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tating voracity. They devour or destroy all before them. They rob the very ovens of the food preparing in them, not sparing the flesh of their own slaughtered companions which may be deposited there. These ovens, it will be recollected, are scooped in the ground and fired with wood, under the ashes of which, with the addition of heated stones, the provisions are laid, and covered up with earth, till the batches are sufficiently baked. The swine, whose wits, in this respect, are as sharp as their appetites, will carefully open such tumuli, grub out the hot stones, and, seizing the delicious morsels, run, with the spoil smoking between their teeth, to the next water, into which they plunge it to cool, and then greedily enjoy the repast. This morning it was discovered that seven or eight hogs, old offenders, had committed a burglary upon the large oven near Mr. Bourne's house, in which nearly forty bread-fruits, split, and intended for breakfast, had been placed. The whole apparatus had been demolished, the earth, ashes, and stones were scattered abroad, and the precious contents consumed. Scarcely any fence will preserve plantations from their invading prowess, in mining, sapping, and storming, when they are sufficiently tempted to make the effort. They will walk round a large inclosure, trying every yard of paling or wattling, to discover a flaw through which to effect a breach. If the persuasion of insinuating snouts, or the violence of rampant feet, will not accomplish this, they will retreat ten or twelve yards backward, and rush head foremost against the obstruction, through which they seldom fail to make a neck-or-nought entrance. When one of these ravenous animals is happy enough to find a banana-tree with a bunch of ripe fruit suspended above his reach, but not above his ambition, he does not waste his strength, like Æsop's fox with the grapes, leaping at an unattainable object, but wisely and leisurely sets himself to gnaw through the trunk, and bring the treasure to the ground; and this he will never relinquish, though he toil for hours, till his industry has been rewarded, and he literally eats the fruit of his labors.

Feb. 9. Having been detained here by contrary winds during the past week, after we had taken leave previously to embarking for Borabora, we had the privilege, this day, to witness the baptism of a hundred and ninety-eight candidates, of whom eighty-four were adults, and a hundred and fourteen children. Of the latter, sixty-five were boys, and forty

nine girls; and of these, ten or twelve only appeared to be upwards of seven years old. It was an affecting consideration, as we looked upon the lovely and innocent countenances of these little ones, to reflect that a large majority of them owed their lives to the gospel. These ought indeed to be children of God; for, previous to their birth, two-thirds of the infants that came into existence were put out of it as soon as they breathed the atmosphere of a region under the dominion of the prince of the power of the air, who wrought in the hearts of parents "without natural affection stroy their own flesh and blood. There have now been baptized, in Tahaa, four hundred and sixty-eight persons, old and young, all of whom are under Christian discipline and daily instruction. These constitute two-thirds of the population; the remainder, with a few idle or profligate exceptions, attend the schools and the public means of grace.

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Feb. 10. A youth, not more than sixteen years of age, having been found guilty of attempting to persuade another boy, younger than himself, to be tatooed by him, was sentenced to be daubed from head to foot with black and white. He was then tied to a pole, and carried upon men's shoulders, before all the inhabitants of the district, to the pier, where, being laid down, the lad whom he had tried to seduce to a heathenish custom was directed to flog him smartly till he begged pardon, and promised to leave off his wicked ways, for this was not the first offence of the kind of which he had been convicted. He was accompanied to and from the place of punishment by a crowd of young folks, who shouted and hooted at him.

Feb. 11. The following are the names of a few of the persons who were baptized on Sunday last, and we give them as specimens of the style and character of such appellatives:-Maro, a girdle; Moiri, cloudy; Fara e, another pine-apple; Tipape, a water-fetcher; Reiatura, neck of a god; Haamarurai, a cloudy sky; Teaparai, lost in the clouds; Ariiori, a dancing king; Viivii, polluted with mire ; Vaiarii, water for the king; Faretaata, a house full of people; Otahia, a laughing-stock; Vahapata, a mouth that sputters out food as children; Pauma, a kite; Uvini, a parrot; Ohi, a bamboo; Raipoai, a hungry sky, &c. &c. It is often difficult to ascertain what meaning is associated with the words of which proper names are composed, the literal sense being almost none at all.

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Feb. 12. Four men and two women being convicted of indecent practices, to the great scandal of the neighborhood and the confirmed disgrace of their own characters-similar crimes having been proved against all of them before, and the chastisements then inflicted having failed to reclaim or deter them-they were condemned to be fastened singly to a kind of pillory, and carried upon the shoulders of stout men all through the settlement, and back again to the pier, and there compelled to finish the work which was uncompleted under their former sentences; after which new tasks were assigned to each, which they would scarcely be able to perform in less than several months. All the stones which are employed in building the pier must be brought by the convicts out of the sea, from a considerable depth; and being of no small weight, the drudgery, one might suppose, in such a climate as this, would be intolerable; but, severe as it is, there are those who seem to disregard it, or rather love their crimes in spite of it; and here, as elsewhere, culprits who have oftenest suffered the penalties of the law are most hardened in their iniquity, and reckless of its wages-shame, toil, and servitude.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Arrival at Borabora-Missionary Settlement at Beulah-Appearance of Native Congregation-Congratulatory Addresses and PresentsMarriages-Island of Maupiti-Reflections on its Loneliness-The Deputation welcomed-Savage Practices of the People of Maupiti in former Times-Effects of Infanticide-Ninety Persons baptizedDeserted Maraes-Missionary Collection-Return to Borabora-Estimation of the Scriptures-Rogues and Vagabonds-Execution of a Criminal Missionary Meeting-Laws revised-Prisoners' Sentences commuted-Fortifications.

