194 TAurn. 



try chinch in England. The singing of the hymns 

 was decidedly very pleasing ; but the language 

 from the pulpit, although fluently delivered, did not 

 sound well : a constant repetition of words, like 

 " tata ta, viata mai,"" rendered it monotonous. Af- 

 ter English service, a party returned on foot to 

 Matavai. It was a pleasant walk, sometimes along 

 the sea-beach, and sometimes under the shade of 

 the many beautiful trees. 



About two years ago, a small vessel under Eng- 

 lish colours was plundered by some of the inhabi- 

 tants of the Low Islands, which were then under 

 the dominion of the Queen of Tahiti. It was be- 

 lieved that the perpetrators were instigated to this 

 act by some indiscreet laws issued by her majesty. 

 The British government demanded compensation, 

 which was acceded to, and a sum of nearly three 

 thousand dollars was agreed to be paid on the first 

 of last Se})tember. The Commodore at Lima or- 

 dered Captain Fitz Roy to inquire concerning this 

 debt, and to demand satisfaction if it were not paid. 

 Captain Fitz Roy accordingly requested an inter- 

 view with the Queen PomaiTe, since famous from 

 the ill treatment she has received from the French, 

 and a parliament was held to consider the question, 

 at which all the principal chiefs of the island and 

 the queen were assembled. I will not attempt to 

 describe what took place, after the interesting ac- 

 count given by Captain Fitz Roy. The money, it 

 appeared, had not been paid ; perhaps the alleged 

 reasons were rather equivocal ; but otherwise, I 

 cannot sufficiently express our general surprise at 

 the extreme good sense, the reasoning powers, 

 moderation, candour, and prompt resolution, which 

 were displayed on all sides. I believe we all left 

 the meeting with a very different opinicm of the Ta- 

 hitians from what we entertained when we entered. 



