A LUXURIOUS REPAST. 201 
beautiful colours. The Tahaitians eat them 
raw, or only steeped in sea-water. Their fish- 
ing-tackle consists of nothing more than bad 
angling lines and hooks; to make nets as their 
forefathers did, would trespass too much upon 
the time they are obliged to spend in prayer. 
Hence fish is so great a rarity to them, that 
their eager desire for it sometimes prompts 
them to belie their good character, of which we 
had an example. One of our large nets having 
brought up a multitude of fine fish, the tempta- 
tion was too strong to be resisted, and our friends 
would have forcibly shared our acquisition with 
us, had not our severe reproof, and the accidental 
appearance of the judge of the district, restrain- 
ed them. They then tried to obtain the fish 
by barter, and offered their most valuable tools 
for the smallest and worst of them; I gave 
them, however, so many, that for once their 
appetite was fully satisfied with a luxurious 
repast. 
I had heard much of an institution esta- 
blished by the Missionaries for the instruction 
of the people, and was desirous to learn what 
progress the 'Tahaitians had made in the rudi- 
K 5 
