way. It was a hundred feet long by fifty broad, and
was seated throughout to accommodate upwards of two thousand persons. It
had six large folding doors and twelve windows with Venetian blinds; and,
although a large and substantial edifice, it had been built, we were told
by the teacher, in the space of two months! There was not a single iron
nail in the fabric, and the natives had constructed it chiefly with their
stone and bone axes and other tools, having only one or two axes or tools
of European manufacture. Everything around this beautiful spot wore an
aspect of peace and plenty, and, as we dropped our anchor within a
stone's cast of the substantial coral wharf, I could not avoid
contrasting it with the wretched village of Emo, where I had witnessed so
many frightful scenes. When the teacher afterwards told me that the
people of this tribe had become converts only a year previous to our
arrival, and that they had been living before that in the practice of the
most bloody system of idolatry, I could not refrain from exclaiming,
"What a convincing proof that Christianity is of God!"

On landing from our little boat, we were received with a warm welcome by
the teacher and his wife; the latter being also a native, clothed in a
simple European gown and straw bonnet. The shore was lined with hundreds
of natives, whose persons were all more or less clothed with native
cloth. Some of the men had on a kind of poncho formed of this cloth,
their legs being uncovered. Others wore clumsily-fashioned trousers, and
no upper garment except hats made of straw and cloth. Many of the
dresses, both of women and men, were grotesque enough, being very bad
imitations of the European garb; but all wore a dress of some sort or
other. They seemed very glad to see us, and crowded round us as the
teacher led the way to his dwelling, where we were entertained, in the
most sumptuous manner, on baked pig and all the varieties of fruits and
vegetables that the island produced. We were much annoyed, however, by
the rats: they seemed to run about the house like domestic animals. As
we sat at table, one of them peeped up at us over the edge of the cloth,
close to Peterkin's elbow, who floored it with a blow on the snout from
his knife, exclaiming as he did so--

"I say, Mister Teacher, why don't you set traps for these brutes?--surely
you are not fond of them!"

"No," replied the teacher, with a smile; "we would be glad to get rid of