Feb. 13. WITH a fine breeze, we embarked this afternoon in Mr. Orsmond's boat, accompanied by Mai, one of the two kings of Borabora, who had kindly come over from thence - expressly to convoy the deputation, in honor of the Society whose servants we are for Christ's sake. That singular island, at the distance of fifteen miles, came full upon our view, when we had passed the reef of Tahaa and entered the open sea. It consists of one pyramidical mountain, towering, as it fronted us, very steeply, to the height of two

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MISSIONARY SETTLEMENT AT BEULAH.

thousand feet, and crowned with an inaccessible crag of bare rock, which appeared to be a quadrangular mass, laid on like a topstone. Below this, herbage and trees gradually thicken downwards to the shore. On the east and west, the flanks slope more gradually, and the lower end presents a gently undulated surface till it dips into the sea. The light wind bore us slowly towards this noble object, which we contemplated with unsatisfied but imperceptibly changing delight, as its features increased in magnitude and distinctness, till, in the luxuriance of a fertile, fair, and peopled isle, we forgot the dim and visionary grandeur with which we had first beheld it, looming upon the horizon, and scarcely seeming to be "of the earth, earthy." Near though it seemed, at the end of four hours, and as if we might have swam to it, yet, before we could reach the port we aimed at, the sun went down, and the glorious scene became a black shadow, whose outline was broadly distinguishable from the sky on which it was delineated, while it darkened our path upon the deep waters beneath, as we warily steered round the western extremity, that terminates in a reef far stretching into the sea. This point must be doubled to enter the lagoon of the missionary harbor, which is further defended by a barrier of coral rock, a small island called Tabua, and several motus, encircling the basin. The night was clear and calm, the firmament alive with stars, and the sea as quiet as a slumbering infant. Thus favorably circumstanced, at midnight, a time most unseasonable for threading an intricate and perilous maze of rocks, and shoals, and fathomless gulfs, we were mercifully brought through the opening in the reef; and about two o'clock in the morning landed in Borabora.

Feb. 14. The missionary settlement, picturesquely skirting the bay, is called Beulah, and there are circumstances in the recent history of this obscure, island which warrant the quotation here of that splendid portion of prophecy in which the word occurs; and, surely, without violence, more than one of the exceeding great and precious promises which it contains may be applied to the little Israel of Borabora, and to Beulah, its Jerusalem: "The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no

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more be termed Forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah; for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married." Isaiah Ixii. 2-4.

We shall forbear to expatiate on the local scenery, the patriarchal form of government, the church services, the improved style of building, and the progress of civilization, in the train of the gospel, among these people,-having recorded at sufficient length corresponding circumstances in our observations upon other islands. Borabora, in these respects, is behind none which we have visited in the windward group; or, to say the least, it might be exhibited as a favorable average specimen, on all the points above-mentioned, of the whole.

Borabora is divided into seven districts, over which there are two kings, Mai and Tefaaoro. Mai is distinguished, like his royal brethren of Raiatea and Tahaa, for his fervent piety, his peaceful spirit, and the wise administration of his government. When Mr. Orsmond came hither, in 1820, this prince, who owned the district in which the settlement stands, gave him possession of a considerable portion of land adjacent, for the maintenance of the mission.

Feb. 16. (Lord's day.) At the early prayer-meeting nearly the whole congregation, amounting to a thousand persons, were present. Two natives, including Mai, the king, engaged in the public services, by offering such prayers as one would wish might ascend every Sabbath-day from the lips of all Gentiles under heaven, for such could not fail to bring down upon the earth blessings that would soon remove the direst effects of the transgression for which the ground was cursed after the fall of man. Mr. Orsmond preached twice, in the fore and afternoon. The people were exceedingly quiet, and seemed to hear with devout attention, and to join heartily, with sweet voices and delighted countenances, in singing the praises of God. The aspect of the assembly was more native than the motley garments, of divers colors and patterns, to which we had been familiarized in some other places; most of the people being clad in the simple, but beautifully becoming, array of their ancestors, and that in full costume, not scanty and immodest, as it was generally worn in their pagan state. This consisted of ample folds of their own manufactured cloth, as white as snow, girt about their loins, with the graceful tibuta of the same