xpress himself in English. Some time after, when he could speak
more readily, he was describing to his teacher some of the customs of
his native land. Clasping his hands together, and adjusting his
thumbs, he formed a cup which he raised to his lips to show how his
countrymen drank from a spring. His instructor tried to do the same,
but before he could reach his mouth with his hands the cup would be
inverted so that the contents, had there been any, would have been
spilled. Obookiah laughed heartily and said, "_try_, Mr.
Dwight, it is _very easy_!"

One day he mimicked the gait of some of his friends so cleverly, that
there was no mistaking whom he intended to personate. His teacher
then mocked his own awkward style, when he exclaimed several times:
"me walk so?" Being assured that it was true, he rolled upon the
floor until his mirth exhausted his strength.

After being instructed about the true God, idol worship seemed to him
ridiculous. He said, "Hawaii gods! They _wood_,--_burn_. Me go home,
put 'em in a fire, burn 'em up. They no _see_, no _hear_, _no_
anything." Then added, "We make _them_. Our God," looking up, "He
make us."

After Mr. Mills arrived in New Haven he became a friend of Mr.
Dwight's, and being often in his room, occasionally heard this boy
recite. He became greatly attached to him, and began to cherish a
plan for his future. He wanted to see Obookiah a Christian, educated,
and then a missionary to his native land.

One evening Mr. Mills had not been long in Mr. Dwight's room, when
Obookiah came in with a very gloomy face. He said he had no place to
live; Mr. ---- didn't want him any more, and Miss ---- had threatened
to take away his new clothes. Mr. Mills told him he would take him to
his own home, and that he had clothes enough for both. This cheered
the poor, disconsolate fellow, who soon went with Mr. Mills to
Torringford, and was placed under the "care of those whose
benevolence was without a bond or check, or a limit to confine it."
Here he spent a part of the year 1810, and was treated wisely and
affectionately. Mrs. Mills taught him the Catechism, and her son
Jeremiah assisted him in his studies. At different times, and
frequently, their house was his home.

He became gentle and refined in his manner, a Bible-loving, earnest,
prayerful Christian. His friends who had been so careful in the
training of his mind and heart, had not neglected his hands. He was
taught much that was useful a