ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, ETC. 195 



iis"siorfe, and of the excellent condition to which they had attain- 

 ed under his supervision and guardianship. 



It is well known to all who visit the Sandwich Islands, as well 

 as to many at home who have friends residing there, that the 

 missionaries are exceedingly unpopular amongst the resident fo- 

 reigners. Why it is, or should be so, I will not stop to inquire, 

 but will merely remark, that so far as my own intercourse with 

 these missionaries has extended, and according to the opportuni- 

 ties I have had of judging of the relative merits of the case, my 

 opinion decidedly is, that there is no good and sufficient reason 

 for this ill-feeling. Who are the missionaries ? They are men 

 who have left the homes of their childhood, the parents, the bro- 

 thers, the sisters, the friends of their bosoms, and for what ? To 

 dwell in distant lands, among the uncivilized and the barbarous.; 

 to labor for these with all the energy of their minds and bodies; 

 and for this they receive so trifling a compensation, that nothing 

 except the reward of a good conscience, and of a life spent in the 

 noblest service that can engage the bodily and mental powers of 

 a Christian, could ever induce them to engage in it. Why, then, 

 should they be opposed 1 Why should those calling themselves 

 Christians, take every possible opportunity of thwarting and 

 renderino; null the labors of men such as these? Grant that 

 there may be bad and designing persons among them, does this 

 circumstance affect the cause itself? Surely not. Why then 

 should not the foreigners, instead of opposing and laboring to 

 subvert their measures, endeavor to aid these devoted people 

 in their most laborious task, or if they do not aid, let them at 

 least assume a neutrality, and neither place themselves in the 

 ranks of opposition, nor endeavor to induce others to do so. 



10th. — This morning I saw the king for the first time. He is 

 a very young man, only about twenty years of age, of ordinary 

 size, and rather ordinary appearance. He was dressed in a little 

 blue jacket, such as is worn by sailors when ashore, white panta- 



