he island of Tahiti, and other places in the
South Pacific Ocean. When the missionaries of the London Missionary
Society went there, many years ago, they found the females in a very
degraded situation. Mr. Nott, one of these missionaries, declared that
three out of four of the children were murdered as soon as they were
born. He met a woman soon after this dreadful crime had been abolished
to whom he said, "How many children have you?" "This one in my arms,"
was her answer. "And how many did you kill?" She replied, "Eight."
Another woman, who was asked the same question, said that she had
destroyed _seventeen_. Infanticide, or, in other words, the destruction
of infants, says the Rev. Mr. Williams, was carried to an almost
incredible extent in Tahiti, and some other islands. He writes, "During
the visit of the deputation, G. Bennet, Esq., was our guest for three or
four days; and on one occasion, while conversing on this subject, he
expressed a wish to obtain accurate knowledge of the extent to which
this cruel practice had prevailed. Three women were sitting in the room
at the time, making European garments, under Mrs. Williams direction;
and, after replying to Mr. Bennet's inquiries, I said, 'I have no doubt
but that each of these women has destroyed some of her children.' Mr.
Bennet exclaimed, 'Impossible; such motherly, respectable women could
never have been guilty of so great an atrocity.' 'Well,' I added, 'we
will ask them.' Addressing the first, I said to her, 'Friend, how many
children have you destroyed?' She was startled at my question, and at
first charged me with unkindness, in harrowing up her feelings, by
bringing the destruction of her babes to her remembrance; but upon
learning the object of my inquiry, she replied, with a faltering voice,
'I have destroyed _nine_.' The second, with eyes suffused with tears,
said, 'I have destroyed _seven_;' and the third informed us that she had
destroyed _five_. Had the missionaries gone there but a few years
before, with the blessing of God, they would have prevented all this.
These mothers were all Christians at the time this conversation was
held."

"On another occasion," says Mr. Williams, "I was called to visit the
wife of a chief in dying circumstances. She had professed Christianity
for many years, had learned to read when about sixty, and was a very
active teacher in our adult school. In the prospect of death, she sent a
pressing request that I would visit her