202 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
and some of his associates had spent in fruitless, hope¬ 
less toil, on that unpromising field, the slightest pros¬ 
pect of an ultimate harvest, which these facts certainly- 
warranted, was adapted to produce unusual and exalted 
joys,—emphatically a Missionary’s own,—joys ^^that a 
stranger intermeddleth not with.” 
Messrs. Scott and Hayward made the tour of Tahiti, 
preaching to the people whenever they could collect a 
congregation, and then returned to Eimeo with Tuahine, 
Oito, and their companions,—^who accompanied them, in 
order to attend the school, and receive more full 
instruction in those things, respecting which, though 
formerly so indifferent, they were now most anxious to 
be informed. 
Tuahine was born in the island of Raiatea, but had 
been some time residing in the inland parts of the dis¬ 
trict of Pare. Oito was an inhabitant, if not a native, of 
Hautaua, and in this lovely, verdant, and sequestered 
valley, the first native meeting for prayer was held, and 
the first associated vows were paid to heaven. 
I have often passed along the mouth or opening of 
this valley, and regret that I never had an opportunity 
of traversing its interior, and visiting the abode of Oito, 
or the sites of the rural oratories of the first Christians 
in Tahiti. Hautaua valley is an interesting spot, not 
only on account of the events connected with the early 
history of Christianity, which transpired within its bor¬ 
ders, but also from the peculiarity of its scenery. 
In the exterior, or border landscapes, of Tahiti and 
the other islands, there is a variety in the objects of 
natural beauty; a happy combination of land and water, 
of precipices and level plains, of trees, often hanging 
their branches clothed with thick dark foliage over the 
