifty thousand 
 more, besides five thousand Creoles. 
 
 Who are they f asked Jane. 
 
 Hugh replied, the descendants of the Span- 
 iards and Indians, making in the whole more 
 than a hundred thousand. 
 
 Mrs. B. I know very little of the history 
 of that part of the country. 
 
 Hugh. 1 do not know much of it, but I 
 know it was discovered by Cortez, the great 
 conqueror of Mexico, and that Sir Francis 
 Drake, a celebrated English navigator, took 
 possession of it in 1578, and had his right 
 confirmed by the highest chief of the country. 
 4 
 
42 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 About two hundred years ago, said Ann, 
 surely they have since then had time to make 
 great improvements. 
 
 Hugh. Yes, but Roman catholic mission- 
 aries are not the men to elevate the standard 
 of morals or piety ; if they had been, the 
 fruitful and beautiful provinces of California, 
 would not be inhabited by such an ignorant, 
 motley race, as most of the present occupants 
 are. The state of education is so very low, 
 that not one in five of the men, and scarcely 
 one in ten of the women, know how to read. 
 The lads have completed their education, 
 when they have become good horsemen, and 
 can throw a noose over the necks of wild 
 cattle, upon a full gallop ; and the girls have 
 finished theirs, when they have acquired the 
 arts of dancing expertly, and dressing taste- 
 fully. 
 
 Lucy. If their religion is as defective as 
 their education, it will be of little use to the 
 heathen natives. 
 
 Hugh. The Romish is the only religion 
 tolerated in California ; no foreigner is ever 
 allowed to marry in the country, till he pro- 
 fesses the catholic faith ; and there is not a 
 single protestant missionary in the country. 
 
 Ann. How many catholic ones are there ? 
 
 Hugh. No less than twenty-one, in upper 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 43 
 
 California ; each of which claim about three 
 hundred Indian converts. 
 
 Mrs. B. What constitutes conversion, in 
 the view of the catholic priests? 
 
 Hugh. The repetition of a few prayers in 
 Spanish, and submission to the rite of baptism. 
 
 Lucy. How long have these missions 
 been established ? 
 
 Hugh. More than fifty years. They are 
 almost entirely secular (worldly), having 
 accumulated large herds of cattle, horses, 
 and sheep. The mission houses serve as 
 inns, or resting places to hunters and travel- 
 lers, there being no taverns in the country. 
 
 Mrs. B. How have the priests enriched 
 themselves ? 
 
 By trade with foreigners, replied Hugh. 
 
 Lucy. What did they teach the poor na- 
 tives ? 
 
 Hugh. To build houses, manufacture cloths 
 and cultivate the earth. 
 
 Lucy. How do they compare with the 
 more northern tribes ? 
 
 Hugh. They are less intelligent, their 
 personal appearance is not as good, and they 
 are mote vicious and degraded, if it is possi- 
 ble for human beings to be so. Mr. Green 
 was repeatedly told, by both catholics and 
 protestants, that the converted Indians, as they 
 
44 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 are called in California, are much worse than 
 their wild neighbors. They often run away 
 from the missions and tempt their uncivilized 
 brethren to commit the most enormous crimes. 
 Had the gospel been preached fifty years ago, 
 and the natives learned to read, and been in 
 possession of the Bible, what different scenes 
 would now be presented to the eye of the 
 mourning traveller, as he surveys those plea- 
 sant hills, and valleys, now inhabited by 
 beastly drunkards, and the most filthy and 
 debased of the human family. 
 
 Mrs. B. Are the priests, themselves, vi- 
 cious ? 
 
 Mr. Green does not describe them so, 
 replied Hugh. He was introduced to the 
 only one at St. Francisco, who showed him 
 great hospitality ; he had lived there twenty 
 years, was very thin, and appeared feeble ; 
 but had much information, and discovered 
 considerable wit and humor. 
 
 Mr. Green was likewise introduced to two 
 of the priests at the mission of St. Carlos, 
 named Ramond, and Sarin, the latter was 
 president of all the spiritual affairs of Califor- 
 nia. They were both advanced in life, sup- 
 ported good characters, and appeared intelli- 
 gent and respectable. Father Ramond took 
 much interest in showing his ch ireh, the holy 
 water, paintings, images and crucifixes to Mr. 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 45 
 
 Green; and assured him that none of those 
 things were worshipped, but only what these 
 represented. Mr. Green said, You may pos- 
 sibly employ them for that purpose, but I 
 strongly suspect the ignorant pay them that 
 homage which is due to God alone. 
 
 Jane. What did Father Ramond then 
 say ? 
 
 Hugh. O, he shrugged up his shoulders, 
 shook his head, and turned the conversation. 
 
 Mrs. B. Well, cousin Hugh, I think you 
 have given us a dark picture of California, — 
 but I bless God for his promise of a brighter 
 day. 
 
 Hugh. The fulfilment of his promise that 
 the "earth shall be filled with his glory," is 
 connected with the efforts of his people, I sup- 
 pose. If the church makes no exertions for 
 the redemption of the numerous tribes of In- 
 dians on the western side of America, do you 
 expect the glory of God will shine there ? 
 No, 1 do not, said his aunt, but I expect the 
 church will awake and put forth her strength, 
 and then she will gather into the fold of Christ 
 all these poor forlorn outcasts. 
 
 Lucy. It will require large sums to fur- 
 nish the means of education and salvation to 
 all those tribes you have described, — and 
 4* 
 
46 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 where do you think the money can come 
 from ? 
 
 Hugh. From professors of religion, chil- 
 dren and youth in Sabbath schools ; and I 
 should think that all the friends of civilization, 
 religion and free institutions, would cheerfully 
 give money for the object. 
 
 Mrs. B. New 7 fields are opening every 
 day, where preachers of the gospel and teach- 
 ers of youth might enter, and labor with the 
 brightest prospects of success, if the mission- 
 ary funds were sufficient for their support. 
 
 Helen. If everybody could hear as much 
 about the heathen as we do, there would be 
 no want of money ; for every new account 
 I hear, sets me to devising new plans to get 
 money, for missionary purposes. 
 
 Your conversations about the people at the 
 Sandwich islands, brought them very near, 
 and I so heartily pitied them, that 1 have done 
 without a great many Utile things, and saved 
 the money to buy them paper, slates and quills. 
 
 Lucy. I am sure, I feel ten fold more 
 compassion for the distant heathen, than I did 
 before I read attentively, the Missionary Her- 
 ald, the books about the Indian Missions, and 
 heard mother's and your conversations about 
 the Sandwich islands, and the North West 
 coast, 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 47 
 
 Hugh. If so, the object we had in view 
 has been accomplished. 
 
 Mrs. B. Similar results would follow in 
 most other families, if the same pains were 
 taken to interest children in the subject of mis- 
 sions. I have seen enough to convince me 
 thoroughly, that nothing is wanting but a know- 
 ledge of the wants and woes of the heathen 
 world, to secure the co-operation of children, 
 and all the friends of God, in enlightening, 
 and reclaiming it. 
 
 Hugh. I find my cousins quite as happy 
 now they deny themselves many of the luxu- 
 ries they used to indulge in, as when I was 
 here last. 
 
 And a great deal happier, said Ann and 
 Jane, for now we have money to give at 
 every monthly concert, and every Sabbath 
 school concert. 
 
 Robert. We buy no candy, nor sugar- 
 plums now-a-days ; but put all our candy 
 money into the boxes at the concert meetings. 
 
 What will you tell us about next, cousin 
 Hugh ? said Ann. 
 
