How tlie Gospel was First Carried, 267 
As night drew on, they confessed that they could not strike^ 
— that the Christianas God was too powerful for them. 
They then returned to their canoes, and sailed away home. 
Surely they must have been restrained by Divine interposi- 
tion ! 
During 1848, Mr. Calvert, in his visits to Mbau, frequently 
held conversations with the chief, and explained more fully 
the nature and requirements of the Christian religion to him. 
Sometimes, Thakombau would seek out the missionary, and 
in his bedroom, or study, talk for hours upon the subject. 
Then, going away, he would use Mr. Calvert's arguments 
against his own priests. One effect of these conversations 
was that he gradually dropped all opposition to the new 
faith. He also became less warlike, although his position, 
and the large stores of war material which he had accumu- 
lated, formed powerful temptations to him to engage again 
and again in war. Again, he occasionally postponed feasts 
from the Christian Sabbath to other days, out of respect 
to the lotu ; while, if Christians were at hand when he 
commenced eating, he would pay them the compliment 
of asking them to repeat the grace before meat over his 
food. He would sometimes defend Christianity from the 
attacks of those who spoke against it ; warn the priests that 
they would soon have nothing to do, and encourage some 
of his wives to become religious. Still, occasional cannibal 
feasts were held, when etiquette demanded that they should 
be observed. On one occasion a party of fourteen women 
were caught in order to be killed and cooked at a feast of 
this khid, and nine of them were so cooked. Mrs. Calvert 
and Mrs. Lyth, hearing of the peril of these poor creatures, 
forced their way to Thakombau, and begged for the lives of 
their doomed sisters. Five were granted in answer to their 
prayer. 
