and of the form and motion of
the earth; of the seasons and the climates, and of the heavenly bodies.
Every thing of this sort was as perfectly novel to them, as it would
have been to the islanders of Otaheite; and even the elementary books,
which are usually put into the hands of children, were at first as
unintelligible as the most abstruse treatises on mathematics. I was
consequently forced to use the simplest, and plainest modes of
demonstration; but these amused and instructed them at the same time.
A ball made of the box tree, with a hole through it, and moving on
an axle, and on which I had traced the principal circles; some large
potatoes hollowed out; a candle, and sometimes the skulls of my
scholars, served for the instruments, by which I illustrated the
movement of the heavenly bodies, and of the earth itself. Proceeding
from one step to another, I pointed out the situation of different
countries on the chart of the world, and in seperate maps, and took
pains to give some slight idea, as we went on, of the characteristics,
religion, customs, and history of each nation. These details fixed
topics of moment in their recollection. Up to this time I had been
astonished by the little interest they took, Christian-minded as they
were, in the subject of Christian missions, but, when they began to have
some idea of geography, I discovered, that their former ignorance of
this science, and of the very existence of many foreign nations in
distant quarters of the globe, was the cause of such indifference. But
as soon as they began to learn who the people are, who require to have
the Gospel preached to them, and in what part of the globe they dwell,
they felt the same concern for the circulation of the Gospel that other
Christians entertained. These new acquirements, in fact, enlarged their
spirit, made new creatures of them, and seemed to triple their very
existence.

In the end, I advanced so far as to give some lectures in geometry, and
this too produced a happy moral developement.

Lessons in music formed part of our evening employment, and those being,
like geography, a sort of amusement, they were regularly succeeded by
grave and edifying reading, and by such reflections as I took care to
suggest for their improvement.

Most of the young adults of the village were present at such lessons, as
were within the reach of their comprehension, and as the children had a
separate instructor, the young women and girls of