 Hugh. What do you want to hear about? 
 
 The heathen — the heathen, replied Robert. 
 
 Jane. Ma' has promised to tell us about 
 the Washington islands, sometime. 
 
48 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 Lucy. Do let us hear about the Wash- 
 ington islands. 
 
 Not this evening, said Hugh — if I read my 
 poem for examination. 
 
 We will hear that now, said Mrs. Barton. 
 
 Before Hugh began to read, he asked the 
 following questions : 
 
 What are the principal obstacles to missionary exertions 
 on the North West coast ? Where does the Columbia river 
 empty ? Where is California ? By whom discovered ? When ? 
 What is the state of education there ? In what does that of 
 the boys consist 1 In what the girls ? How many catholic mis- 
 sions are there ? What do the priests teach the Indians ? What 
 do protestants and catholics say of those natives who have been 
 longest attached to the mission ? 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 O'er the gloomy hills of darkness, 
 Look, my soul — be still and gaze ; 
 
 See the promises advancing 
 To a glorious day of grace ! 
 
 Blessed jubilee ! 
 Let thy glorious morning dawn. 
 
 Let the dark benighted pagan, 
 
 Let the rude barbarian see 
 That divine and glorious conquest 
 Once obtained on Calvary : 
 Let the gospel 
 Loud resound from pole to pole 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 49 
 
 Kingdoms wide that sit in darkness, 
 Grant them, Lord, the glorious light; 
 
 Now, from eastern coast to western, 
 May the morning chase the night ; 
 
 Let redemption 
 Freely purchased, win the day ! 
 
 Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel ; 
 
 Win and conquer — never cease ! 
 May thy lasting, wide dominions 
 
 Multiply, and still increase ; 
 Sway thy sceptre, 
 
 Saviour, all the world around ! — Williams. 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " Who, but thou, Almighty Spirit, 
 Can the heathen world reclaim ? 
 Men may preach — but till thou favor 
 Heathens will be still the same: 
 
 Mighty Spirit ! 
 Witness to the Saviour's name." 
 
 Helen, what do you already know about 
 the Washington islands, said Hugh Clifford. 
 
 She replied, I know nothing more about 
 them than their name. 
 
 Lucy. How far are they from the Mar- 
 quesas islands that are laid down on the 
 map ? 
 
 About a hundred miles north west from 
 them, replied Hugh. They were discovered 
 by captain Ingraham, of Boston, in 1791, 
 just forty-one years ago. They were visited 
 
52 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 the next year by captain Roberts of the same 
 city, and by him named for the illustrious 
 Washington, whose name they have borne 
 ever since. 
 
 Robert. How many of them are there ? 
 
 Hugh. Three. Nu-ku-hi-va is twenty 
 miles long, and nearly as wide, and it has 
 several excellent harbors. The others are 
 called Hu-a-hu-ka, and U-a-pau, the former 
 lies about twenty miles west from Nu-ku-hi- 
 va, and the latter thirty miles south, both of 
 them are smaller than Nu-ku-hi-va. The 
 inhabitants are exactly like those on the Mar- 
 quesas, and most of their customs and super- 
 stitions are the same ; and excepting those on 
 the sea coast, who have been corrupted by 
 wicked men from Christian countries, are in 
 their original state of heathenism. 
 
 Robert. Cousin Hugh, how did you find 
 out so much about these islands and the 
 people ? 
 
 Hugh. By commodore Porter, and the 
 Rev. Mr. Stewart, chaplain of the man-of- 
 war Vincennes, and two or three other gentle- 
 men. 
 
 Robert. How happened the man-of-war to 
 go there ? 
 
 Hugh. I presume you mean the Vin- 
 cennes. I will tell you. Early in 1829, the 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 53 
 
 United States' ships Guerrier and St. Louis, 
 were ordered to sail for the Pacific ocean to 
 relieve the public squadron there ; one of 
 them, the Vincennes, was directed to visit the 
 Sandwich islands, and return to America by 
 the cape of Good Hope. Mr. Stewart had 
 been a missionary to those islands, and on 
 account of Mrs. Stewart's sickness was obliged 
 to return to America, in 1825. After con- 
 tinuing in the service of the Board of Missions 
 nearly two years, he accepted a chaplaincy 
 in the navy, and was granted a transfer to 
 the Vincennes, when the Guerrier, the ship 
 in which he sailed from America, should reach 
 the Pacific. This transfer was made at 
 Callao, a port in Peru, on the fourth of July, 
 1829. 
 
 Robert. Why did the man-of-war visit 
 the Sandwich islands ? 
 
 Hugh. The government of the United 
 States ordered captain Finch, the commander 
 of the Vincennes, to visit the different islands 
 in the Pacific ocean, u with a view to secure 
 harmonious intercourse between them and 
 those of our defenceless sea faring country- 
 men, whose pursuits are lawful, and whose 
 necessities compel them to resort to a harbor 
 for refreshment and supplies ; to reclaim 
 those who from thoughtlessness or improper 
 5 
 
54 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 motives might have remained among them J 
 to exhibit our own moral advancement — to 
 elevate our national character in their estima- 
 tion — and by the contrast presented, to in- 
 duce a praise-worthy imitation on their part." 
 
 Captain Finch was an accomplished officer, 
 and a gentleman of high morals, and he 
 formed a resolution that his men should not 
 injure a single native at any island at which 
 he might touch, nor, if possible to prevent it y 
 be injured. Therefore, a day or two before 
 reaching any of the south sea islands, he called 
 his crew together, and cautioned them against 
 going en shore without the protection of arms, 
 and the uniform of the ship. He also forbade 
 any native men or women to come on board 
 under any circumstances that the strictest pro- 
 priety would not justify. 
 
 Lucy. Which of the south sea islands did 
 they reach first ? 
 
 Hugh. Nu-ku-hi-va, one of the Washington 
 islands, was the first at which they landed, 
 but Hu-a-hu-ka was the first they passed. 
 
 Helen. What is the appearance of these 
 islands as you approach them ? 
 
 Hugh. Lofty and precipitous, like most 
 other high tropical islands. Hu-a-hu-ka, the 
 first they approached, wore a verdant appear- 
 ance, from the grass which grew upon the hills 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 55 
 
 &nd valleys most luxuriantly, but no woodland 
 was to be seen except upon the summits of 
 the highest hills, until the ship passed round 
 to the western side, where all the hills were 
 covered with wood or low bushes. This 
 island had been half encircled, before a human 
 being was to be seen ; then in passing a high 
 bluff, some of the people in the ship discov- 
 ered that its top was covered with natives, all 
 in a state of nature. The moment they saw 
 the ship, " the shore rang with wild shouts, 
 as they waved streamers of white cloth high 
 on their spears, and tossed their mantles 
 above their heads in the air." As the ship 
 passed the bluff, it was quite amusing to see 
 the naked creatures " scampering along the 
 heights, shouting and whistling," and making 
 all sorts of wild gestures. The captain slack- 
 ened the sailing of the ship to allow them an 
 opportunity to come nearer, but they did not 
 seem to have courage enough ; but as she 
 moved slowly along a rocky promontory, they 
 were seen just ahead, and on the top of the 
 highest part the figures of a numerous com- 
 pany were seen, seemingly standing against 
 the sky ; these came hurrying down the rocky 
 sides of the hill, hallooing and beckoning the 
 strangers in the most wild and clamorous 
 manner. In the midst of the tumult, captain 
 
56 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 Finch ordered the band of music on deck — 
 the moment its full and sweet strains were 
 heard by those children of nature, their shout- 
 ings ceased, and all suddenly crouched to the 
 earth in perfect silence, and in that posture 
 they remained, apparently lost in wonder and 
 admiration, so long as the distance and twi- 
 light allowed them to be distinguished. 
 
