ked on as
nominal Christians.

The small Britannia group, near New Caledonia, has been occupied by
teachers from Rarotonga and Mars since 1837, but Roman Catholic priests
have arrived on the principal island, sent, they say, by the French
governor of New Caledonia. They have built a capital, called Porte de
France, but it is a penal colony, and free emigrants have not been
attracted to its shores.

The last islands visited by Captain Cook were those to which he gave the
name of the Sandwich Islands, and which now form the small but
independent kingdom of Hawaii, having a capital called Honolulu, with a
population of eleven thousand, not less than a thousand of whom are
white foreigners. With its well-paved, lighted streets, its king's
palace, its houses of parliament, its cathedral church, its numerous
hotels, its police, and other accompaniments of high civilisation, it is
difficult to imagine that a hundred years ago this was the home of
tattooed savages. To Englishmen in advanced years, indeed, the murder
of Captain Cook at Owhyhee seems like an event that happened in their
own childhood. And, in truth, not fifty years ago the natives of Hawaii
were ignorant and idolatrous heathens, while it is but as yesterday that
a refined, elegant, and well-educated lady, the queen of those islands,
was visiting England.

When Cook was killed Kalampupua was king. He was succeeded by his
nephew, Kamehamea the First, who made himself sovereign of the entire
group. When visited by Captain Vancouver, in 1793, it is said that he
requested that Christian missionaries might be sent to him. Whether
Captain Vancouver delivered the message to the English Government or
not, no attention was paid to it. Captain Vancouver, however, returned
the next year with some horned cattle and sheep, which he presented to
the king, obtaining a promise that none should be killed for the space
of ten years. This promise was faithfully kept; but so rapidly did the
animals increase that they became exceedingly troublesome to the natives
by injuring their fences and taro plantations. They were accordingly
driven into the mountains, where they now form a source of considerable
wealth to the nation.

Kamehamea was about to abolish the taboo system when he died in 1819,
and was succeeded by his son Liholiho, who took the name of Kamehamea
the Second. He carried into effect his father's intention, and also
destroyed his temples and gods.

In tha