200 Voyage of the Novara. 



chor. At first it was the inimitable grace of Cook's narrative 

 of his stay in Otaheite,* and the simpHcity and feHcity of its 

 inhabitants, that left a deep and permanent impression on the 

 mind of the educated reader ; in after-times occurrences of a 

 political natm-e riveted the sympathy of Europe upon this 

 distant island and its queen. 



Before entering upon a desciiption of the present condi- 

 tion of Tahiti we may be permitted to cast a hasty retro- 

 sj)ect as to the state of the group when the first English 

 missionaries arrived on the Society Islands. 



It was in March, 1797, about 18 months after the founda- 

 tion of the Missionary Society in London, that eighteen min- 

 isters of the everlasting gospel landed in Tahiti, with their 

 wives and children, from the renowned ship Duff. This 

 small community dispersed itself among the various islands, 

 and had to make head against obstacles of unwonted mag- 

 nitude during a series of years. At length, about 1803, 

 shortly after the death of King Pomare I., who had raised 

 himself from the position of a mere chief to the Sovereignty of 



* The original spelling of the name of this island arose from ignorance of the 

 language. To the question, " Eaha terafenua V (What is the name of this island?) 

 the natives replied, " O Taiti Oia" The article was thus taken for the first syllable 

 and the island was called O Taheite. Since then the thorough knowledge we have 

 acquired of the language has rectified the mistake. In Tahitian the two verbs " to 

 be " and " to have" are altogether wanting. O is simply the nominative of an article 

 which very frequently is placed before a proper name to give it emphasis, or even for 

 the sake of euphony. O accordingly is used in the above sentence merely to imply 

 " it is." A literal translation from Tahitian into any European language is in most 

 cases impossible. Occasionally one finds Tahiti mentioned by the names of La Sa- 

 yittariu, King George the Thirds Island, Nouvclle Cythere, and Amat. 