 Early the next morning the island of 
 Nu-ku-hi-va lay full before them, its high- 
 est peaks rose between two and three thou- 
 sand feet above the level of the ocean. 
 The eastern part looked like a mass of barren 
 rocks ; but as soon as they passed a point 
 which was called " Tower Bluff," a deep 
 bay and beautiful valley opened to their de- 
 lighted view ; the mountains to their highest 
 tops, are covered with groves of cocoa nut, 
 and bread fruit trees. A mile from Tower 
 Bluff, the vessel ran in with the shore, and 
 fell in with a little fleet of fishing canoes, from 
 the Ha-pa tribe ; the surprise and delight of 
 the fishermen, were expressed by a wild chat- 
 tering, and noisy kind of laugh. Anxious t< 
 get a nearer view of these savage people, the 
 captain suffered his men to help them in 
 climbing up the sides of the ship ; and though 
 she was under a quick sail, four or five of the 
 most nimble got fairly on deck, full of merri- 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 57 
 
 ment and good humor. Naked as they were 
 when they reached the deck, in a few minutes 
 the whole were transformed into sturdy sailors, 
 in frocks, trowsers, and tarpaulins, and each 
 flew to the rigging, pulling and hauling in true 
 sailor fashion. 
 
 Captain Finch had scarcely let go the an- 
 chor, before multitudes of both sexes came 
 swimming to the ship ; the women with a kind 
 of petticoat of native cloth, tied up in leaves, 
 which they held up on a short stick over their 
 heads while in the water, and after getting 
 safe on board, they dressed themselves. As 
 many as one hundred and fifty or two hun- 
 dred of the common people got on board, 
 when all was noise and confusion. To this 
 numerous company were shortly added the 
 king, a little boy of eight years old, called 
 Mo-a-na, his guardian, and the regent, named 
 Ha-a-pe, whose little son, Te-na-e, of the age 
 of the king, was very pretty ; both these 
 handsome little fellows, found a friend in 
 every officer on ship board. Pi-a-ro-ro, a 
 chief of rank from the Ha-pa tribe, came in 
 the same canoe. He was a tall and finely 
 proportioned man, with good features, and 
 teeth of the most beautiful form and whiteness. 
 Though naked, his body was so entirely cov- 
 ered with tattooed figures, that he was black 
 5 * . 
 
58 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 as an African, and at a little distance it had 
 the appearance of clothing. If you are at a loss 
 to know what tattoo marks are, I will tell you 
 that most of the south sea islanders, and in- 
 deed many other uncivilized people, have a 
 custom of pricking a variety of patterns on 
 the skin, with an instrument dipped in some 
 blue or black coloring matter, which remains 
 indelible after the wound is healed. This 
 chiefs whole body was covered with it. His 
 hair was tied in two bunches on the top of 
 his head, with a fillet of ta-pa, native cloth, 
 which resembles white paper. 
 
 Lucy. Was Ha-a-pe, the regent, as fine a 
 figure as Pi-a-ro-ro ? 
 
 Hugh. No ; his personal appearance was 
 not as good, but he was a mild, amiable 
 looking man, in middle life, rather below the 
 common stature. His hair, which was begin- 
 ning to be grey, was cut close, except a small 
 bunch, gathered on the top of his head, in 
 a band of white cloth. His ear-rings were 
 large, made of the tooth of a whale. These 
 chiefs welcomed captain Finch with much 
 cordiality. 
 
 Robert. Are not the Washington and Sand- 
 wich islands nearly alike ? 
 
 Hugh. Yes, from the descriptions of each, 
 there must be a great similarity ; both have 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 59 
 
 almost innumerable ravines, lawns, cascades, 
 mountains, craggy rocks, ridges, valleys, palm 
 trees, thatched huts, &c. 
 
 Jane. Robert, how can you interrupt 
 cousin so often ? I want to hear how long 
 the natives staid on board the ship. 
 
 Hugh. About two hours. The captain 
 treated them with bread, raisins, and other 
 nice things ; and afterwards entertained them 
 with several tunes from the band of music, 
 which almost entranced the poor creatures, 
 who leftthe ship rather unwillingly. However, 
 after captain Finch made them understand 
 that they were never to approach his ship un- 
 til they saw a white flag displayed, that they 
 might come at any time when that was flying, 
 they quietly departed. 
 
 The next morning while captain Finch and 
 Mr. Stewart the chaplain were on shore, they 
 were met by the two chiefs, and an English- 
 man named Morrison, who had resided there 
 several years, to collect sandal wood ; he very 
 cheerfully served as interpreter between the 
 chiefs and the officers of the Vincennes. 
 
 Lucy. Did not the officers return the visit 
 of the natives ? 
 
 Hugh. Yes, they paid a visit to the regent 
 soon after their first introduction. The splen- 
 did appearance of naval uniform, the glitter- 
 
60 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 ing arms, and the parade of boats in proces- 
 sion, quite surprised and embarrased the chiefs, 
 who felt themselves entirely unprepared to 
 give a feast, according to the native custom 
 of expressing hospitality and friendship ; in a 
 manner suited to the taste of their guests; how- 
 ever, perceiving that nothing of the kind was 
 expected, they seemed quite at ease, and evi- 
 dently enjoyed the honor which the captain 
 really intended to put upon them- 
 
 Mr. Stewart said, the house had a "pretty 
 cottage-like appearance." These people use 
 the same materials in building that they do at 
 the Sandwich islands, but the fashion of their 
 houses is altogether unlike. The roofs, in- 
 stead of sloping from the ridgepole in front, 
 and on the backside, descend on the latter 
 almost perpendicularly, from the peak to the 
 platform, upon which the hut is built, this is usu- 
 ally elevated from the ground from one to four 
 feet, and uniformly extends two or three feet 
 beyond the building on all sides. The dimen- 
 sions of the houses, vary from twenty to one 
 hundred feet in length, and from ten to four- 
 teen in width. The usual height is from eight 
 to sixteen feet. They are all of one form, 
 from the palaces of the kings to the meanest 
 huts of the fishermen. The leaves of the 
 rocoa-nut tree, which are from twelve to six- 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 61 
 
 teen feet long, with those of the bread fruit and 
 palm tree, are used for thatching, all over the 
 islands, instead of grass, such as is used at the 
 Sandwich islands. The leaves whiten in the 
 sun, and at a distance their appearance is not 
 very unlike the white wooden houses in New 
 England. 
 
 Many of the better sort of native houses 
 are not thatched in front, but left entirely 
 open, or else finished in a kind of lattice- 
 work, by interweaving colored vines, or bam- 
 boos, among the pillars which support the 
 roof. The appearance is like the common 
 summer houses you have seen in gardens in 
 the country. Ha-a-pe*s house was built in this 
 way, with a slide door in the middle where 
 the party entered ; his wife, a fine looking 
 woman, sat with a babe on her lap, of which 
 she seemed very fond. She wore a loose 
 garment made of tapa, and a turban of the 
 same material. 
 
 Kllen. Did the house contain much furni- 
 ture ? 
 
 Hugh. No ; calabashes, wooden bowls, 
 and a few other small ..things, comprised the 
 whole of the furniture, excepting a lounge, 
 made very roughly of logs, grass, and mats, 
 which served the whole family for a bed. 
 
