1832.] 
SOCIETY ISLANDS. 
429 
short walk brought us to the spot where some islanders had been 
cooking. By our native cook, no time was to be lost; a hole 
was made in the ground ; fire was then produced by the friction 
of two hard pieces of wood ; and every thing dry and combusti- 
ble was collected around, of which a large fire was constructed, 
and ample preparations made to luau our pig- — bread-fruit and 
bananas, as already described in our account of the Sandwich 
Islands. Here was no richly furnished table; but our savoury 
banquet was spread upon large plantain-leaves, on the verdant 
carpet of nature, beneath the green boughs of spreading cocoanut 
trees ; the orange, citron, and lemon around, bending to the earth 
with the weight of their rich golden fruits. In this rural spot, 
with none but the wild islanders for our guests, we enjoyed a most 
delicious repast. 
These natives had formerly the reputation of being great 
thieves ; but at present evinced no disposition to reduce that pro 
pensity to practice. If this change have been brought about by 
the labours of the missionaries, they have done good in this, as in 
other things. 
At this part of the island there is a large church, of which Mr. 
Wilson is the pastor. The Sunday after our arrival, we attended 
Divine worship. There were about two hundred natives present, 
all of whom were well dressed ; and during the sermon, which 
was delivered in the native language, many of them appeared at- 
tentive and devout. Their language is much more soft and har- 
monious than that spoken by the natives of the Sandwich Islands. 
The hymns sung by the females were quite harmonious ; and 
some of them, in a low, soft, and subdued tone, might be called 
musical. 
There is a small town about nine miles distant from Matavia 
Bay ; and the road leading to it is not less than forty feet wide, 
level, and well made. In fact, this road is the best specimen of 
internal improvement to be met with in any of these islands ; it 
seems, indeed, almost out of keeping with the still rude simplicity 
of the natives. This town is the headquarters of the foreign mis- 
sionaries. Here are undoubtedly the greatest improvements ; but 
they seem small when measured by the long period they have been 
in making. The sugarcane and cotton grow well here, and might 
be cultivated to any extent. But when will these natural capacities 
