Rapa : the Forgotten. 
3 2 9 
missionary. “ Orders were then given to clear 
the ship.” But the Rapa people were not 
inclined to clear, and a general scuffle ensued 
between them and the crew of the ship, resulting 
in the former being driven over the side into 
the sea. ... “In the midst of the confusion 
and the retreat of the natives, the dog, which 
had slunk into his kennel, recovered his usual 
boldness, and not only increased the consterna¬ 
tion by his barking, but severely tore the leg 
of one of the fugitives.” (Good old Towser !) 
“ The natives, however, still hung about upon 
the shrouds and upon the chains, and the sailors, 
drawing the long knives with which they were 
provided, with menacing gestures, but without 
purposely wounding any one, at last succeeded 
in freeing the ship. Some of them seemed quite 
unconscious of the keenness of a knife, and had 
their hands deeply cut by snatching or grasping 
at the blade.” 
In appearance the people of Rapa show vary¬ 
ing degrees of a copper-coloured complexion ; 
their features are very regular (like those of the 
natives of Easter Island), and their intelligent, 
handsome countenances are rendered the more 
striking by their glossy, black hair, which, in the 
