ion, and are
ignorant and immoral. They carry on bloody wars with each other, offer
up human sacrifices, and are, it is reported, cannibals. But if so be
they are all this, and more, surely it behoves us as Christians to teach
them better things. What, however, do we do? We sell them firearms and
ammunition to carry on their wars, we partake in their immorality; so
far from showing them any of the graces of our religion, we make them by
our lives believe that we have no religion at all, while by all those
who visit these shores not a voice is raised to tell them of the truth.
We find them more mild and gentle than the people of Tahiti, and very
different from the fierce savages of the Marquesas. Not far off is
Karakaka Bay, where Captain Cook fell.

We communicate with two other ships while lying here, and the officers
all speak in favourable terms of the people. Captain Fuller, therefore,
allows us to visit the shore more than he would otherwise have
considered safe. We find these people very different from the wild
inhabitants of the coral islands we have visited. They have attained
considerable proficiency in many arts--their cloth is fine, and
beautifully ornamented, as are their mats, but they excel in feather
work. The helmets, and mantles, and capes of their chiefs are very
beautiful. The helmets are in the form of those of ancient Greece, and
are covered with bright red feathers, worked in to look like velvet,
with tall plumes, and as their cloaks are of the same texture and
colour, and the wearers are tall, powerful men, they have, when armed
with dubs or spears, a very imposing and warlike appearance. The king
alone is allowed to wear a dress of yellow feathers. The common people,
however, wear but scant clothing, none being required in this favoured
climate. Their great war-god is Tairi. To propitiate him human
sacrifices are offered up, and his idol is carried at the head of their
armies. Lesser chiefs have also their idols carried before them. One
of their temples, a morai, merits description. It is formed by walls of
great thickness, like that at Tahiti. It is an irregular parallelogram,
two hundred and twenty-four feet long, and a hundred wide. The walls on
three sides are twenty feet high and twelve feet thick, but narrowing
towards the top. The wall nearest the sea is only eight feet high. The
only entrance is by a narrow passage between two high walls leading up
to an inner court,