134 S A MO AN GROUP. 



with begging- from the humblest individual, and ended with the 

 highest; and when they had obtained all they could, would go over 

 the side of the ship ridiculing our folly for giving so much. 



Old Pea, by way of excusing himself when charged with being a 

 great beggar, said he did not keep any thing he got for himself ; that 

 it was the Samoan fashion always to ask for every thing he saw. It 

 mattered not if his request was refused, he was as content as if he 

 obtained what he desired, but he said he should have blamed himself 

 if he had not asked. 



The beneficial effects of the labours of the missionaries are more 

 evident among the Samoans, than at Tahiti. The spread of the 

 gospel has not been opposed by evil habits of the same inveterate 

 character, and the natives of this group have been more easily re- 

 claimed from their vices than those of the Society Islands. The 

 greatest obstacle to the success of the missionaries has arisen from the 

 presence of a few abandoned white men, who attach themselves to 

 the heathen chiefs. Their opposition, although injurkras to the mis- 

 sionary cause, yields little benefit to themselves, for of every thing 

 they acquire, the chief under whose protection they are, takes half; 

 and although no opposition is ever made to their departure from the 

 islands, they are not permitted to take any thing with them. The 

 vices of these men excite the disgust of the more well-disposed of the 

 natives, who often express their astonishment at their ignorance of 

 sacred subjects, and ask if it be possible that such men can have been 

 brought up in a civilized community. 



The first attempt to introduce Christianity is related to have 

 occurred in the following manner. Some years before the arrival of 

 the missionaries, a vessel was wrecked upon the island of Upolu, and 

 her cargo seized upon by the natives, many of whom even to the 

 present day, regret that they did not then understand what riches 

 were thus placed at their disposal. Their mode of treating the prize 

 was farcical in the extreme : pipes were made out of candlesticks, 

 clothing was thrown away as valueless, and many injured themselves 

 with the fire-arms. The crew were well treated, and fed for a long 

 time, although the natives were greatly astonished at the quantities 

 of pigs required for their support, and entertained fears lest they 

 should breed a famine in the land. The captain advised his crew to 

 turn missionaries, and set them the example himself. He met with 

 much success, and succeeded in building several churches, until upon 

 the arrival of the English missionaries he was compelled to relinquish 