 Robert. What are calabashes ? 
 
62 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 Hugh. They are vessels made from gourd, 
 cocoa-nut, and other shells. 
 
 Robert. But how can any thing but bot- 
 tles and ladles be made of gourd shells ? 
 
 Hugh. I will tell you ; in that warm coun- 
 try, gourds grow with surprising rapidity, and 
 very large ; the natives form them into bowls 
 and dishes while growing, by tieing strong 
 bandages around them, and thus shaping 
 them for any use they choose. They orna- 
 ment them by cutting seams through the skin, 
 before they ripen, in such forms as their fan- 
 cies dictate ; when well finished some of 
 them are very handsome. Besides the cala- 
 bashes, bowls, trays, &c, in Ha-a-pe's house, 
 a few muskets were seen sticking in the 
 thatch, with numerous spears, war-clubs, and 
 other native weapons of war. 
 
 Lucy. How did the visit end ? 
 
 Hugh. Very pleasantly ; though the gen- 
 tlemen were rather uncomfortable from the 
 heat, and odour of the cocoa-nut oil, with 
 which the natives anoint themselves ; they 
 were followed into the regent's house by such 
 multitudes, that in a short time the air was so 
 impure, and the flies so troublesome, that 
 captain Finch gladly retired, after assuring 
 the chief of the kind motives, which"" actuated 
 his government in directing this visit, as well 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 63 
 
 as his own kind wishes. The chiefs received 
 the captain's presents of knives, spoons, cali- 
 co, arid other useful articles, with strong ex- 
 pressions of pleasure. 
 
 After leaving the house, the party continu- 
 ed their ramble some time before they return- 
 ed to the ship. 
 
 Robert. Are there any idol's temples at 
 Nu-ku-hi-va ? 
 
 Hugh. There are. 
 
 Jane. What do they offer in sacrifice to 
 the idols ? 
 
 Hugh. Fruits, flowers, vegetables, hogs, 
 dogs, and human beings. 
 
 Human beings ! exclaimed Robert. 
 
 Hugh. 1 will tell you more about it ano- 
 ther time. How well can you remember 
 what you have heard already ? 
 
 Where are the Washington islands ? Who discovered them 1 
 When 1 Who named them 1 In honor of whom ? How many 
 are there of them ? What are their names ? How large is 
 Nu-ku-hi-va 1 Describe the appearance and manners of the 
 natives. Who is king 1 How old is he ? 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 "Kingdoms wide, that sit in darkness, 
 Grant them, Lord, the glorious light ; 
 Now, from eastern coast to western, 
 May the morning chase the night ; 
 
 Let redemption, 
 Freely purchased, win the day !" 
 
 Hugh Clifford improved the earliest op- 
 portunity to gratify the curiosity of his cousins, 
 respecting the superstitions and amusements 
 of the natives of the Washington islands. 
 
 Jane. Do they often sacrifice human beings ? 
 
 Hugh. I presume so. Some of them are 
 eaten as well as offered to the idols— there is 
 a temple in the valley of Tai-o-a, and another 
 at Hak-a-pa-a, at which human victims have 
 been seen lying before the stupid gods, a mass 
 of putrefaction. At the latter place, the offi- 
 cers of captain Finch saw the remains of a 
 man lying in a wooden trough before one of 
 the idols, and close beside it was a house for 
 the dead. 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. $$ 
 
 Helen. Do they not bury their dead ! 
 
 Hugh. No. I will some lime tell you about 
 their funerals. In the house near the temple 
 at Hak-a-pa-a, lay a corpse stretched upon a 
 bier of spears, in almost as offensive state as 
 the sacrifice before the idol ; it is supposed 
 that the ghost of this person called for the 
 human victim which had been discovered. 
 Near the bier was a rude altar, and at each 
 end of it stood an idol surrounded by offer- 
 ings — two dogs were suspended before it, one 
 by his neck from a pole, and the other from 
 a post in a basket ; both putrified and swarm- 
 ing with flies. Pieces of fish and pork were 
 hanging in other places, and a large quantity 
 of cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, &c. were strewed 
 upon the floor, for the use of these dumb 
 idols. 
 
 Mrs. B. In viewing such a scene, who 
 could doubt for a moment, the divine origin 
 of the Christian religion ? If an infidel would 
 with candor contrast heathen with Christian 
 worship, it does not seem to me possible that 
 he could remain unbelieving. 
 
 Hugh. It does not appear to me likely 
 that they would ; but I never knew an infidel 
 at all disposed to inquire into the superstitions 
 and idolatrous worship of the heathen, with a 
 view to compare it with that required in the 
 6 
 
66 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 religion of the Bible. I cannot read or hear 
 
 of such abominations being practised without 
 
 longing desires to go and apply the only remedy. 
 
 What is that remedy ? whispered Robert. 
 
 Mrs. JB. The preaching of the cross of 
 
 Christ. I hope before this lime, some of those 
 
 missionaries who sailed for the Sandwich 
 
 islands from New Bedford, Mass., in Dec. 
 
 1830, have arrived there, and commenced 
 
 preaching and teaching.these poor idolaters the 
 
 way of life. It would be a joyful sight, to 
 
 see a church rising upon the ruins of the 
 
 temple at Hak-a-pa-a, or that in the valley of 
 
 Tai-o-a. 
 
 Hugh. 1 trust the time approaches, when 
 not only places for Christian worship, but 
 school-houses, and asylums for the poor, sick, 
 and aged, will adorn those beautiful hills and 
 valleys. Humanity, as well as religion, calls 
 for effort in behalf of uncivilized and pagan 
 nations ; and I have often wondered that 
 every friend to human happiness did not 
 unite to overthrow the polluted altars of the 
 heathen. 
 
 Mrs. B. The time will come, and I 
 sometimes think it will come speedily — when 
 there will be a thousand times more union and 
 effort than at present. 
 
 Come, let us hear about their funerals, 
 now, said Helen. 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 67 
 
 Hugh. When a person is supposed to be 
 sick unto death, the house is soon filled with 
 wailing women, who express their grief in the 
 most doleful tones, while the Tan-as exert all 
 their skill and sorcery to restore the patient. 
 
 Jane. Who are the Tau-as? 
 
 Hugh. A kind of prophet and sorcerer, 
 (the same as conjuror.) But as death ap- 
 proaches, the wallers and sorcerers dance 
 naked round the bed of the dying, making the 
 most piercing cries, as they cut their flesh 
 with sharp stones till the sufferer expires, 
 " when all unite in a most terrific howl." 
 
 Robert. Where do they put the corpse? 
 
 Hugh. They dress il in new clothes, and 
 lay it in a small house, close by the one he oc- 
 cupied when living, upon a bier made of spears, 
 like the one described near the temple of 
 Hak-a-pa-a. Watchers are employed for 
 several nights to sit by it, and attend to the 
 burning torches, while the priests sing mourn- 
 ful songs. " From the time of the death, till 
 the priests complete the songs chanted on such 
 occasions, all fast— no one touches the pro- 
 visions, and no fire is allowed to be kindled 
 within sight." But the approaching feast 
 makes ample amends. The guests having 
 assembled, the food is brought forward smo- 
 king from the ovens, and the half starved 
 
68 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 mourners, and invited company fall too with 
 eagerness, after the meat is carved with 
 a sharp stone, or a wooden knife. The feast 
 often continues two or three days. A gentle- 
 man who visited a house, immediately after 
 the dispersion of the company on a funeral 
 occasion, said it was in a most disgusting 
 state " from the fragments of half-cooked meat 
 scattered in blood and grease and suspended 
 among the sticks of the fence on the top of the 
 platform. Two immense wooden troughs 
 nearly as large as canoes, half filled with poe, 
 (taro pudding,) stood on one side of the door; 
 while a whole hog, of some hundreds' weight, 
 still uncarved, lay opposite, on a bed of green 
 leaves ; the whole swarming with flies like 
 bees around their hives." The house had lit- 
 tle white flags, raised on short poles, set upon 
 the ridge-pole, and close beside it there was a 
 structure, in which a corpse was soon to be 
 laid, on a bier surrounded with curious shrines 
 made of the leaves of cocoa-nuts, which had 
 been formed by the priests to contain the food 
 of the deceased. 
 
