556 queen's letter — taking leave. Nov. 



« Tahiti, November 26, 1835. 

 " To the Captain of the ship of war : 

 " This is what I have to say to you, before you leave us, 

 respecting the debt. We have 2,338 dollars, which we are 

 now taking to the person who is to receive this property, who 

 is Mr. Bicknell. We are now collecting the remainder. 

 " Peace be with you, 



" And with your king, William, 

 " (Signed) Pomare Vahine. 

 " (Witnessed by) Hitote and Taati." 



Taking leave of the queen was our next engagement. At 

 the door of her house was a table, on which the loyal and kind- 

 hearted natives were depositing their dollars, and fractions of 

 dollars : to enable her to pay the debt. To me it was an 

 affecting and an unpleasing sight, — not the proofs of loyalty 

 and affection — Heaven forbid ! — but the reflection that those 

 individuals had in no way done wrong, and that their dollars 

 had been hardly earned and were highly prized. To show how 

 little a metallic currency was then understood, I may mention 

 that many individuals wished to subscribe fractions, who could 

 not afford a whole dollar ; but they were prevented, at first, be- 

 cause the collector knew not how to reckon a fraction of a 

 dollar. Mr. Pritchard easily explained this, and then the 

 smaller coins, (rials, and two rial pieces,) were soon numerous 

 upon the table. Frequently, while walking about the island, 

 men had asked me to give them a dollar in exchange for its 

 value in small coin, which, to their surprise, I was always 

 glad to do, when I had dollars with me. 



About Pomare was rather a large assemblage of maids of 

 honour, but their postures and appearance, as they sat about 

 upon the floor, were not the most elegant. The contrast be- 

 tween our own neatly dressed, and well-mannered country- 

 women, whom we had just left in the house of Mr. Pritchard, 

 was rather striking as compared with these brown and oily 

 Otaheitans : butovir visit was not long, and we tried to make it 

 agreeable. Returning by the beach, we talked for some time 



