which were rows of the tufted-topped ti-tree, whose
delicate and beautiful blossoms, hanging beneath their plume-crested
tops, added richness to the scene. The cottages of the natives were
built beneath these trees, and were kept in the most excellent order,
each having a little garden in front, tastefully laid out and planted,
while the walks were covered with black and white pebbles.

Every house had doors and Venetian windows, painted partly with
lamp-black made from the candle-nut, and partly with red ochre, which
contrasted powerfully with the dazzling coral lime that covered the
walls. On a prominent position stood a handsome church, which was quite
a curiosity in its way. It was a hundred feet long by fifty broad, and
was seated throughout to accommodate upwards of two thousand persons.
It had six large folding-doors, and twelve windows with Venetian blinds;
and although a large and substantial edifice, it had been built, we were
told by the teacher: in the space of two months! There was not a single
iron nail in the fabric, and the natives had constructed it chiefly with
their stone and bone axes and other tools, having only one or two axes
or tools of European manufacture. Everything around this beautiful spot
wore an aspect of peace and plenty; and as we dropped our anchor within
a stone's-cast of the substantial coral wharf, I could not avoid
contrasting it with the wretched village of Emo, where I had witnessed
so many frightful scenes. When the teacher afterwards told me that the
people of this tribe had become converts only a year previous to our
arrival, and that they had been living before that in the practice of
the most bloody system of idolatry, I could not refrain from exclaiming,
"What a convincing proof that Christianity is of God!"

On landing from our little boat we were received with a warm welcome by
the teacher and his wife, the latter being also a native, clothed in a
simple European gown and a straw bonnet. The shore was lined with
hundreds of natives, whose persons were all more or less clothed with
native cloth. Some of the men had on a kind of poncho formed of this
cloth, their legs being uncovered; others wore clumsily fashioned
trousers, and no upper garment except hats made of straw and cloth.
Many of the dresses, both of women and men, were grotesque enough, being
very bad imitations of the European garb; but all wore a dress of some
sort or other. They seemed very glad to se