 Jane. What are shrines, mother ? 
 
 Mrs. B. A case in which some sacred 
 article is deposited. Where was the body, 
 designed for the bier you have described, 
 Hugh? 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 69 
 
 Hugh. In an adjoining hut. Almost all 
 the Tu-pu-pau's, or houses of the dead, have 
 numerous shrines, and in some of them a kind 
 of incense is burned on hot stones. 
 
 Lucy. In what does their religious services 
 consist at the temples ? 
 
 Hugh. Chiefly in music. Mr. Crook 
 describes one of their sacred songs, as a 
 kind of prayer which is chanted by the offi- 
 ciating priest to the beating of a great drum, 
 five or six feet high. Another song is repeat- 
 ed between singing and saying, by the priest, 
 who often uses great violence of gesture, and 
 at the end his voice sounds much like the 
 barking of a dog — ihe congregation returns a 
 " suitable response, in general chorus, resem- 
 bling a low growl." 
 
 All their history and geography is embodied 
 in their sacred songs, as well as the biography 
 of the most famous chiefs and warriors. 
 
 Helen. Have they no other religious rites 
 or ceremonies ? 
 
 Hugh. O yes ; more than I have pa- 
 tience to recount. Sometimes the priest lifts 
 up a bundle, and lays it down again with great 
 care, while the people stand and respond or 
 return answers to the senseless jargon of the 
 priest as he elevates it. 
 
 Robert. What is the bundle ? 
 g* 
 
70 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 Hugh. A log of wood which they call 
 the " clothed god" being wrapped in a piece 
 of native cloth, with four conch shells fastened 
 to it. 
 
 Jane. What, such conch shells as uncle 
 Harvey blows, to call his men to dinner ? 
 
 Hugh. Yes ; exactly such ones. Some- 
 times the priest raises up the dish with a hu- 
 man skull on it covered with flowers, and lays 
 it down with the same unmeaning words, as 
 before when he elevated the clothed god. 
 " A cocoa-nut leaf, also, woven so as to rep- 
 resent a human victim, and fastened to a long 
 pole, is borne along on the shoulders of two 
 men; a principal priest then speaks aloud, as 
 if asking a question, and all the rest answer 
 in a shout." Other things are raised, and the 
 name of a god invoked loudly in token of their 
 dependence on it for help or success. 
 
 Mrs. B. Have they nothing like secret 
 devotion ? 
 
 Hugh. I presume their private offerings 
 of dogs, fowls, fish, fruit and flowers before 
 their idols constitutes their devotion, because 
 when they lay them before the god they pray 
 to it, and when they go to their daily meals, 
 they carelessly throw a mouthful against the 
 side of the house, with a word of excla- 
 mation to some god, which means, " There is 
 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 71 
 
 some for you." The priests are distinguished 
 from other men by their dress. 
 
 Robert. Do they wear black coats? 
 
 Hugh. No ; coats are not worn there, 
 nor any other articles of clothing, except man- 
 tles, (a kind of cloaks or blankets,) and girdles; 
 but in addition to these, the priests wear caps 
 and capes made of the leaves of the cocoa- 
 nut tree. They are not very numerous, so that 
 they are almost constantly occupied in cere- 
 monies of one kind or other ; especially be- 
 fore a battle, and afterwards, over the prisoners, 
 before they are sacrificed. Their assistants 
 are called Uus ; upon these the laborious 
 parts of preparation for human sacrifices de- 
 volve. 
 
 Lucy. Is their government a monarchy? 
 
 Hugh. It is so blended with their religion 
 that I do not know what it ought to be called. 
 I believe it is, properly speaking, a government 
 of superstition. The tabu sy stem prevails, and 
 the inhabitants of all the islands are divided 
 into two classes, the tabu, and common. The 
 gods, prophets, or sorcerers, the priests, and 
 their assistants, form the most honorable part 
 of the tabu class, but all other men and boys, 
 who are not public singers, and dancers, or 
 servants to females, belong to the tabu order. 
 These, with all females, comprise the common 
 
72 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 class. The latter class are never allowed to 
 cross the thresbhold of a tabu man's house, 
 and many articles of food are forbidden to be 
 used by the common order. 
 
 Then the men have to build houses for their 
 wives and daughters, said Lucy. 
 
 Hugh. Yes ; but these are not tabued ; 
 and the men of that order are allowed to enter 
 them at pleasure. " Anything passing over 
 the head of a person, or even the hand of a 
 tabu man, must never itself be passed over, 
 sat, or lain upon. To suffer this, would be a 
 profanation of it in their view, which would 
 bring the displeasure of the gods upon the indi- 
 vidual through whom it became restricted by 
 its being passed over his head. Consequently 
 when this infringement takes place, whether 
 by accident or design, die individual causing 
 the profajiationj by applying the article to any 
 common use, becomes an object of revenge 
 to the other; and his life is sought as the only 
 atonement for his carelessness or presump- 
 tion. Till his death is secured, the person 
 through whom the article became tabu, is sup- 
 posed liable to the power of some fatal disor- 
 der, or the infliction of other dreadful calami- 
 ties. If a woman passes over or lies on any 
 thing which has been consecrated by the touch 
 of a tabu man. the article thus profaned can 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 73 
 
 never be used as before, and the woman must 
 be put to death." The poor deluded crea- 
 tures attribute all their calamities, whether 
 personal or national, to the violation or neglect 
 of the tabu system, whereas most of them are 
 the consequences of their vices, and supersti- 
 tions. 
 
 Lucy. I have been told that the same sys- 
 tem prevails over nearly all the south sea 
 islands. 
 
 Hugh. You recollect it once did universally 
 over the Sandwich islands, but Ri-ho-ri-ho 
 abolished it about the time the American mis- 
 sionaries settled there ; and 1 presume it will 
 soon be overthrown at the Washington islands, 
 if a mission should be established there. 
 
 Ann. Is there any prospect of it ? 
 
 Hugh. Yes ; I suppose one of the mis- 
 sionaries who sailed from America in Decem- 
 ber, 1830, has gone there before this time ; 
 if so, when the missionaries who sailed from 
 New Bedford, in November, 1831, arrive, 
 it is likely some of them will go too. 
 
 I will now tell you about a visit made by 
 the chiefs Pi-a-ro-ro and Ha-a-pe, with many 
 women of rank, to captain Finch, on board the 
 man-of-war Vincennes. The chiefs came in 
 one of their most splendid canoes, though per- 
 fect! v rude in comparison of those made at the 
 
74 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 Sandwich islands, for common purposes of 
 fishing, &c. It was about twenty feet long, 
 with a low prow, which " terminated in a flat 
 head carved into a hideous face." 
 
