UPOLU. 69 



tall, thin, upright, with a quick eye, and a long beard 

 almost white. This striking looking prelate has been en- 

 gaged in missionary duties for thirty years in the South Seas, 

 and by his chance intercourse with Englishmen, whom he 

 has met on their way, has learnt to speak English tolerably 

 well. He received us very politely, insisted on our drink- 

 ing a glass of Bordeaux, and chatted agreeably with us on 

 matters of local and European interest. In the rear of the 

 mission houses is a garden of large extent, very pretty and 

 picturesque. His church, which is built of stone, with a 

 spire of some height, has a very effective appearance. 



On leaving the Eoman Catholic missionaries, I paid a 

 visit to the chief of the Protestant missions, Mr. Murray, 

 who had also spent thirty years of his life in this region. 

 He is a tall, spare man, intelligent, and agreeable. He is the 

 author of a book entitled ' Missions in Western Polynesia ' 

 (8vo. London, 1863). His wife, who is in very delicate 

 health, has kept her bed for three years. The incrimina- 

 tions and recriminations which are perpetually going on in 

 these islands between the missionaries of different sects 

 are in general not worth reporting. But a charge is pre- 

 ferred by Mr. Murray against the Catholic missionaries in 

 reference to an asserted practice, which must be so very 

 tempting to a religious belligerent as to favour the pre- 

 sumption of its probable occurrence. It is that, whenever 

 a chief gets tired of the matrimonial bonds which the 

 Protestant missionary has imposed upon him, and is anxious 

 either for freedom, or a change of servitude, he goes to the 



