128 SAMOAN GROUP. 



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 his assumed 

 occupation. It is not probable that even the captain was deeply 

 versed in religious knowledge, and very certain that the crew could 

 not have been; but their success appears to have arisen from the great 

 veneration with which white men were at first regarded by the 

 Samoans. They looked upon them as a sort of spirit, whom it was 

 impossible to hurt or to kill ; and the ships first seen off the coast were 

 considered as heavenly messengers, prognosticating some dreadful 

 calamity. The bad conduct of their nautical visiters has destroyed 

 this reverence, and foreigners generally no longer meet the kind 

 welcome they formerly received ; this observation does not apply to 

 the missionaries, who receive all the honour that is due to their good 

 intention, of which the natives are fully aware. 



The Wesleyan missionaries, and those of the British Board, reached 

 these islands about the same time, or the former were perhaps the first 

 to arrive. The influence of the Wesleyan tenets, and the number of 

 their followers, increased rapidly under the superintendence of the 

 Rev. Mr. Turner. Difficulties, however, arose between the two parties 

 of missionaries, which were finally adjusted between the two boards in 

 London, and the Wesleyans abandoned this field for that of the Feejee 

 Group. This arrangement was amicably made, and I heard of only 

 one individual on either side, who showed an uncharitable spirit 

 towards his fellow-labourers of the other party. In spite of the removal 

 of the Wesleyans, there is still a large number of the natives who 

 adhere to the tenets and forms taught them by Mr. Turner, and still 

 retain a strong attachment to him. 



. The missionaries were from the very first taken under the protection 

 of the most powerful chiefs, and have never received either insult or 