 Upon a slight platform of sticks, carpeted 
 with a mot, sat a chief of distinction, from the 
 tribe of Tai-o-a, named Tava-hania, cross leg- 
 ged like a Turk, shaded by a few fresh gath- 
 ered leaves of the cocoa-nut tree. His dress 
 was a white tapa cloak, and turban made of a 
 dried bannana leaf. Ha-a-pe sat in the middle 
 of the canoe, in a similar attitude, with only a 
 white girdle round his waist, and a bannana 
 leaf turban ; while Pi-a-ro-ro was seated upon 
 a high platform in the stern, under a canopy 
 of palm leaves, with a long paddle to guide 
 the canoe, which was rowed by six or eight 
 stout natives. His long, jet black hair was 
 frizzled out on both sides of his head to the 
 greatest extent possible, till it hung over each 
 shoulder, and down his back. It was removed 
 from his ears, so as to display large ivory 
 ornaments, most beautifully carved and highly 
 polished. Elevated several feet above the 
 water lay one of their wooden gods, adorned 
 with many tufts of human hair, which had 
 been preserved as trophies of war, in the way 
 the Indians do the scalps of their enemies. 
 
 Jane. How are the women dressed ? 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 75 
 
 Hugh. All wore white tapa mantles, with 
 turbans made from an article of their own 
 manufacture, which was white, and as thin 
 and fine as gauze. Many of the females are 
 verv pretty, their complexions not darker than 
 a deep brunette. Captain Finch made them 
 handsome presents of useful articles, gave 
 them refreshments of a variety of nice articles, 
 and added a lively serenade from the whole 
 band of music, till it was time for the 
 party to return home. They left the ship, 
 evidently impressed with a deep sense of the 
 power of captain Finch, and the American 
 government, which he represented. 
 
 The captain had been on shore in the 
 morning, and brought off to the ship the king 
 and his little companion, and when the chiefs 
 and ladies returned, he took Mo-a-na and his 
 friend Te-na-a in the beautiful boat which the 
 sailors called " the captain's gig" and con- 
 veyed them to the shore. 
 
 Robert. I wish I was a prince, don't you 
 wish you was, cousin Hugh ? 
 
 Not a heathen prince, replied Hugh, 
 quickly. 
 
 I should rather be a heathen, than not a 
 prince, repeated the little boy, with emphasis, 
 casting a side glance at his mother. 
 
 Poor boy! said Mrs. Barton, if you had 
 
76 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 any just apprehension of the nature and con- 
 sequences of heathenism, you would bless God 
 for a Christian birth-place, though it had been 
 in the most obscure corner of the earth. I 
 had rather you would be a Christian slave, 
 than a heaihen prince. I fear you seldom 
 think how short this life is at longest, and of 
 how very little value the riches and honors of 
 earth are, in comparison of a treasure in heav- 
 en. In a sick and dying hour, a princely cor- 
 onet, would have no charms for you, and all 
 the gods of the heathen could not comfort or 
 save you. In that solemn hour, the Lord Je- 
 sus is the only friend that can do a dying sin- 
 ner good. 
 
 Robert looked confused, for he knew he 
 had been talking in a wicked and foolish man- 
 ner. 
 
 It was near bedtime, and the family soon 
 separated for the night. 
 
 What is said of human sacrifices ? Describe the scene at the 
 temple of Hak-a-pa-a. How are funerals conducted ? How are 
 the priests distinguished from other men ? Describe their cere- 
 monies at idol worship. Relate what you can remember of the 
 tabu system. Describe the visit ef the chiefs and women to 
 captain Finch. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 God of Jacob, high and glorious, 
 Let thy people see thy hand ; 
 
 Let the gospel be victorious, 
 
 Through the world — in every land ; 
 
 Then shall idols 
 Perish, Lord — at thy command. 
 
 After little Robert went to bed, the 
 thoughts of human sacrifices kept him awake 
 some time; and when he fell asleep, he dream- 
 ed about the dead body that was discovered 
 in a trough, before the idol god at Hak-a- 
 pa-a, and he awoke in a great fright. His 
 wicked wish to be a prince, and his choice to 
 be a heathen, rather than not to be one, 
 added much to his uneasiness ; and he said 
 his prayers over and over again, and even 
 prayed out of his heart, that God would for- 
 give his sins. He lay, thinking over all he had 
 ever heard about the ignorance and sufferings of 
 little children in heathen countries, till he felt 
 more pity for them than he had ever done 
 7 
 
78 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 before. O, if I had been born a heathen, 
 said he to himself, my parents might have 
 murdered me, and laid me in the trough be- 
 fore some ugly, grinning idol ; and then he 
 repeated these verses — 
 
 " I thank the goodness and the grace 
 Which on my birth have smil'd, 
 And made me in these Christian days 
 A free and happy child. 
 
 " I was not born as thousands are, 
 Where God was never known ; 
 And taught to pray a useless prayer. 
 To gods of wood and stone.'" 
 
 He then said, 1 will utter no more idle, 
 wicked wishes, but will work between schools 
 to get money to send the Bible and ministers, 
 to teach the poor heathen how to please God, 
 better than to sacrifice men to their wooden 
 gods, and murder their little babes. These 
 resolutions occupied his mind, and in a de- 
 gree quieted it, so that he again fell asleep, but 
 was soon awakened by the ringing of the first 
 bell. Little Robert did not do as some boys 
 do, start up, and then lay down and sleep 
 again, till their father or mother come to rouse 
 them up in a resolute and angry tone of voice ; 
 but he rose instantly, washed, and dressed him- 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 79 
 
 self, brushed his hair smooth, and after read- 
 ing a chapter in his Bible, he knelt down by 
 his bed and prayed. 
 
 6 O thou, who art the living and true God, 
 wilt thou forgive my sins, and give me a new 
 heart. I thank thee for taking care of me 
 the last night. I bless thee for a kind moth- 
 er, sisters, and friends ; bless them all, and 
 make their hearts good, that they may love 
 God, and obey Jesus Christ. Bless cousin 
 Hugh, and kind Phillis, and help them to love 
 and serve God. Pity the poor heathen, and 
 put it into the hearts of all the children in the 
 Sabbath school, to love and pity them ; and 
 save their money, to send missionaries to tell 
 them how to get to heaven. Bless my teach- 
 er, and all the boys in my class, and all in 
 the school. Help me to learn and be good, 
 to-day. Save me from thinking wicked 
 thoughts, an~d doing wicked actions, for Christ's 
 sake, Amen. 5 
 
 The breakfast bell rang just as he rose 
 from his knees, and he went down, looking 
 serious, and very pale. 
 
 Hugh. Good morning, cousin Robert. 
 
 Mrs. B. Why are you so pale, my dear; 
 are you ill ? 
 
 Robert. No, mother ; but I have had bad 
 dreams about the man who was killed, and 
 

 80 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 put into the trough, for the gods, at the Wash- 
 ington islands. 
 
 Mrs. B. And yet you could wish to be a 
 prince ; and, if a heathen prince, you would 
 often witness more shocking spectacles than 
 that. 
 
 Jane. Mother, while you were telling us 
 about the little princess Harieti, at the Sand- 
 wich islands, I thought I would have given the 
 world to be a princess, and have such beauti- 
 ful dresses, and be noticed by every body as 
 she was ; and I suppose little Robert felt so, 
 when he wished he had been born a prince. 
 
 I wanted to be a prince, that I might sail in 
 the captain's gig, said Robert, making an 
 effort to suppress his tears. 
 
