Hoiv the Gospel was First Carried, 241 
from the deck of the vessel. The king of Lakemba received 
the strangers very kindly, promised to be kind to them if 
they would settle with him, and offered them one of his 
own houses to reside in, until suitable ones were erected 
upon mission premises. They received the king's promises 
with joy, chose sites for mission-houses, and returned to the 
ship to report. The families of the missionaries were at 
once landed, and accommodated for the first night in a 
large canoe shed, open at the sides and ends. Under this 
shed, assailed by mosquitoes and annoyed by pigs, the little 
party endeavoured to obtain rest. The impossibility of 
doing so, however, led them to resolve to sleep on board 
the ship, until their houses were built. 
Within three days from that time, the natives had pre- 
pared two large houses, according to native notions, for the 
missionaries. It fell to the share of the latter to hang doors, 
fit in windows, and perform the carpentering generally ; but 
amid all these duties, they commenced their missionary 
toils. Within a week from the day of their landing, they had 
held two preaching services out-of-doors, speaking in the 
Tongan language, and stating very simply, the truths they 
had come to teach. Thus ended the first Christian Sabbath 
in Fiji j but it was a precursor of many more, brighter and 
more cheering still. Without losing time, they mastered 
the language of the people among whom they were now 
called to labour, and prepared a portion of St. Matthew's 
Gospel, in addition to commencing a grammar, and diction- 
ary. Among their first converts were about three hundred 
Fongans, who had been living in Fiji for some time, but 
now received the truth as it was in Jesus, and assisted in 
spreading it. They were intelligent for their position, 
independent of the Fijian chiefs, and generally brave in 
propagating whatever they professed. They were, there- 
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