152 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
On reaching the habitations of the Missionaries^ we 
were cordially welcomed to their society, and were 
rejoiced to behold them cheered by the intelligence we 
had brought, and the prospect of receiving a still greater 
accession to their numbers. The evening passed 
pleasantly and rapidly away; many of the pious 
inhabitants and chiefs, in the neighbourhood, came to 
greet our arrival, with evident emotions of delight; among 
them was one, whose salutation I shall never forget; la 
ora na oe i te Atua^ la ora oei te haere raa max io nei^ no te 
Aroha o teAtua oe i tae mat ai^’^ Blessing on you from 
God, peace to you in coming here, on account of the love 
of God are you come.” These were his words. His 
person was tall and commanding, his hair black and 
curling, his eyes benignant, and his whole countenance 
beamed with a joy that declared his tongue only obeyed 
the dictates of his heart. His name was Auna, a native 
of Raiatea, formerly an areoi and a warrior, who had 
arrived, with numbers of his countrymen, to the support 
of Pomare, after his expulsion from Tahiti, but whose 
heart had been changed by the power of the gospel of 
Christ. He was afterwards associated with us at 
Huahine, subsequently became my fellow-labourer in 
the Sandwich Islands, and was, when I last heard from 
the islands, about to be ordained pastor of a Christian 
church in Sir Charles Sanders’s Island. 
At a late hour we retired to rest, but not to sleep. 
We needed and sought repose, but the incidents of 
the day had produced a degree of excitement that did 
not speedily subside 5 in addition to which, the constant 
and loud roaring of the surf kept us awake till nearly 
daybreak. The house in which we lodged was near the 
shore; and the long heavy billows of the sea rolling 