 Mrs. B. We ought to study contentment, 
 in the condition Providence has assigned us. 
 God has infinite power, and could as easily 
 have made Robert a prince at Nu-ku-hi-va, 
 and Jane a princess at the Sandwich islands, 
 as the son and daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Bar- 
 ton, at H r. 
 
 Hugh. If my telling you about the cus- 
 toms of the heathen incline you to forget, or 
 under-value the mercy of living in a refined 
 Christian society, 1 had better talk of some- 
 thing else. 
 
 Helen. It does not make me forget, or 
 slight those mercies. 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 81 
 
 Nor me either, said Ann, in a very self- 
 complacent tone. 
 
 Hugh. I was about to describe a dancing 
 exhibition; aunt, I hope my cousins will not 
 tvish to turn dancers, (looking at Jane and 
 Robert, significantly.) 
 
 Mrs. B. No, I have no fear of that; I 
 trust my children feel too much self-respect 
 to hanker after such a senseless amusement. 
 I should like to have them hear about it. 
 What are those exhibitions called ? 
 
 Hugh. Koi-kas. There was to be one 
 in the district occupied by the Ha~pa's tribe, 
 while the Vincennes lay in the Bay of Tai-o- 
 hae ; and eight of the officers, with their at- 
 tendants, and Morrison for a guide, started 
 about ten in the morning to witness the exhi- 
 bition, which was about five miles distant, in 
 the country, in a deep grove, on the border 
 of a rapid stream that came tumbling from 
 the mountains. The appearance of the fo- 
 reign visitors induced a large party of natives 
 to leave the .Ta-hu-a, dancing ground, to go 
 and welcome them, which they did by such 
 loud shouting, as made the woodlands ring. 
 
 Hundreds of warriors, chiefs, ladies, and 
 dancers, were assembled. 
 
 Helen. Why did those officers wish to go 
 to a dance ? 
 
82 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 Hugh. Some of them went to gain more 
 knowledge of the country, and the real state 
 of the inhabitants. Others wished to hear 
 the native music ; while the chaplain went 
 " to see pure heathenism, as it is before one 
 ray of Christian light has beamed upon its 
 darkness." 
 
 The place of exhibition was a kind of build- 
 ing, mostly of mason-work, but without a roof. 
 However, there were seats for persons of rank, 
 for the musicians, &c, and a stage for the 
 performers, who, upon this occasion, were 
 only three ; one a young chief about twenty, 
 and two little boys of eight or ten years of 
 age. 
 
 The music consisted of sixteen drums, and 
 the voices of a hundred and fifty singers, who 
 clapped their hands with violence, as they 
 kept time with the drums, which were small, 
 not more than two and a half feet high. The 
 young chief was very handsome, and had a 
 fine figure ; but his dress, if such it could be 
 called, was very disgusting. It consisted of 
 a large roll of white cloth about his waist, an 
 immense quantity of white human hair, friz- 
 zled to an enormous size, on his head ; and 
 round his wrists and ancles, large bunches of 
 frizzled black hair. 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 83 
 
 One of the little boys wore a feathered 
 helmet on his head, large wooden ornaments 
 in his ears, whitened with pipe-clay, which 
 entirely covered them over. 
 
 Helen. How could he keep them on ? 
 
 Hugh. By having slits cut in his ears, 
 and thrusting long pegs or splinters through 
 them, which were fastened on the backside 
 of the ornaments. 
 
 Frizzled hair was round his wrists and an- 
 cles, like that worn by the young chief; a 
 necklace of several strings of whale teeth, a 
 white tapa girdle, and short white cloth cloak 
 completed his dress. 
 
 The other little fellow wore a roll of white 
 cloth bound round his forehead, with a wreath 
 of black feathers above it, and above that, 
 puffs of white tapa, shaped like a fan, were 
 raised to a great height. His girdle was 
 white with garlands of a beautiful vine, and 
 gay flowers plaited into the folds. The party 
 w 7 ere weary of the scene in about twenty 
 minutes, and thankfully retreated from it. 
 
 Mrs. B. I should like to know what Mr. 
 Stewart said, for he has had very unusual op- 
 portunities of witnessing the habits, customs, 
 and manners of the heathen. 
 
 Hugh. He said, " there was less of licen- 
 ciousness in the dance than he expected ; but 
 
84 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 in a hundred things else, there were such 
 open outrages on all decency, that 1 hurried 
 away in a horror of disgust, with a heart too 
 much humbled for the race to which I be- 
 long, and too much depressed at the depra- 
 vity and guilt of man, to think or feel on any 
 other subject." 
 
 Mrs. B. Are the Nu-ku-hi-vans gene- 
 rally as handsome as the natives of the Sand- 
 wich islands ? 
 
 Hugh. Yes, they are handsomer — 
 some of them are very beautiful, with com- 
 plexions fair enough to admit redness in the 
 cheek and lip. Very few are corpulent, like 
 their neighbor chiefs at the Sandwich islands. 
 The women are small, with hands and arms 
 as well formed as any European ladies. Mr. 
 Stewart said that some of those at the exhi- 
 bition, had eyes extremely brilliant, softened 
 by long glossy eye-lashes that are seldom 
 surpassed, and teeth of unrivalled whiteness. 
 
 The Ha-pa's ladies are more beautiful than 
 many of those belonging to the other tribes ; 
 but I am told they improve their complexions 
 by using beautifying washes. 
 
 Helen. O, do tell us what they are made 
 of, cousin Hugh. 
 
 Hugh. It will afford you no help, if I tell 
 you, because the vines they extract the liquor 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 58 
 
 from do not grow in this country. A large 
 proportion of them mix the juice of tumeric 
 or the powder of the burnt root, with oil, and 
 paint their faces, necks, arms, and hands, a 
 bright yellow or deep orange color. Many 
 ladies at the dance, were dripping in their oil 
 paints, as yellow as saffron. 
 
 Lucy. How were the most respectable of 
 them dressed on that occasion ? 
 
 Hugh. With the exception of head dresses, 
 the same kinds of girdles and mantles as the 
 wife of Ha-a-pe and her companions wore 
 when they visited captain Finch. Some wore 
 turbans raised high by puffs and bows, while 
 others had a plain white band round the head, 
 with a modest bow on one side or in front, 
 and after tying their long hair close to the 
 head, let it fall down their backs from the 
 opening of the band on the top of the head. 
 It was very obvious that all who attended the 
 exhibition were dressed in their best, and that 
 most of the beauty and fashion of the tribe 
 were displayed. The professional singers are 
 the poets and composers of the songs sung at 
 the Koi-ka ; the subjects are almost as vari- 
 ous as the songs. The passion for these ex- 
 hibitions is so universal, that people are willing 
 to suffer almost any privation and fatigue, for 
 the sake of attending them, though they sel- 
 
86 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 dom break up without the fiercest contentions, 
 during which many lose their lives. Some of 
 the Ta-hu-as, or dancing grounds, are said to 
 be spacious enough to hold ten thousand peo- 
 ple. 
 
 Lucy. I suppose they have a god over the 
 dance. 
 
 Hugh. Yes; they have a god over all 
 the occupations and amusements of life ; and 
 even men are found among them, who 
 claim the title and attributes of deity ; but 
 there are not more than two or three on an 
 island, and they live in the greatest seclusion. 
 Mr. Crook was acquainted with one of these 
 men gods, at the Marquesas islands, who lived 
 in a great house, surrounded by a strong en- 
 closure. "In the house is an altar, and from 
 the beams within, and upon the trees around 
 it, are human carcasses, suspended with their 
 heads downward, and scalped. No one enters 
 the premises but his servant, except when 
 human sacrifices are to be offered. Of these, 
 more are offered to him than to any of their 
 gods ; and he frequently seats himself on an 
 elevated scaffold, in front of his house, and 
 calls for two or three at a time." 
 
