114 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
strike their encampment at home. His party reached 
Atehurii^ without molestation^ late at night; and^ after a 
short concealment, falling upon the unconscious and 
defenceless victims, under the cover of the darkness of 
midnight, in two hours destroyed nearly two hundred 
men, women, and children. The men who remained at 
home, in times of War, were generally either aged or 
sick, and incapable of bearing arms. This unprovoked 
act of cruelty, on the part of Pomare, heightened to such 
a degree the rage of the rebels, that they vowed the entire 
destruction of the reigning family. 
While the affairs of the island remained in this mi- 
settled state, the Nautilus arrived, and Pomare prevailing 
on the c-aptain to furnish him with a boat manned by 
British seamen armed, went to Atehuru to present some 
costly offering to Oro, whose favour he still considered 
to be the only means of restoring his authority. 
Although that idol was now in the hands of his enemies, 
yet, as his errand was of a sacred character, the Atehu- 
ruans, notwithstanding they would not admit him to the 
temple, allowed him to present his offerings, which he 
deposited on a part of the beach near the temple, and 
peaceably retired. 
When Pomare returned, he solicited from the captains, 
men and arms to go against the insurgents; and on the 
3d of July, Captain Bishop and the mate of the Nautilus^ 
with twenty-three Europeans, well supplied with ammu-. 
nition, arms, and a four-pound cannon, accompanied 
Pomare’s forces to the attack. All the Missionaries re¬ 
mained at Matavai, excepting one, who accompanied 
Captain Bishop as surgeon. On reaching Atehuru, they 
found the rebels had taken refuge in their Pare or 
natural fortress, about four miles and a half from the 
