THE CONGREGATION. 213 



style we drove the whole length of Hanaruro, 

 and in about a quarter of an hour reached the 

 church, which lies on an ugly flat, and exactly 

 resembles that at O Tahaiti both in external 

 and internal appearance. 



The congregation was very small. Noma- 

 hanna and an old lady were the only individuals 

 of their sex ; and Chinau, myself, and a few 

 others, the only males present. Even the 

 people who had drawn us did not enter the 

 church; from which I infer, that the influence of 

 the missionaries is by no means so considerable 

 as at O Tahaiti ; and certainly the converts are 

 not yet driven with a stick into the house of 

 prayer : nor would it be easy to fasten on the 

 minds of the people the fetters so patiently 

 endured on the Society Islands, where the 

 labours of the missionaries are seldom inter- 

 rupted by the intervention of strangers. The 

 Sandv.'ich Islanders are engaged in constant 

 intercourse with foreign sailors, mostly of licen- 

 tious characters, who indeed profess the Chris- 

 tian religion ; but brought hither by the desire 

 of gain, or the necessity of laying in provisions 

 for their ships, are generally wholly occupied 



