DIVINE SERVICE. 157 
will easily believe that it was impossible for me 
to be very devout in their presence. The attire 
of the females, though not quite so absurd, was 
by no means picturesque ; some wore white, or 
striped men’s shirts, which did not conceal 
their knees, and others were wrapped in sheets. 
Their hair was cut quite close to the roots, ac- 
cording to a fashion introduced by the Mission- 
aries, and their heads covered by little EKuro- 
pean chip hats of a most tasteless form, and 
decorated with ribbons and flowers, made in 
Tahaiti. But the most valuable article of dress 
was a coloured gown, an indubitable sign of the 
possessor’s opulence, and the object of her un- 
bounded vanity. 
When Wilson first mounted the pulpit, he 
bent his head forward, and concealing his face 
with an open Bible, prayed in silence; the whole 
congregation immediately imitated him, using 
their Psalm-books instead of Bibles. After this, 
the appointed psalm was sung to a most incon- 
gruous tune, every voice being exerted to its 
utmost pitch, in absolute defiance of harmony. 
Wilson then read some chapters from the Bible, 
the congregation kneeling twice during the in- 
