UPOLU- MANONO — SAVAII. 99 



In the different jaunts across the island, many of the " Devil's" or 

 unconverted towns were visited, where our parties were always 

 treated with great hospitality. At the town of Siusinga the chief who 

 entertained our party was a priest of the Gimblet religion. This new 

 faith has made some progress among these islands, and has the follow- 

 ing singular origin : 



A native of Savaii, by name Seeovedi, was taken from that island 

 by a whale-ship, and did not return for several years. During his 

 absence he visited several ports, where it would seem he obtained some 

 notions of the forms and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church. 

 Possessed of considerable natural shrewdness, he founded on this 

 knowledge a plan to save himself from labour for the future, by col- 

 lecting followers at whose expense he might be maintained. During 

 his absence, and while on board the whale-ship, he had received, as is 

 usual in such cases, instead of his native name, that of Joe Gimblet ; 

 and this cognomen is now firmly attached to the sect of which he was 

 the founder. 



Having formed the plan of founding a sect, he did not scruple as to 

 the means of carrying it into effect ; for he boldly claimed a heavenly 

 mission, professing to hold converse with God, and asserting that he 

 possessed the power of working miracles, raising the dead, &c. He 

 soon gained many proselytes, and had attained great consideration 

 and authority, when unfortunately for him he was called upon to exert 

 his pretended power of raising the dead, by restoring to life the 

 favourite son of a powerful chief called Lelomiava, who had been 

 murdered. 



Joe did not hesitate to undertake the accomplishment of this miracle. 

 He in the first place directed a house to be built for the reception of 

 the body, and when it was finished he required that it should be sup- 

 plied with the best provisions. In conformity with this requisition, the 

 choicest articles of food that could be obtained were regularly handed 

 to Joe for the use of the defunct, upon whom he alone waited, while 

 every other person except the chief and himself was excluded from the 

 building. 



The food thus regularly supplied as regularly disappeared, and Joe 

 assured the chief that his son had eaten it, and under this bountiful 

 allowance would soon recover his strength, and walk forth. In this 

 way time wore on, until the patience of the old chief began to show 

 symptoms of being exhausted. This somewhat alarmed Joe, but as he 

 was a fellow of infinite resources, he contrived to evade inquiry and 

 procrastinate, hoping, no doubt, that some lucky incident might turn 

 up, by which he should be enabled to extricate himself from the 



