hat or who is to be tabooed, and how long it
is to last. To taboo is not only to set aside for a particular object,
but to make sacred. The king, a hog, or a house, may be tabooed.
During that time people may not do certain acts, and animals or things
may not be touched or used. So important are these taboos held, that
any person breaking through one of them is punished severely, often with
death.

Is it not possible that some of the customs I have mentioned, though
barbarous and debased, may have been derived from ancient tradition?
Whence has sprung that strange expectation of the return of their
long-lost god, Rona, to bring a blessing on their nation? What means
that longing for a better land far away in the east, entertained by the
Marquesas islanders? The king of this island seems to have great power.
He is the owner of all the land, and is the lord and master of all his
subjects. He rules wisely, and has the affection of his people.

I might say a great deal more about these Sandwich islanders--their
history, habits, and customs, and of the events which have taken place
since we have been here, but should I write all I might, my journal
would be soon filled. To describe them briefly thus:--Their islands are
grand and picturesque; they are very intelligent, and are physically
powerful, but they seem abandoned to a debased idolatry, to cruel
customs, and to a gross licentiousness. Constant and barbarous warfare,
infanticide, and the diseases introduced by their foreign visitors have
so rapidly decreased their numbers that the population consists of
one-third less now than it did at the time of Cook. Captain Fuller, and
the other masters and mates of the ships here laugh at the idea of their
ever becoming Christians or civilised, and, in truth, unless they have
faith in God's grace, it would seem a hard matter; but I know that He
can order all things according to His will, and that, in spite of all
man's theories and doubts, He will find means to accomplish His work.

Phineas Golding has just come on board in high glee. He says that he
has just heard from Taro, who gets the information I know not how, that
there are to the southward of this several coral islands, where
abundance of mother-of-pearl and also pearls of great size are to be
procured; and thus, instead of sailing west, as we had proposed, he has
arranged with Captain Fuller to sail once more south towards the Hervey
group, and to touch at the