 Mrs. B. Surely, " the dark places of the 
 earth are full of the habitations of cruelty." 
 
 Hugh. In addition to these human divini- 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 87 
 
 ties, there are at the Washington islands nu- 
 merous ideal beings which are worshipped as 
 gods ; and supposed to have power over the 
 elements. Besides those having dominions 
 that can be defined, there are an almost innu- 
 merable company that preside over mountains, 
 streams, vallies, and almost every thing you 
 can name. " It is supposed that departed 
 spirits of men become gods; and thus they 
 are multiplied, till ' almost every sound in na- 
 ture, from the roaring of the tempest in the 
 mountains, and the bursting of a thunderbolt in 
 the clouds, to the sighing of a breeze through 
 the cocoa-nut tops, and the chirping of an 
 insect in the grass, or in the thatch of their 
 huts — is interpreted into the movements of 
 a god. 5 " There is another class, who are sup- 
 posed to have power to compel a god to dwell 
 within them at pleasure, and they often " pre- 
 tend to be conversing with a god within them ; 
 and, making a rustling in the leaves with their 
 fingers, say they have been miraculously taken 
 through the thatch of the house, and brought 
 back by the door." They are called Tau-as, 
 and are obeyed, when victims are demanded 
 for the god dwelling w 7 ithin them. 
 
 There are females who pretend to perform 
 the same actions ascribed to the Tau-as, and 
 they are greatly reverenced, though not as 
 
88 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 much so as the males. All internal disorders 
 are supposed to be inflicted by a god within, 
 and is called, "sickness from a god" and 
 none but a Tau-a can perform a cure, which 
 is usually done by rubbing the sick, to find out 
 where the evil god has hid himself. When 
 found, they say they have smothered him. 
 Nothing can exceed the extravagance and 
 credulity of the natives, when they undertake 
 to account for the origin of themselves and 
 their islands. 
 
 Lucy. How do they account for them ? 
 
 Hugh. They say, " that, originally, men 
 and fishes were locked up in the depths of the 
 earth, which burst with a great explosion, 
 leaving the men upon the land, and casting 
 the fish into the sea." 
 
 Mrs. B. The natives of the Washington 
 islands must be a most interesting people, not- 
 withstanding their idolatry, and they seem pre- 
 pared to receive teachers, if they were ready 
 to go, and I cannot think that much danger 
 need be apprehended by missionaries. 
 
 Hugh. They promised Mr. Stewart that 
 they would no longer indulge in cannibalism. 
 
 Robert. What is that ? 
 
 Mrs. B. There are people among some 
 savage nations who eat each other, and those 
 who do, are called cannibals, (men eaters.) 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 89 
 
 Hugh. To see them hovering about their 
 American friends, gazing at, and admiring 
 them, it hardly seemed possible they could be 
 such blood thirsty savages. I was very much 
 amused with a little account Mr. Stewart gave 
 me of a visit on shore. Said he, " My robes 
 and scarf were the subjects of the highest 
 attraction. They appeared to take the fancy 
 of the crowd, even more than the glitter and 
 lace of my companions ; and when my hands 
 were first discovered in a pair of black kid 
 gloves, stitched with white, I could not rid 
 myself of the throngs gathering round with 
 wonder and delight. They appeared to think 
 them a species of tattoo, inseparable from the 
 hand ; and as they gazed at, and felt my fin- 
 gers through them, " Mo-ta-ki /" — " Mo-ta- 
 ki /" "good!" — "good!" in terms of the 
 highest satisfaction, burst from a hundred 
 lips." 
 
 One Sabbath a large party went on board 
 the man-of-war to hear Mr. Stewart preach. 
 They seemed pleased with the form of Chris- 
 tian worship, and the next day Mr. Stewart 
 met some of the highest chiefs and held a long 
 religious conversation with them. He ex- 
 plained the leading principles of the Christian 
 religion, the nature of missions, and the char- 
 acter'and object of missionaries. When he 
 8 
 
100 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 told them of the love of the American people 
 to them, and the desire of many to send them 
 teachers, and inquired if they would like to 
 receive them, all spoke together, " Ae ! Ae !" 
 " Mo-ia-ki !" " Mo-ta-ki !" " good —good." 
 
 Ha-a-pe, the regent, said, " It is with the 
 king Mo-a-ner." To which the little fellow 
 replied, " So let it be ; it is good, very good." 
 A high chief said, " When they come, some 
 of them must come and live wiih me at Tai- 
 o-hae — I will give them land, and build a large 
 house for them." The chief then observed 
 that they had a great many gods, he could not 
 tell how many; that he would be a god him- 
 self at death. Mr. Stewart gave him to un- 
 derstand that they were not good for anything, 
 and tried to turn the chiefs attention to the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and Jehovah. At length 
 the chief exclaimed, " Mo-ta-ki ! mo-ta-ki ! 
 Je-ho-va te At-u-a no ma-tu-a." " Good ! 
 good ! Jehovah (is or shall be) our God." 
 
 Lucy. O, how 1 long to hear from those of 
 our missionaries who will be the pioneers of 
 the first mission to those islands. I shall read 
 the Missionary Herald with great interest, and 
 lay a great many plans to raise funds for the 
 support of a large number of missionaries to 
 those islands. 
 
 
PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 101 
 
 Helen. And I will help you execute 
 them. 
 
 Ann. And so will I. 
 
 Mrs. B. We will all help. 
 
 Hugh. If all the Sabbath schools in the 
 United States should follow the example set by 
 the one in the West parish of Andover, in 
 forming a " Sabbath School Missionary Soci- 
 ety" the world might soon be filled with the 
 knowledge and glory of God. 
 
 Lucy. Our superintendent read the ac- 
 count of it from the Sabbath School Treas- 
 ury, and expressed his determination to follow 
 in the steps of the gentleman at the head of 
 that school ; and all the teachers promised to 
 sustain him in carrying the plan into execu- 
 tion. 
 
 Hugh. Superintendents who are favored 
 with the confidence and affection of their 
 teachers and scholars, can carry into effect 
 any plan, and accomplish almost as much 
 good, as the most benevolent heart can de- 
 sire. 
 
 Mrs. B. We can all do a vastly greater 
 amount of good than we ever have done, if 
 we' " rouse up all our drowsy powers." The 
 former indifference of my own children to 
 missionary movements, was entirely my own 
 fault ; for since I have felt more myself, and 
 
102 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
 
 ft 
 
 conversed with them upon missionary topics, 
 and read, or heard them read, the Missionary 
 Herald, and Baptist Magazine, they are full of 
 zeal for the heathen, and cheerfully deny them- 
 selves, and redeem time from sleep and play, 
 to promote the cause in one way or other. 
 And in addition, I can truly say, that I have 
 enjoyed more in religion, since I commenced 
 this course to draw forth their benevolent af- 
 fections, than since your uncle Barton's 
 death. 
 
 Hugh. I believe, aunt, if every Christian 
 mother should adopt the same course, she 
 would have reason to say the same. Jane, 
 you and Robert may come and answer ques- 
 tions. 
 
 What is said of the dancing- exhibitions ? How many per- 
 formers were there ? How were they dressed ? What is said of 
 the idol gods ? What of the men who pretend to be sick ? Who 
 are cannibals? Do the natives of the Washington islands wish 
 to receive missionaries ? What else can you remember ? 
 
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