OF THE SOUTH SEAS 499 



set as in a trance. Her throat and mouth moved, and 

 her nostrils quivered, her countenance glorified by her 

 visions which had transported her to the bosom of Abra- 

 ham. 



The atmosphere rang as with the chimes of a cathe- 

 dral, the echoes — there were none in reality — returning 

 from roof and tree, and I had the feeling of the air being 

 made up of voices, and of whirling in this magic ether. 

 The woman I observed would seem about to stop, her 

 voice falling away almost to no sound, and the pro- 

 longed drone of the chorus dying out, when, as if she had 

 come to life again, she sang out at the top of her lungs, 

 and the ranks again took up their tones. I could al- 

 most trace the imposition of the religious strain upon the 

 savage, the Christian upon the heathen, like the negro 

 spirituals of Georgia, and I sat back in my chair, and 

 forgot the scene in the thoughts induced by the liimene. 



The souls of the Tahitians were not much changed by 

 all their outward transformation. Superficial, indeed, 

 are the accomplishments of missionaries, merchants, and 

 masters among these Maoris. The old guard dies, but 

 never surrenders; the boast of Napoleon's soldiers might 

 be paraphrased by the voice of the Maori spirit. Our 

 philosophy, our catechisms, and our rules have not up- 

 rooted the convictions and thought methods of centu- 

 ries. Bewildered by our ambitions, fashions, and inven- 

 tions, they emulate us feebly, but in their heart of hearts 

 think us mad. Old chiefs and chief esses I have had con- 

 fess to me that they were stunned by the novelties, com- 

 mands, and demands of the papaa (foreigner) , but that 

 their confusion was not liking or belief. In his youth, 

 in the midst of these bustling whites, the Tahitian imi- 



