IN THE FACE OF DEATH 91 
enraged, and it was only through the watchful providence of 
God that the adherents to Christianity were saved from fall- 
ing in a body a sacrifice to their vengeance. A plot was 
formed, and well-nigh carried into effect, which reminds 
one of the awful Bartholomew massacre.” 
The priests of heathenism and their followers determined 
at one bold stroke to destroy every one on Tahiti that wor- 
shiped Jehovah. In one night every individual of the new 
worship was to be slain. The hour of midnight was the time 
fixed for the deed, and careful plans were laid for its execu- 
tion. All who belonged to the “Bure Atua,” as the church 
people were called, were to be slaughtered, their property 
plundered, and their houses burned. 
“The intended victims were ignorant of the plot till within 
a few hours of the time when the massacre was to have com- 
menced. By some means intelligence reached them of the 
impending danger just in time to allow of their escape. Cir- 
cumstances favored, and soon after sunset they hurried away 
with so much of their property as they were able to take, 
launched their canoes, and fled to the island of Eimeo, where 
they landed in safety on the following morning, and found 
a refuge from the storm which had so nearly burst upon 
them. | 
“When their enemies, who had been prevented by some 
means from arriving punctually at their respective points 
of rendezvous, got together from their different districts 
toward midnight, they were chagrined and enraged beyond 
measure to find that their victims had escaped, and the issue 
was that they quarreled among themselves. The inhabitants 
of two districts, who had been invited by those of a third 
to join them in destroying the ‘Bure Atua,’ who were re- 
garded as common enemies, united, and for some cause which 
does not appear, declared war against those they had come 
to help. A battle took place, the allied parties were con- 
quered, and a series of calamities followed, which we have 
not space to describe. 
